bimdb rating-****/*****
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is a 1962 Indian Hindi film produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Abrar Alvi. It is based on a Bengali novel, Shaheb Bibi Golam by Bimal Mitra, and is a look into the tragic fall of the haveli-dom and feudalism in Bengal during the British Raj. The title of the movie and the story is a reference to the plot simultaneously exploring a platonic friendship between a beautiful, lonely wife (Bibi) of an aristocrat (Sahib) and a career-driven low-income part-time servant (Ghulam). The film's music is by Hemant Kumar and lyrics were by Shakeel Badayuni. Cinematography was by V. K. Murthy. The film stars Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Rehman, Waheeda Rehman and Nasir Hussain.[1]
The film was a major critical and commercial success, with critics attributing it to Meena Kumari's performance as Chhoti Bahu, which is regarded as one of the best performances of Hindi cinema.[2] It won four Filmfare Awards, including Best Movie award, was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, and was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars.[3] Indiatimes Movies ranks it amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Music
4 Reception
5 Awards and nominations
6 Directorial controversy
7 References
8 External links
Plot[edit]
Bhoothnath (Guru Dutt), a middle-age architect, wanders through the ruins of an old haveli.
There is a flashback to the end of the 19th century. The lower-class and educated Bhoothnath arrives in colonial Calcutta looking for work. He lives in the grand haveli of the Choudhurys, a family of zamindars while working beyond its compound at the Mohini Sindoor factory run by Subinay Babu, a dedicated member of the Brahmo Samaj. Subinay Babu's daughter Jaba (Waheeda Rehman) is amused by Bhoothnath whom she considers an unsophisticated rustic. Bhoothnath becomes fascinated with the goings-on in the haveli and every night observes the decadent lifestyle of the Choudhury brothers.
Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) becomes a desperate alcoholic to make zamindar Rehman stay at home, in Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam
One night the servant, Bansi, takes Bhoothnath to meet the younger zamindar's (Rehman) wife Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) who implores him to bring her Mohini Sindoor believing it will keep her unfaithful husband home. Bhoothnath is struck by her beauty and sadness and inadvertently becomes Chhoti Bahu's secret confidante. A bomb explodes in the marketplace and Bhoothnath is injured in the ensuing crossfire between freedom fighters and British soldiers. Jaba looks after him. Bhoothnath becomes a trainee architect and goes away to work on a training project.
Chhoti Bahu's repeated attempts to appease her husband fail until she becomes his drinking companion to keep him by her side. Bhoothnath returns some years later to Calcutta to find that Subinay Babu has died and that he and Jaba were betrothed as children. He returns to the haveli and is shocked to find it in partial ruins. Chhoti Bahu is now a desperate alcoholic and her husband, paralyzed. She asks Bhoothnath to accompany her to a nearby shrine to pray for her ailing husband. Their conversation is heard by the elder zamindar, Majhle Babu. He orders his henchmen to punish her for consorting with a man outside the Choudhury household. As Bhoothnath and Chhoti Bahu travel in the carriage, it is stopped. Bhoothnath is knocked unconscious and Chhoti Bahu is abducted. When he wakes up in hospital, Bhoothnath is told Chhoti Bahu has disappeared and the younger zamindar is dead. The flashback ends.
Bhoothnath's workers inform him a skeleton is found buried in the ruins of the haveli. From the jewellery on the corpse, Bhoothnath realizes it is the remains of Chhoti Bahu.
The last scene shows a nostalgic Bhoothnath riding away on a carriage with Jaba, who is now his wife. In this, the filmed version departs significantly from the novel, where Jaba and Bhoothnath do not get a happy ending.
Cast[edit]
Meena Kumari as Chhoti Bahu
Guru Dutt as Atulya Chakraborty 'Bhootnath'
Rehman as Chhote Sarkar
Waheeda Rehman as Jaba
Nazir Hussain as Subinay Babu (Jaba's father)
Dhumal as Bansi
D.K. Sapru as Chaudhary (Majhle Sarkar)
Harindranath Chattopadhyay as Ghari Babu
Music[edit]
The music of the film was composed by Hemant Kumar. Shakeel Badayuni wrote the lyrics.
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
Soundtrack album by Hemant Kumar
Recorded Unknown
Genre Film soundtrack
Label
Producer Guru Dutt
Hemant Kumar chronology
Dui Bhai
(1962) Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
(1962) Nav Diganta
(1962)
Title Singer Picturised on
"Saakhiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin Aayegi" Asha Bhosle Minoo Mumtaz
"Meri Jaan O Meri Jaan" Asha Bhosle
"Piya Aiso Jiya Mein Samaaye Gayo Re" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari
"Na Jao Saiyan Chhudaake Baiyan" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari, Rehman
"Koi Door Se Aawaaz De Chale Aao" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari
"Bhanwara Bada Naadaan" Asha Bhosle Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman
"Meri Baat Rahi Mere Man Mein" Asha Bhosle Waheeda Rehman
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is a 1962 Indian Hindi film produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Abrar Alvi. It is based on a Bengali novel, Shaheb Bibi Golam by Bimal Mitra, and is a look into the tragic fall of the haveli-dom and feudalism in Bengal during the British Raj. The title of the movie and the story is a reference to the plot simultaneously exploring a platonic friendship between a beautiful, lonely wife (Bibi) of an aristocrat (Sahib) and a career-driven low-income part-time servant (Ghulam). The film's music is by Hemant Kumar and lyrics were by Shakeel Badayuni. Cinematography was by V. K. Murthy. The film stars Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Rehman, Waheeda Rehman and Nasir Hussain.[1]
The film was a major critical and commercial success, with critics attributing it to Meena Kumari's performance as Chhoti Bahu, which is regarded as one of the best performances of Hindi cinema.[2] It won four Filmfare Awards, including Best Movie award, was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, and was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars.[3] Indiatimes Movies ranks it amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Music
4 Reception
5 Awards and nominations
6 Directorial controversy
7 References
8 External links
Plot[edit]
Bhoothnath (Guru Dutt), a middle-age architect, wanders through the ruins of an old haveli.
There is a flashback to the end of the 19th century. The lower-class and educated Bhoothnath arrives in colonial Calcutta looking for work. He lives in the grand haveli of the Choudhurys, a family of zamindars while working beyond its compound at the Mohini Sindoor factory run by Subinay Babu, a dedicated member of the Brahmo Samaj. Subinay Babu's daughter Jaba (Waheeda Rehman) is amused by Bhoothnath whom she considers an unsophisticated rustic. Bhoothnath becomes fascinated with the goings-on in the haveli and every night observes the decadent lifestyle of the Choudhury brothers.
Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) becomes a desperate alcoholic to make zamindar Rehman stay at home, in Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam
One night the servant, Bansi, takes Bhoothnath to meet the younger zamindar's (Rehman) wife Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) who implores him to bring her Mohini Sindoor believing it will keep her unfaithful husband home. Bhoothnath is struck by her beauty and sadness and inadvertently becomes Chhoti Bahu's secret confidante. A bomb explodes in the marketplace and Bhoothnath is injured in the ensuing crossfire between freedom fighters and British soldiers. Jaba looks after him. Bhoothnath becomes a trainee architect and goes away to work on a training project.
Chhoti Bahu's repeated attempts to appease her husband fail until she becomes his drinking companion to keep him by her side. Bhoothnath returns some years later to Calcutta to find that Subinay Babu has died and that he and Jaba were betrothed as children. He returns to the haveli and is shocked to find it in partial ruins. Chhoti Bahu is now a desperate alcoholic and her husband, paralyzed. She asks Bhoothnath to accompany her to a nearby shrine to pray for her ailing husband. Their conversation is heard by the elder zamindar, Majhle Babu. He orders his henchmen to punish her for consorting with a man outside the Choudhury household. As Bhoothnath and Chhoti Bahu travel in the carriage, it is stopped. Bhoothnath is knocked unconscious and Chhoti Bahu is abducted. When he wakes up in hospital, Bhoothnath is told Chhoti Bahu has disappeared and the younger zamindar is dead. The flashback ends.
Bhoothnath's workers inform him a skeleton is found buried in the ruins of the haveli. From the jewellery on the corpse, Bhoothnath realizes it is the remains of Chhoti Bahu.
The last scene shows a nostalgic Bhoothnath riding away on a carriage with Jaba, who is now his wife. In this, the filmed version departs significantly from the novel, where Jaba and Bhoothnath do not get a happy ending.
Cast[edit]
Meena Kumari as Chhoti Bahu
Guru Dutt as Atulya Chakraborty 'Bhootnath'
Rehman as Chhote Sarkar
Waheeda Rehman as Jaba
Nazir Hussain as Subinay Babu (Jaba's father)
Dhumal as Bansi
D.K. Sapru as Chaudhary (Majhle Sarkar)
Harindranath Chattopadhyay as Ghari Babu
Music[edit]
The music of the film was composed by Hemant Kumar. Shakeel Badayuni wrote the lyrics.
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
Soundtrack album by Hemant Kumar
Recorded Unknown
Genre Film soundtrack
Label
Producer Guru Dutt
Hemant Kumar chronology
Dui Bhai
(1962) Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
(1962) Nav Diganta
(1962)
Title Singer Picturised on
"Saakhiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin Aayegi" Asha Bhosle Minoo Mumtaz
"Meri Jaan O Meri Jaan" Asha Bhosle
"Piya Aiso Jiya Mein Samaaye Gayo Re" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari
"Na Jao Saiyan Chhudaake Baiyan" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari, Rehman
"Koi Door Se Aawaaz De Chale Aao" Geeta Dutt Meena Kumari
"Bhanwara Bada Naadaan" Asha Bhosle Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman
"Meri Baat Rahi Mere Man Mein" Asha Bhosle Waheeda Rehman