Lajwanti

1958 120’ b&w Hindi d Narendra Suri pc Delux Films s Sachin Bhan lyr Majrooh Sultanpuri c M. Malhotra m S.D. Burman lp Nargis, Baby Naaz, Balraj Sahni, Prabhu Dayal, Radhakrishen

Suri’s family movie echoes Andaz (1949): a husband (Sahni) believes his wife (Nargis) to be having an affair with an artist friend and throws her out. In fact, she was having her portrait painted. When a decade later the two get together again, she has to win over her grown-up daughter (Baby Naaz) which she does only when she’s on the verge of suicide. Sahni’s naturalism as usual considerably tones down the emotional pitch.

Film