Dhool Ka Phool (1959)

My favourite diva becomes Yash Chopra's first heroine in his directorial debut Dhool ka Phool (Flowers of the dust) This film also earned Mala her first filmfare nomination for best actress alongside Meena Kumari for Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan and Nutan for Sujata, Mala was upstaged by Nutan who won for Sujata

Mahesh (Rajendra Kumar) and Meena (Mala Sinha) meet and fall in love after a bicycle collision accident at their college campus
They start dating and on a barsaat ki raat (a rainy night) if you've been watching lots of hindi films you should be able to guess what happens next, they both get horny and succumb to do that which only 'married couples do'


Meena gets pregnant ( a big Lol at the way Meena finds out about her pregnancy through a baby picture on the wall, I was in fits of laughter for this scene)

spooky picture which confirms Meena's pregnancy



Mahesh meanwhile lands a high paid job with his father's friend, when Meena tells him about her pregnancy, he's shocked and Meena begs him to marry her as this would lessen the stigma of her giving birth out of wedlock. Mahesh promises they would marry after he comes back from a trip to his fathers, Meena believes his word and promises to wait for him
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Nooo.... Meena..... Nooooo

When Mahesh gets to his father, who insists he marries Rai Saheb's daughter Malti (Nanda) Mahesh conveniently forgets about Meena and agrees to marry Malti


After waiting for weeks on end without any sighting of Mahesh, Meena travels to meet him in his father's town, there she is confronted by his marriage ceremony to Malti, Meena is disheartend and returns back home (No Girl, you should Speak Up but i also believe shame on breaking the moral code of the time must have made her keep silent!!!)
Back at home Meena's uncle and aunty find out about her pregnancy and as a result she's considered a taint to the family's honour and sent out of the house. Meena who now sees herself as a mistake and a blemish to society attempts throwing herself off a cliff only to be stopped by their house maid Gangu Bai (Leela Chitnis) who holds her back arguing that women shouldn't bear the brunt only, but men should suffer and called out as well, thus Meena goes to live with Gangu Bai
Meena gives birth to a son and is concerned about her child's fate and the prejudices he might face from society,Mahesh & Malti also have a son of their own. Gangu Bai also passes away after getting injured in an accident
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>this baby was so cute

Following Gangu Bai's death and lack of support from anyone, Meena goes to confront Mahesh, he treats her coldly saying he has his honour to protect & when she threatens to out him as the father of her baby, he asks how she would prove this (no DNA tests back then :0(


Meena in a bid of frustration and helplessness drops her baby in the jungle (applause to Mala for pulling off that cold scene)



When Meena goes back to get her baby, he's no more there and has been rescued by a muslim Abdul Rashid (Manmohan Krishna). Abdul Rashid adopts the baby and names him Roshan but he faces opposition from neighbours and friends who contend what the child's actual religious origin might be, Abdul Rashid seeing the way people react to Roshan moves away to the city


Meanwhile Meena goes looking for work and lands a job as a secretary at a barrister's office (Ashok Kumar), he takes a liking to her and asks her to marry him, Meena is reluctant at first but later agrees, she keeps her past life a secret from him


Roshan however faces a difficult time in school as questions about his illegitimacy cause him to be treated as an outsider and bullied by other kids, he forms a deep friendship with Rakesh (Daisy Irani) who happens to be the son of his biological father

yup thats right Ramesh wants no excuses not to be friends with Roshan

Would Meena ever find her son again? What proof will she have? Watch how events unfold in Dhool Ka Phool? Will Mahesh and Meena ever meet again? Will Ramesh & Roshan ever find out they're rothers from the same Daddy?

Overall a beautiful and well crafted Melodrama, i enjoyed watching Dhool ka phool very much, of course the film was a social commentary on the issue of children born out of wedlock, i admire the director for focusing on the man's irresponsibility, mostly and even till today the woman bears all the disgrace or is the one called the slut. I also liked Dhool ka Phool for being sensitive and trying to address the fact that it wasn't so much the fact that they had sex before marriage that was wrong but Mahesh's failure to be a man and stand up to be a father. This film is also portrays an interesting study on the phenomena of labelling theory as can be seen through Roshan who after numerous name calling becomes that which has been ascribed to him.


Great Performance from all the cast Rajendra Kumar plays Mahesh with such conviction that you have nothing but hate for him

Manmohan Krishan is adorable as ever in his portrayal of the kind hearted muslim he won the filmfare best supporting actor for his role and Mala gives an excellent performance as the mother who finds herself at the cross roads of her own emotions and societies prejudice

I love this child actor who plays Roshan a lot, can anyone confirm if his name is Sujit Kumar or Sushil Kumar (Imdb is unclear about this)


Fabulous soundtrack from N.Dutta the music of dhool ka phool has become one of my favourite soundtracks from 50's bollywood, there's the beautiful mushaira 'tere pyar ka aasra' the fun 'Apne jeena khatir hai' the wonderful 'tu hindu banega' and quiet ballad 'Tu mera pyar ka' my favourites however are 'Jo tum muskura do'



and Asha's beautiful vocals on the breezy 'Jukti Ghata'



Paisa Vasool rating: 7/10



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Ek Hi Rasta (1956)

One of my favorite directors B.R. Chopra the king of relevant social dramas in his time tackles yet another issue in Ek Hi Rasta (The Only way), this was a rather bold movie for its time i believe

Amar is a very honest employee who lives a middle class life with his wife Malti ( Meena Kuamri and son raja (Daisy Irani as a boy)

Amar works for Prakash (Ashok Kumar) a rich bachelor, he keeps pestering Prakash of when he would marry and Prakash keeps making a joke out of it

Amar catches an employee Attar Singh selling stolen goods from their factory to a customer, Amar warns him and then also reports him to Prakash

Attar Singh out of anger decides to get his own back at Amar for reporting and getting him fired from his Job, while Amar is on his way to his sons birthday on his bicycle Attar hits him with his truck


Upon her husbands death in a genius camera work, a hand wipes off Malti's bindi signifying she's now a widow

Following Amar's death Malti becomes depressed, but Prakash urges her to get back there and start making a living for herself, promising to assist her should she need any help

Biharilal (Jeevan) who was also one of the people Amar had reported to Prakash for his shady activities on the job soon starts instigating gossip that Prakash is taking advantage of Malti, soon rumours spread around the neighbourhood that both Malti & Prakash killed Amar

Prakash asks Malti to marry him to stop people from defaming them, she agrees

but life after marriage isn't so easy when Raja refuses to call Prakash father but instead calls him by name


This must have been a very bold movie for its time , as it dealt with the issue of widow remarriage, which i believe was brilliantly executed. I also liked the way complications which often arises in a new marriage was potrayed, especially on the part of the kids as in Raja's case where he finds it difficult to call Prakash 'father', i could really relate to that scene as i found myself in a similar situation with my stepfather. The only quip i have about this movie is that the killers aren't brought to justice

This film also felt a bit like a reality Tv show on a middle/upper middle class Indian family, we get to see them driving a convertible, going to the pool and they even have a dress up birthday party for their son, all of which i loved

Happy family driving a convertible

Visiting the swimming Pool

Children at the fancy dress birthday party

Happy family joined by their chef and househelp


All performances were great all round, but one performance that stood out for me was Daisy Irani who played Raja. While some kid actors usually tend to be just cute or rather annoying, Daisy was fierce, hilarious and mixed the cutesness and annoyance effectively

This kid was given some hilarious dialogues, like the scene where he makes his anger known to the maid at his mom's overfriendliness with Prakash

There was also some crazy scene where a baby was left on the tracks of an approaching train, i found the scene nailbiting



The music by Hemant Kumat is fantastic from the mellow dancy rhythms of 'Chali Gori Pi Milan se chali'

Chali Gori Pee Ke Milan Ko Chali
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and the breezy Sanwale salone where we get to see the joys of a happy family cycling down an empty road

Sanwale Salone Aaye Din Bahar Ke
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Total Score:7/10 ( An Engaging social drama)