फ़रमान

Farman ('royal decree') is a 1942 Hindi social-musical directed by the pioneering filmmaker Nanubhai Vakil, a prolific figure of early Hindi and Gujarati cinema. Like most films of the period, it was structured around its ten songs, scored by the distinctive early-era composer Damodar Sharma to verse credited to Safdar Aah. The film featured Anil Kumar and Sarojini in the leading roles.

Damodar Sharma scored ten songs for Farman to lyrics credited to Safdar Aah, ranging from celebratory wedding numbers ('Aao Sath Suhagane', 'Gudde Ki Rachi Shadi Re') to romantic and reflective pieces ('Layi Hai Paigham Nigahe', 'Zindagi Ko Gardisho Se Kam Hai'). Individual playback/actor-singer credits for the songs are not documented in available sources; the early-1940s norm was for actor-singers to carry their own numbers.

Farman is one of the lesser-documented social musicals of 1942 — a year dominated in memory by Basant, Roti and Khandan. Its chief musical interest lies in the involvement of Damodar Sharma, a music director active from 1934 to 1948 whose roughly forty-one scores were noted by contemporaries for sounding deliberately unlike those of his peers. The film is a reminder of how many modestly-budgeted song-films the wartime Bombay industry produced beyond its famous titles.