CID

1956 146’ b&w Hindi d Raj Khosla pc Guru Dutt Films s Inder Raj Anand lyr Majrooh Sultanpuri, Jan Nissar Akhtar c V.K. Murthy m O.P. Nayyar lp Dev Anand, Shakila, Waheeda Rehman, Johnny Walker, Kumkum, K.N. Singh, Bir Sakhuja, Jagdish, Prabhuji, Uma Devi, Rajesh Sharma, Paul Sharma

Khosla’s first successful film, made in the crime movie tradition of Navketan inflected by Guru Dutt’s influence. Police Inspector Shekhar (Anand) investigates the death of a newspaper editor when he meets Rekha (Shakila), the daughter of the commissioner (K.N. Singh). Shekhar keeps running into a mysterious woman (Rehman) who, in a cloak-and-dagger encounter, tries to bribe him to release a crook. He meets her again at Rekha’s birthday party. The crook she wants released is mysteriously killed in jail and Shekhar is blamed for police torture. He goes into hiding, pursued by the murderer he was investigating as well as by the police. He eventually solves the case in hospital. The film is dominated by Rehman’s luminous presence in her first Hindi role, the camera enhancing her mystery with soft-focus over-the-shoulder shots. Her sensuality is particularly well rendered in the scenes where she tries to seduce the crime boss (with the song Kahin pe nigahen) in order to facilitate the hero’s escape.

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