Akhand Saubhagyavati

1963 151’ b&w Gujarati d Manhar Raskapur pc Rajat Films p Rajab Shaida st/dial/lyr Barkat Virani sc Ramnik Vaid m Kalyanji-Anandji lp Asha Parekh, Mahesh Kumar, Arvind, Agha

Raskapur’s effort to introduce Hindi movie- derived idioms into Gujarati was also the first film in the language to be funded by the FFC (see NFDC). Asha Parekh in her first Gujarati lead role plays the virtuous Usha, who falls for the weak Arun (Kumar). The evil Pankaj however spreads rumours about Usha’s infidelity and causes Arun to disappear on their wedding night. The excessively dramatic scenes that follow feature other characters including the sexy vamp, Maya, and sequences in which Usha’s house is burned down, before she is proved innocent and receives her now- repentant husband.

Film