Dharmputra (1961)

Circa British Rule in India is the tale of two Delhi families, that of Nawab Badruddin and Gulshan Rai. The two families are so close that they virtually share the same house. The Nawab's ... See full summary »

Director:

Yash Chopra

Writers:

Akhtar-Ul-Iman (dialogue), Acharya Chatursen Shastry (novel)

Stars:

Mala Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Rehman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mala Sinha	...	Husn Bano
Shashi Kapoor	...	Dilip Rai
Rehman	...	Javed
Manmohan Krishna	...	Dr. Amrit Rai
Indrani Mukherjee	...	Meena
Tabassum	...	Rekha Rai (as Tabbassum)
Deven Verma	...	Sudesh Rai (as Deven)
Rohit
Babloo
Jagdish Raj
Ranjit Sood
Balam
Nissar	...	(as Master Nissar)
Munshi Munakka	...	(as Munshi Munaqqa)
Ravikant	...	(as Ravi Kant)

Storyline

Circa British Rule in India is the tale of two Delhi families, that of Nawab Badruddin and Gulshan Rai. The two families are so close that they virtually share the same house. The Nawab's daughter, Husn Bano, has an affair with a young man named Hamid, & gets pregnant. When the Nawab attempts to arrange her marriage with Hamid, he finds that Hamid has disappeared. Amrit Rai and his wife Savitri assist Husn with the birth of a baby boy, Dilip, and even adopt him and give him their family name. Young Dilip is a cute young child, the apple of the Badruddin and the Rai households. Husn then gets married to another young man, Javed, and moves to another location. In the meantime, while participating in a protest to force the British to leave India, the Nawab gets killed. Years later, Husn Bano and Javed return to a warm welcome by the Rai family. Then she meets Dilip - not the Dilip she had left behind - this Dilip is fascist, a Muslim-hater, who has joined forces with other extremists, in...

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film had a special appearance by Rajendra Kumar for just one song.

User Reviews

Good classic !!

When Nawab Badruddin's dearest friend Gulshan Rai dies, it is but natural for him to take his son Amrit under his wing and for his daughter Husn Banu to consider Amrit her brother. Amrit grows up to become a doctor and is happily married to Savitri. One day the Nawab Sahib comes to Amrit for help. Husn Banu is pregnant with the child of her teacher Hamid who is absconding. After discussing the matter with Savitri, Amrit comes up with a plan. Husn Banu is taken to Simla where the child is born and handed over to Savitri. Amrit and Savitri adopt the baby boy whom they name Dilip. A grateful Nawab bequeaths half his property to Dilip. Nobody in the two households gives a thought to the fact that Dilip is a Hindu boy of Muslim parentage, till the country is torn apart by communal hatred of the partition. Dilip, influenced by this, takes his religion to be his national identity, hating all Muslims, even Husn Banu who has now married Hamid and staying next door. As the fire of communal ism rages everywhere and in Dilip's heart, he goes to Husn Banu and Hamid's house to kill them. Will Dilip learn of his true parentage? Will his hatred for Muslims allow him to reconcile the religion of his birth and his upbringing? Dharmputra is another courageous film from the B.R. Chopra stable. The story is based on a novel by Acharya Vinoba Bhave, getting the film National Award for Best Hindi film and Akhtar-Ul-Iman the Filmfare award for the Best Dialogues. The film was Shashi Kapoor's first movie as an adult actor and has a special appearance by Rajendra Kumar for just one song. Dharmputra was Yash Chopra's second directorial effort. Its watch worth.