Chanway () is a Pakistani Punjabi-language film directed Noor Jehan (in her directorial debut) in the supervision of Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. It was written by Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj. Noor Jehan played the lead role with Ghulam Mohammad, Santosh Kumar and Jahangir Khan in supporting roles. Feroz Nizami provided the music for the film's soundtrack. It premiered in Lahore's Regent Cinema on 24 March 1951.

The film was the first Pakistani film directed by a woman. It became commercially successful and had a successful theatrical run of 18 weeks. "Mundeya Sialkotiya" was a popular track from the film's soundtrack.

Cast 
The cast of the film includes:
 Noor Jehan as Seema
 Santosh Kumar as Feroze
 Ghulam Mohammad as Fazal
 Jahangir Khan as Aslam
 Saleem Raza as Chiragh
 Nafees Begum as Khairaan
 Himalyawala as Doctor
 Yasmin as Shaddo

Production 
After migrating from India, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi established his Shahnoor Studios and decided to produce a film. He was advised to produce film in Punjabi language because at that time Punjabi films such as Pheray (1949) and Laraay (1950) were commercially successful rather than Urdu language films. So, he directed and produced Channway and his spouse Noor Jehan was credited as the director because he himself didn't know the Punjabi language. Thus, it became the first Pakistani film by a female director. The film also marked Jehan's return to the screen since her last film Jugnu (1947), also directed by Rizvi and had music composed by Nizami.

Release and reception 
The film premiered on 24 March 1951 in Lahore's Regent cinema. It became commercially successful with a theatrical run of 18 weeks.

Soundtrack 
Feroz Nizami composed the film's music on the lyrics of F.D. Sharf and Ustad Daman. All songs were performed by Noor Jehan except one, which was performed by Ali Bakhsh Zahoor.

Track listing

References

External links 
 

1950s Punjabi-language films
1951 directorial debut films
Pakistani black-and-white films
Punjabi-language Pakistani films