Nutan was simply grace personified on screen

     Nutan

Nutan simply took grace to regions of divinity like no other actress who virtually traversed sublime realms when acting. She exuded the fragrance of a lotus blossoming or radiance of a full moon looking like a manifestation of the energy of the  divine or a spiritual force transcending through her. No female star transcended spirituality in her roles to the extent of Nutan giving vibrations of a flower conversing with you..  Witnessing Nutan on screen in full bloom gave sensation of path to heaven or shades of the Mona Lisa..Nutan’s sheer innocence penetrated the core of your soul, like no other star. Her expressions were as natural as the ripple of water in a stream or a rose twinkling. In form she may not have expressed the thunder like intensity of a Nargis, Meen a Kumari or Waheeda Rehman, but in essence created the same effect. Her role in Hindi film Industry was path breaking .I never saw an actress whose eyes or sheer gestures or glances could virtually convey the whole message. Even in grief or anguish she never lost the spiritual touch .It was simply magical the manner she enacted a role with the most minimal body movements or expressions.Nutan smiling or weeping was closer to the forces of nature than any female artist. I doubt any female actress of her day could portray virtuosity or crusader of morality to such a degree.Nutan could crystallise the most heart touching plots or themes, defying the norms of convention. Very rare to find an artist appear so detached and aloof but still as buoyant as as waterfall from within. In her own right she took artistry in acting to another dimension. No actress’s expressions were as one with the forces of nature. or possessed such purity. Arguably there has never been a more evergreen or radiant energy that has pervaded the hindi screen. as that of Nutan. .Above all even in real life she championed virtuosity, with a spiritual bliss.

I would have loved to witness Nutan in the ‘Art ‘ films like Smita Patil or Shabana Azmi ,which would have done true justice to her talent. To me it is travesty of justice that an artist so gifted was in the end compelled to sell herself to the crass commercialism of Bollywood.I feel Nutan should have portrayed more genuine character roles projecting rebellious spirit of oppressed woman or social themes.Nutan had the potential to portray Socialist themes,with her great malleability.ome directors admired Nutan more than any actress  because she virtually invented an acting style of her own.

I would rank Nutan amongst the five best and most beautiful Hindi film actresses of all time. In my view for pure poetic beauty she would overlap even Waheeda Rehman ,Nargis or even Madhuri Dixit.. When ranking actresses I would rank Waheed and Nargis just a touch above Nutan  as they projected more intensity, vigour  or joie de vivre and carried a wider spectrum of roles. Still I very much doubt any top actress would have been able to equal Nutan enacting her best roles.

This year on February 21st we commemorated her 30th death anniversary. Nutan’s career was shaped through being born to actor Motilal and actress Shobana Samarth.

BEST FILMS OF NUTAN

In my view Nutan;s best acting performances were in films  ‘Bandini’, ‘Saraswati Chandra’, ‘Saudagar’, ‘Sujata’  and ‘Seema’, in that order of merit.

Seema 1

In Seema  (1955)Nutan portrays a mentally disturbed women Guari  who is sent to an orphanage with deep realism as though even an insane person r a thief had divinity within her soul. Rarely did any actress reveal such chemistry as she did with Ashok enacted by Balraj Sahni. Who heads the orphanage. She perfectly illustrated the circumstances that shaped petty crimes of a woman. Her role took sensitivity to most touching proportions. Few artists could ever give such human touch to an insane woman. Even in anger she reflected a subtle innocence and grace. She is at hr brilliant best illustrating the inner transformation within a human being.

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 verbally abused by her aunt. She is made 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 Anathalaya, 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 returns. She is once again placed in solitary. Then Ashok and his associate Murlidhar find out that Bankelal had framed Gauri, and they inform the Police, who make Bankelal confess. In this way, Gauri gets a pardon, and is asked to leave the orphanage, but she refuses to do so and stays on after promising that she will always obey Ashok. When Ashok has a heart attack, she proposes to stay and look after him, but Ashok wants her to leave and marry Murlidhar.

Paying Guest

In Paying Guest (1957)she creates  a most effective chemistry with Dev Anand and with a most subtle touch projects her innocence after being accused of murder. Her acting style was most unorthodox or unconventional even in a Commercial film.

Anari

In Anari (1959)Nutan defies convention of atypical heroine when co-staring with Raj Kapoor,enacting role of Aarti. .A complete contrast with the acting of Nargis, where she portrays humanism and virtues ,bringing out the inner aspect of love. Few artists bring out the human essence in romance as Nutan, like the fragrance of a rose. In contrast to typical flirtatious or bubbly tones,Nutan potrays humour  and love in most delicate manner.

Raj Kumar is an honest, handsome, and intelligent young man. Working only as a r painter, he is unable to earn a living, including paying rent to his kind-hearted and talkative landlady, Mrs. D’sa. One day, Raj finds a wallet containing money and returns it to the owner, Mr. Ramnath. Ramnath admires Raj; pleased with his honesty, he employs Raj to work in his office as a clerk. Raj meets Ramnath’s maidservant Asha and they fall in love with each other. This all ends when Raj finds out that Asha is really Aarti, the niece of his employer. Unfortunately, his landlady Mrs. D’sa dies suddenly consuming medicine manufactured by Mr. Ramnath. The police conduct a post-mortem and as a result, conclude that someone poisoned Mrs. D’sa. The police take Raj for questioning as the prime suspect, is arrested, and held in jail. In the trial, however, Ramnath admits full responsibility for the tainted medicine, clearing Raj of the charges. Aarti tells Raj she promised Mrs. D’sa she would take care of him, someone who is “as big an idiot as the world is clever,” giving a sense that they will marry.

Chhalia

In Chhalia (1960) enacting role of Shanti,Nutan  superbly champions the cause of a crusader for secularism ,revealing the effects of partition. She  portrays the essentially secular nature of a human being and the political circumstances that shape the life of a person. I doubt any other actress could have matched the conviction Nutan displayed as Shanti or played such an organic part in weaving a theme of such magnitude.Nutan with her characteristic  innocence and simplicity blends joy and anguish in her quest for justice  to give the film colour. Her moods vary like the change in four seasons or a storm intervening on a hot summer day, but she never loses the vital inner balance N utan weaves a bridge or link between her husband Rehman enacting role of Kewal and Raj Kapoor enacting role of Chhalia. She contrasts her behaviour most artistically .When tormented she expresses the sensation of the fury of tidal wave but in harmony she looks as calm as the flow of spring water. With great subtlety she portrayed the inner transformation of a person in tragic circumstances.

Shanti (Nutan) is married off to Kewal (Rehman  on the eve of Partition.. But while the two families move away to Delhi  from Lahore , she inadvertently is left behind, and is forced to share a roof with Abdul Rehman (Pran ), who has a sister of Shanti’s age in India. When she returns to India five years later with her son, she is first welcomed by the husband with open arms but disowned when the child identifies himself as Anwar, and his father as Abdul Rehman. Even her own father refuses to give her shelter, though in the years she had lived with Abdul Rehman she hadn’t even seen his face.

Physically and emotionally shattered, Shanti tries to commit suicide after leaving Anwar in a remand home, but is rescued by an outlaw, Chhalia (Raj Kapoor) who as time and events progress, flips for the lady. Rehman lands in Delhi to settle old scores with Chhalia and threatens to kidnap Shanti. The bloody fight that ensues between the two adversaries eventually ends in a truce. The hurried climax, set amidst Dussera festivities, has Chhalia bringing about a rapprochement between the estranged couple, and himself walking into infinity, while Rehman is reunited with his sister on the return train.

sujata

In the film Sujata (1960) she portrays the life of a scheduled caste or untouchable girl and the traumas of discrimination in a most detached and subtle manner. Even if externally not lively she expressed the fire in her soul, particularly in dialogues with Sunil Dutt who enacts role of Adheer..I doubt any other star could have conveyed feeling of rejection with such conviction. It is remarkable the manner Sujata keeps the balance with her sister or parents , never loosing her temper or showing jealousy. Simply heart touching to view the manner she negates lover Sunil Dutt but still accepts him as a major part in her life. It is quality of acceptance to which she does absolute justice here. Rarely in a social movement has sheer movement of the eyes of an artist, conveyed the theme.Inspite of no apparent joie de vivre or liveliness the inner essence of Sujata keeps pouring out. As Sujata she also illustrates human evolution in a most subtle manner. Whatever the changes in circumstances the consistency of Sujata’s expressions are remarkable. Rarely has romance ever taken such a subtle shape in a Hindi film or morality displayed with such degree of sensitivity.

Sujata is a romance between aBrahmin   young man, Adheer (Sunil Dutt ) and an untouchable   woman, Sujata (Nutan . The film has Dr. BR.Ambedkar’s  fight against untouchability and the myth of Chandalika in Hinduism  as its subtexts on the basis of which it tries to criticize the practice of untouchability in India.

Brahmin couple Upen and Charu bring up the orphaned Sujata. Although Upen is fond of the adopted child, his wife Charu and mother can never fully embrace Sujata because she is an untouchable. They never fail to remind Sujata that she doesn’t belong amongst Brahmins. One day, Upen’s wife falls down the stairs and is rushed to the hospital. The doctors tell the family that in order to save Charu, they need the blood of a rare group. Only Sujata’s blood matches and she willingly donates blood. When Upen’s wife knows that her life was saved by Sujata, she realizes her mistakes and accepts her as her daughter. Sujata and Adheer are finally married.

Bandini

In Bandini (1963)Nutan  enacted role of prisoner Kalyani ,simply re-defined acting histrionics when enacting a role of a woman prisoner who turned insane. It is hard to conceive an artist enacting a role like this with minimal movements or emotional expression. Rarely have I ever seen an  insane wear such a vibrant look..Nutan when tormented, took intensity to regions of coal burning in furnace, but still had a subtle touch of serenity. Her scenes with the jailor played by V.Shantaram ,when sitting on the other side of the wall with lover Bikash,,when meeting the doctor  Devan enacted by Dharmendra to who she refuses a proposal ,her outburst when she gets flashes of memories of her killing her ex-lover Ashok Kumar’s wife and  the look of triumph on her face when she meets her lover  Bikash enacted by Ashok Kumar rank amongst the most artistic acting scenes ever in Bollywood history. Very rarely has depth of expression reached such a magnitude, without any melodrama.Nutan’s restraint displayed her great acting prowess. It was remarkable how she single-handedly carried the film with her expressions like the magical touches of a painter’s brush or poetry in motion. Arguably this was Bimal Roy’s finest film, which took artistry to proportions unsurpassed.Nutan’s artistic genius was responsible for crystallising a  theme of such magnitude to be a success, with expressions that were surreal. I doubt any artist could have portrayed her sheer equation with her lover, the freedom fighter. Bikash.The viewer would unquestionably glorify the character of Kalyani,being sympathetic to the traumas she faced and her sheer relentlessness and conviction even when so disturbed mentally. Nutan dominates the film with her understated, elegant performance. Many agreed this was her best performance by far. Her restraint and nuance really bring out Kalyani’s inner conflict on screen. The dialogues, written by Paul Mahendra, are simple but the words carry weight, just like the anguish in Nutan’s eyes.I have never seen an actress who with mere glances or  gestures  gave such flourish or vibrance to character role, without using any powerful dialogue

The film is set in a prison in around 1934 in pre-Independence India, where Kalyani is serving life imprisonment prison for committing a murder, and we learn the circumstances of her crime in flashback  as she divulges it to the jailor. The film is set in Bengal in the 1930s, during the Colonial era , where Kalyani (Nutan ) is the daughter of the postmaster (Raja Paranjpe) of the village, who falls in love with a freedom fighter, Bikash (Ashok Kumar), who later leaves her in the village promising to come back but never does. Society treats them harshly. Broken by her father’s misery and that of her own, Kalyani moves to the city, to the singing of the sad song “O Jaanewale Ho Sake To Laut Ke Aana”. In the city, she works as a caretaker of an obnoxious and mentally unstable woman, who turns out to be the wife of Bikash. Kalyani learns that her father came to the city looking for her and died in an accident. That prompts her to poison her lover’s wife, identifying her as the cause of her miseries in a moment of insane rage. Director Bimalda captures her emotions as she resolves to commit the crime, with light and darkness falling on her face due to a welder’s torch and the thumping of iron in the background, and the ambient sounds as she inches towards the decision, pumping vigorously into a kerosene stove, without uttering a single word through it all. And subsequently confesses to the crime with equal passion.

Back from the flashback in the jail, Deven (Dharmendra), the jail doctor falls in love with her. Kalyani is not ready for it and starts to stay away from him. They are always shown with a partition in between after Deven proposes her. Another symbolism used in the movie is the occasional shouting of “All is well” by the prison guard when nothing in the movie is; and just as Kalyani is leaving prison for good, she receives yet another ironic message from a jail official, “Ab ghar grihasthi ki jail mein qaid rahogi!” Now you will be imprisoned in the jail of household! In the end, she finds Bikash at a ship harbour where she finds him in an ill condition. She then decides to take care of Bikash and her love is again reborn.

Nutan dominates the film with her understated, elegant performance. Many agreed this was her best performance by far. Her restraint and nuance really bring out Kalyani’s inner conflict on screen. The dialogues, written by Paul Mahendra, are simple but the words carry weight, just like the anguish in Nutan’s eyes.

Tere Ghar Ke Samne

Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963)is one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies of Hindi Cinema. Even in a commercial film Nutan depicts great demeanour and gives a most artistic flavour to her role.It is unfortunate this delightful film is never counted among the best works of director, Vijay Anand, the accolades going to his more obvious works. That is because the film is unfairly looked upon as a cute love story, nothing more. While admittedly the film is a lightweight, frothy musical (and most enjoyable, one might say), it does propagate the idea of neighbours living in harmony and looks at some of the issues of the generation gap, arguing that everything new needn’t be bad and everything old needn’t be good either. Vijay Anand develops the central romantic track between  Dev Anand and Nutan beautifully with  some wonderful moments between the two with simple everyday situations (going out for picnics, rides to the country etc), beautifully written scenes, witty spoken dialogue and plenty of charm, both from the script as well as the lead pair.

Milan

In Milan(1967)Nutan does great justice to the theme of re-incarnation, portraying the permanence of the soul and superficiality of the outer body. With characteristic grace she portrays a love story with fisherman enacted by Sunil Dutt and how the dramatic twist and turns in life or even human evolution are manifestations of the divine. She projects love in regions of the sublime when meeting Sunil Dutt in another birth. Emotional bonding chemistry is superbly portrayed in this picture. It is attribute to her artistry that in her new life she virtually looks like continuing the trail of her last life.Nutan also portrays the idealism of a rich girl falling in love with a fisherman

The movie starts with the marriage of Radha Devi and Gopinath (Nutan and Sunil Dutt .) They start on their honeymoon and have to pass across a river on a ferry boat. While they are in the middle of the river, Gopinath suddenly begins to hallucinate about a whirlpool and shouts that they are going to die. Despite of the reassurances from Radha and the boatman, Gopinath couldn’t be calmed, so Radha orders the boatman to take them to the nearby shore. Once they reach there, Gopinath starts to say things about Bibiji and a palace that should be there. Radha gets confused and follows him.

They meet with an old man who tells them that Bibiji and Gopi are long dead and their palace was now in ruins. Gopinath asks about Gowri, the shepherd girl. The old man tells them that she is still alive and would come daily to the graves of Gopi and Radha. While they are talking, an old lady comes there and Gopi recognizes her as Gowri. They go to her and she too recognizes them and tells them that they took rebirth to live together in this life. She starts to narrate their story.

Gopi was a poor orphan living with his grandmother in a village on the banks of Ganges. He carries passengers on his boat across the river for a living. Radha was a daughter of a zamindar and studies in the city college. Gopi carries her across the river and gives her a rose everyday. Radha finds his innocence lively and maintains a platonic relation with him. He teaches her a song which makes her the winner of singing competition in the college. Gowri (Jamuna , a shepherd girl has feelings for Gopi and always thinks that they are going to marry one day despite of Gopi’s disinterest for her. Meanwhile, Rambabu (Deven Verma ), Radha’s classmate gets attracted to her and starts pursuing. He writes a letter to Radha expressing his love. Radha gets angry for that and sends Gopi to teach him a lesson. But her step mother finds that letter and thinks that Radha is also interested in Rambabu. She sends her brother and Radha’s uncle (Pran ) to settle this matter.

He meets with Rambabu and finds out that he is the heir of a very rich and respectable Roy family and he sincerely wants to marry Radha. He settles their marriage and Radha’s parents feel happy about it. Meanwhile, Radha starts to acknowledge her feelings for Gopi and gets shocked to know that her parents settled her marriage with Rambabu. She tries to explain, but her father thinks that she was already in love with Rambabu and there is nothing to discuss. She goes to Gopi and tells him about her betrothal and he receives it passively. He indirectly indicates that whatever their feelings for each other are, class difference wouldn’t allow any sort of relation between them. Radha accepts her fate and marries Rambabu and leaves her village.

Saraswati Chandra

In Saraswati Chandra (1968)her role as Kumud penetrates the very core of the soul as though she was  governed by some divine power. Her range of expressions, whether anger, joy, despair, fear, anxiety or confusion had the range of the colours of a rainbow.Nutan did perfect justice to the role of Kudma  to give the plot it’s essence. Rarely has an actress looked more like n a state of mediation or infused with a transcendental power. It is virtually a journey of self realisation. Her role as Kumud crystallises the essence of the theme, which she carries almost single-handedly .In joy and anguish ,she has spiritual overtones. Few roles by an actress have taken spirituality to such sublime proportions. In the scene when she meets former lover Saraswati  and requests him to leave .she takes sheer virtuosity to heavenly heights.

Saraswatichandra tells the story of a young aristocrat, Saraswatichandra, whose marriage has been fixed with Kumud (Nutan), an educated girl from a rich family. Saraswati decides to cancel the engagement and writes to Kumud to inform her. However, she replies and the two continue exchanging letters. Saraswati decides to defy customs and pays a visit to his fiancée. A short-lived romance ensues. Saraswati returns home after promising Kumud and her family that he will return for her. However, a family feud takes place and Saraswati writes to Kumud that he will not able to marry her. This triggers a series of misunderstandings, ending up in Kumud’s marriage to a rich but illiterate suitor named Pramad (Ramesh Deo). As soon as she joins her husband at his palace, he quickly disdains her for nautch girls, and hardly hides his double life, asking her not to comment on his “weakness”.

Meanwhile, Saraswati, having forsaken his home, has been roaming the country, and reaches Pramad’s mansion. His presence is made known to Kumud’s father in-law, who despises his son’s cheap life, and adopts the well-educated Saraswati as his secretary. The two former lovers meet, but Kumud is adamant to perform the duties of a faithful wife. Saraswati witnesses her anguished life and tries to reach out to her, but she objects. Nevertheless, things change, because Pramad’s behaviour grows more openly flirtatious. Kumud requests Saraswatichandra to stay away from her personal life and asks him to leave her in-laws’ house. Determined to do whatever it takes to make her life easier, Saraswati decides to leave Kumud’s life. On his way he is caught by dacoits and left for dead in the sun. A group of holy men spot him and take him away to their hermitage where he starts leading the life of a recluse.

Things darken for Kumud. She’s chased away from Pramad’s mansion after he discovers one of Saraswati’s letters. This gives Pramad the pretext he’s been looking for: she must go back to her mother’s house. Kumud’s dignified attitude has earned her the friendship of women in her in-laws’ household, and they reveal to Pramad’s parents that he has chased his wife out of lust and selfishness. Pramad is thrown out of his house and he vows never to return. After leaving her in-laws’ house, a disheartened Kumud tries to drown in the river but is retrieved by some holy women on the banks. They take her to the same temple where Saraswati is trying to atone for his sins.

The two lovers come face to face for one more time. Kumud submits to her fate and accepts the senior sister’s advice that she must do something for Saraswati. The latter, on the other hand, has a mission to fulfill: told by the guru that Pramad is dead, he will have to break the news to Kumud. A (very static) meeting is organised: after having realised that their fate has again brought them together, they admit that they are made for each other, and love blossoms between them. But Kumud doesn’t know she’s a widow, and still hangs on to the hope that she might change her husband.

When Saraswati reluctantly tells her, he faces a new Kumud, who must now embrace the widow’s status. The film ends with Saraswati accepting Kumud’s request of marrying her younger sister, Kusum.

Saudagar

In Saudagar(1973) Nutan with subtle radiance portrays a woman Mhajubi who makes jiggery and falls to the temptation of Moti.I hardly have an adjective to do justice to the magnitude at which she immerses into the real character ,like nature’s true creation.. Her vulnerability is most subtle and when being betrayed by Moti she expresses grief at the volume of a whirlpool in the Ocean. In a most detached manner she projects the hardships of day to day life of a toiling poor woman ,with her facial expressions in dialogues as pure as crystal river water.Inspite of being so understated or mellowed her inner voice brims with subtle fluxes in moods. Her forgiving Moti in the end reveals virtuosity in heights of divinity.Nutan’s variance of expression sin playing Mjaubee has overtones of genius. To me it is one of Hindi film’s most artistic exhibitions portraying common people, with Nutan being as natural as the Gud she manufactures. She contrasts expressions like the colours of rainbow and deeply portrays the feelings of her subconscious mind. Even when facing trauma of divorce she does not lose her balance. I doubt any female star could have revealed as much realism, when  responding to  Moti and establishing a bond.

Moti (Amitabh Bachchan) is a “gur ” (unrefined concentrated cane sugar) trader who trades in the seasonal Gur made of “Khajur” (date-nectar). During the offseason, he meets a girl, Phoolbanu, and falls in love with her. Moti approaches Phoolbanu’s father, who asks for Bride price(mehar)), which he does not have.

Majubee(Nutan), a widow who is Moti’s business associate prepares the Gur for him to sell. Her Gur (and consequently Moti’s) is very famous and people always prefer to buy from Moti. Moti decides to marry Majubee so that he does not have to pay her, and hence can save more and sooner. Majubee, unaware of Moti’s ulterior motive, is first surprised by the proposal, but later accepts it. At the end of the season, Moti saves enough for the meher and divorces Majubee.

This incident shocks Majubee and people of the community. Moti meets Phoolbanu’s father and asks again for his daughter’s hand. Satisfied with the meher, he marries off his daughter (Phoolbanu) to Moti. All is fine till the Gur season arrives. Phoolbanu is terrible at making Gur, and Moti’s customers stop buying from his shop. Meanwhile, a fish trader (Majhi) asks Majubee to marry him. He is honest with her to say that he has small children and wants Majubee to look after them. He always treats her with courtesy.

It is almost the end of the Gur season, and Moti does not make a good profit that year. One day Phoolbanu making the gur left in between to take bath when Moti arrives and saw the Gur has been Burnt . He Badly Beats Phoolbanu with a Stick . Now He is finally is left with no other option than to request Majubee to make a few vats of Gur for him to sell. He takes two cans of date-nectar and approaches Majubee at her husband’s house to request her to make him some Gur to sell. He is followed by Phoolbanu. At first, Majubee is very angry on seeing Moti but understands that he is in a pitiful condition and is indirectly begging her forgiveness. She also sees Phoolbanu listening to everything from behind a fence. As the eyes of the two ladies meet, they start weeping and hug each other affectionately. The movie ends with this scene (suggesting that Majubee has forgiven Moti)

Tulsi

In Mein Tulsi  Tere Aangan Ki (1978) playing role of a mother  by enacting role of Sunakta ,she crystallises the theme of the movie, as a crusader against injustice. The radiance in her eyes when facing conflict of choosing which son to side with  is unforgettable. Her intensity at times reaches volumes of a torrent, particularly when scolding her son Ajay,enacted by Vinod Khanna. Even when expressing boiling lid of indignation she does not loose her grace. Her conviction to project the truth about the true identity of her son is heart touching. She reveals a spiritual dimension in her role with subtle detachment. With great malleability and craft she handles the conflict of her sons. Even in distress, conflict and turmoil she reveals an inner beauty. I have rarely seen such balance, inner radiance or grace by a middle aged woman in dealing with justice in a HIndi film .At almost every important juncture her expressions have poetic overtones, with morality written all over her face .

 Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki is about an aristocrat, Thakur Rajnath Singh Chouhan (Vijay Anand ), who is in love with his mistress Tulsi (Asha Parekh ) but forced to marry a strong aristocratic woman named Sanjukta (Nutan). Tulsi sacrifices her life, some time after giving birth to Rajnath’s son Ajay, because she wants Sanjukta to have her husband all to herself. Rajnath and Sanjukta send Ajay to boarding school to prevent him from bearing the stigma of being an illegitimate child. Sanjukta and Rajnath have a son, Pratap. Rajnath dies in a horse-riding accident. Sanjukta makes regular visits to the boarding school to see Ajay and, when he grows up, she brings him home. Ajay meets Naini (Neeta Mehta) and fall’s in love with her after a few misadventures. Sanjukta makes Ajay (Vinod Khanna)) into not only a very important man but also shields him every time and finally confesses before the public that Ajay is her husband’s first son and therefore, is entitled to respect. However, her own son Pratap (Deb Mukherje ) feels slighted and becomes wayward. Some people around them also try to further damage the relations between the two brothers. However, for every sin of the younger brother, Ajay protects him and takes the blame. Sanjukta, not knowing the actual situation, gets disturbed. Pratap seduces Geeta (Geeta Bhel)and gets her pregnant and blames Ajay vide her father Rana(Trilok Kapoor).At one stage, she blames Ajay for every wrong thing which actually has been done by her own son. Ajay leaves the house. But soon thereafter, the situation changes as Rana standing in support of Pratap feel deceived as he lets him down refusing to accept his daughter. In the climax, these men try to kill Pratap in a polo match, but Ajay, who comes to know of this plan, rescues his brother. Then, Pratap realizes his half-brother’s kindness. He surrenders to Ajay and accepts him as the elder brother. The family reunites

Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist.Toured India,particularly Punjab .Written on Mass movements ,,Massline,Maoism on blogs like Democracy and Class Struggle and frontierweekly .An avid cricket lover too who has posted writings on blogs like Pakpassion Indian Cricket Fans and Sulekha.com

[email protected]


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