Cinema
Woman
औरत
Mehboob Khan · 1940
Synopsis
In a village, Radha, an indomitable woman, toils to feed her sons and repay Sukhilala, the local rapacious moneylender, who keeps everyone's accounts. When she discovers she is pregnant again, her husband Shamu, crushed by poverty, runs away. Left alone, she must face poverty, the moneylender's advances and the characters of her growing sons, the gentle Ramu and the indomitable Birju.
Context
The first film produced by National Studios after their merger with Sagar, it was written by Babubhai Mehta and Wajahat Mirza, shot by Faredoon Irani, with music by Anil Biswas. Sardar Akhtar plays Radha, Kanhaiyalal the moneylender. Its author remade it in 1957 with the same dialogue writer, the same cinematographer and the same performer as the moneylender. Two other films by him followed at National Studios before their closure.
Who it is for
About two and a half hours in Hindustani, with no French release; an old print, hard to find.
Prizes and reception
A great success in its day, praised by Indian and foreign critics; regarded as the founding act of the dacoit film.
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