Director: Mehboob; Writer: Ghulam Mohammed, Aga Jani Kashmiri; Producer: Mehboob; Cinematographer: Faredoon Irani; Editor: Shamsudin Qadri; Cast: Motilal, Chandramohan, Nargis, Charlie, Jilloo, Kayamali, Ansari, Mehsher Shirazi, Laddan
Duration: 01:47:00; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 119.512; Saturation: 0.005; Lightness: 0.264; Volume: 0.155; Cuts per Minute: 4.832
Summary: In between his more ambitious
Najma (1943) and
Humayun (1945), Mehboob made this lightweight comedy about Justice Gangaprasad (Chandramohan) and theatre-owner Seth Badriprasad (Charlie) who lose their daughter and son respectively in the Kumbh Mela. The children are exchanged and Gangaprasad brings up Babu (Motilal) as a rich playboy while Badriprasad raises Salma (Nargis) as a dancer in his theatre. Later, the two fall in love, which is a problem in view of the class difference between them. This is resolved when their true parentage is discovered. An interesting though unexplored aspect of the story is that Gangaprasad’s wife (played by the silent film star Jilloo), brings up Babu believing him to be a girl. The peasant song Meri mata bharat mata, with Nargis holding a sickle and a cloth bundle, intercut with shots of waving fields, foreshadows glimpses of her role in
Mother India (1957).
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