I seem to be on a Ashok Kumar roll recently, never has he looked so handsome as he did in this lucknow Muslim social , i had to stop myself and ask is this really Ashok KumarZeenat (Meena Kumari) and Yusuf (Pradeep Kumar) fall in love and plan to marry each other
One day following a chance meet at the market Nawab Sikander Mirza takes a liking to her, he inquires about her family and then asks for her hand in marriage from her father to which her father agrees
A handsome and different looking Ashok Kumar
beautiful Meena as Zeenat
Yusuf on the other hand had asked his uncle Nawab Sultan to ask for Zeenat's hand in marriage but his selfish uncle had failed to do this as he considers his marriage to Zeenat a threat as he's scared of losing the property which Yusuf's father had made him a guardian for
Zeenat is excited about the marriage but finds out on her wedding day that she's marrying Nawab Sikander and not Yusuf, she's heartbroken
Zeenat in the hope of meeting Yusuf leaves her house and then goes to their meeting place in the market place hoping to see him but his wicked uncle had wickedly sent him off to Allahabad
When Zeenat doesn't show up for the wedding her father in order to save face and protect his honour asks her friend to stand in for her, he then sends a falsely loaded palanquin to Nawab Sikander Mirza.When the palanquin gets home Nawab Mirza pretends all through that his wife had actually arrived all in the name of preserving his honour
Zeenat then goes to Yusuf's palce where his wicked uncle poisons her mind telling her Yusuf is a dishonest man, shes disillusioned by his uncles allegations
Evil Uncle
'haisa nahin ho sakhta' (No it can't be)
When Zeenat finally turns up at home her father holds her in shock for dishonouring him, she faints on her escape and she's helped by some courtesan's passing by when she wakes up she finds herself in a courtesan home headed by Lalita Pawar
Will Yusuf & Zeenat ever be reunited? What would be her fate in the courtesan home? How will Nawab Sikander Mirza cope with his missing bride and what will he do about it? For these and many more answers as well as beautiful songs and a refreshingly handsome Ashok Kumar watch Bahu Begum
Overall this is an entertaining Muslim social along the lines of 'Chaudvin Ka Chand' (directed by M. Sadiq who also directed this) 'Mere Mehboob', 'Mere Huzoor' most of which i'm yet to see, but Bahu Begum highlights issues of honour and the place of women in a traditional male laden lucknow society, great performances from everyone here but in usual love triangle style one person has to die for the happiness of the lovers, its still a moderately enjoyable lucknow drama with wonderful outfits and appropriate lucknow sets. i really have to get down to Lucknow sometime and get some of those amazing Sherwani's and tight fitting churidars and Jinnah style caps
Also added for comic relief was Johnny Walker in some hilarious cock jokes
Ha ha Johnny Walker, you're the best
The music by Roshan is fantastic there are two awesome qawalli's 'dhoon le laavu kahan' and 'waqif ku kub' two delightful mujras 'nikale the kahan' and 'sirf apne khalayon' performed by the wonderful Helen in some fabulous mujra outfits
Helen in the delightful mujras 'nikale the kahan' and 'sirf apne khalayon'
There's also the fun 'padh gaye jhoole' with a very youthful Meena kumari and her girlfriends having lots of fun in the rain. My favourite however and is in fact the reason i watched this film has to be the calm, haunting and beautiful melody of Hum Intezar karenge (see below)
Total Score: 6.5/10 (A socially aware entertaining lucknow drama)
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