Seema (1955)

An orphan gets in trouble with the law and is sent to a home for young women. There, for the first time, she finds friendship, compassion, and possibly love.

Director:

Amiya Chakrabarty

Writers:

Amiya Chakrabarty (screenplay), Amiya Chakrabarty (story),

Stars:

Nutan, Balraj Sahni, Sunder

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nutan	...	Gauri
Balraj Sahni	...	Ashok 'Babuji'
Sunder	...	Murlidhar
Pratima Devi	...	Superintendent "didi"
C.S. Dubey	...	Banke Lal
Shivraj	...	Kashinath
Krishnakant	...	Radha's Husband
Praveen Paul	...	Mrs. Kashinath
Mamtaj Ali
Shubha Khote	...	Putli
Baby Shashi
G.B. Singh
Neel Kamal
Ajay
Premlata Deep

Storyline

After her parents pass away, teenager Gauri goes to live with her paternal uncle, Kashinath, and his wife. She is ill-treated there, made to do all the housework, and abused by her aunt. She is also asked to work as a servant for meager wages in another household, and her earnings are taken away by her aunt. One day, Kashinath is summoned to the Police Station where he is told that since Gauri has been convicted of stealing a necklace from her employer, she is placed under his care for 12 months. Kashinath undertakes to look after her, but she manages to escape, and beats up Bankelal, who had originally accused her of stealing the necklace. The Police are summoned again, and this time Gauri is placed with Shree Satyanand Anarthalaya, an orphanage run by a compassionate Manager, Ashok. Gauri revolts against all the rules imposed upon her and she is placed in solitary, where she ends up breaking all the windows and furniture. Then one day she escapes, beats up Bankelal severely, and ...

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Filming Locations:

Modern Studio, Andheri, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mars & Movies Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

User Reviews

When she got mad...

Gauri lives with her paternal uncle and his wife. Her life is quite miserable there, and she also works as a servant in another household. When Gauri is accused by her employer of stealing a necklace for no fault of her own, she almost finds herself jailed. But when she is released, she is thrown out of her home, and for several days wanders in the streets, without food and without any chance to find a new job as she is stigmatised. Soon she is forcibly taken to an orphanage, but she is no longer the innocent girl she was as circumstances have already turned her into a wicked rebel. She is unstoppable, and the people there cannot deal with her constantly hot temper. But time will change everything. This is the basic story of this highly enjoyable picture, and it is also one of its main strengths. I'm always interested to watch Hindi movies from this era, and the film was quite an interesting watch. The first half actually surprised me because at many points it was a sort of a mini-thriller and had some successfully gripping moments. The second half brings a lighter mood to the film, as the main protagonist finds friendship and everything is more positive. Towards the end, the film does get a bit annoyingly preachy and melodramatic, but I liked the ending itself which was a good conclusion to the story. The film stars Nutan in an author-backed role and this natural actress gives a convincing performance as the viewer clearly feels she is involved in the proceedings even if sometimes the script lets her down. Also one of my favourite actors, Balraj Sahni is as fine and restrained as ever in the role of the kind manager. Shubha Khote looked very pretty in her young days, and she is very good here in a significant supporting role. Shankar-Jaikishen compose a nice soundtrack, although the songs were too frequent, and for some reason I often used the FF button when they started (something I don't usually do). Anyway, Seema is a very nice film which is a good watch for lovers of Hindi cinema and its golden days.