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1953 148’ b&w Hindi
d/s Zia Sarhadi pc Ranjit lyr Majrooh Sultanpuri, Ali Sardar Jafri c M. Rajaram m Khayyam lp Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Achala Sachdev, Anwar, Kuldip Akhtar, Ramesh Thakur, Jankidass, P. Kailash, Kamalesh Thakkar, Master Romi, Sumati, Maruti, Romesh Thapar


Along with Awaaz (1956), this is Sarhadi’s best-known film as director. Set during WW2, it features the honest but poor writer Noshu (D. Kumar) who falls among black marketeers hoarding medicines in a famine-stricken area. Now that money comes easily, Noshu abandons his brother, his lover Mala (Meena Kumari) and his erstwhile principles. In the end, he comes to his senses and abandons his dream of becoming a millionaire. This morality tale extends the genre practised by Sarhadi’s colleague Mehboob in e.g. Roti (1942). The film was an influential contribution to Dilip Kumar’s reputation for naturalism.

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