Saudagar

This my all time favorite movie, especially for the performances of Nutan, and Amitabh ! Nutan played all kinds of roles in her career, from playful, romantic, with Dev Ananad, Raj, but this is, perhaps an exceptional role, in her filmography, which she did with the superstar Amitabh, when he was not awarded that status ! Amitabh has lived the role of Moti, a rustic youth, making his living,by selling jaggery, after working hard to collect the extract from the palm trees ! but there is more to it, to his personality, as he has his eyes on the sexy, youthful damsel Phulbano, played by Padma khanna. Now this is not that simple as may seem, because, Phulbano's father wants a hefty sum as a token for agreeing to give her hand in marriage ! now the hero thinks of a plan, and seemingly succeeds, when he lures the poor widow of the village, not so old, but of course, no match to Bano ! she is an expert in making jaggery, and Moti exploits her talent to the fullest ! He makes enough money, on her hard, sincere work, and coolly divorces her, as it's easier in the Muslim religion, just by calling, Talaq, 3 times ! Poor, hapless woman ! she , any way, marries another mature person, with 2, 3 kids, and he takes care of her ! n Now comes the turn in the events, as we do believe, one has to pay for the wrong deeds, in this birth only ! Bano is only good looking, minus skills ! she makes burnt jaggery, Moti becomes a laughing stock, and eventually , has to catch the feet of his ex-wife, Nutan ! Though furious in the beginning, her goodness of the heart prevails, ad she does surrender, to teach Bano, how to master the art ! Similar to the realistic regional movies from Bengal, this movie was a refreshing change, both for Hindi cinema, as well as for Amitabh ! But sad , our immature audience wanted him as an angry young man, stereotype roles only, and the movie was side-tracked ! Worth watching for the great performances, and a very subtle, sensible direction !

Very few people have seen this movie but i can assure you that one find it a memorable movie. The story is simple with strong performances of Amitabh and Nutan. The movie has a simple message that do not rely on material possession rather believe in relationships.

Someone said that Amitabh did not return to serious cinema again. This is not true. In 1984, Amitabh acted in a film name " Main Azad Hoon". Main Azaad Hon ("I am Azaad"), one of a very few Javed Akhtar films that Shabana Azmi appeared in, is an interesting rumination on how an ordinary - and anonymous - man can be moved to tremendous sacrifice by the plight of his fellow human beings. Javed Akhtar once said that Hollywood films are short stories while Hindi films are novels. But the characterizations and scope of Main Azaad Hon are, in some ways, more like the former. Interesting observation, given that the basic plot structure of Main Azaad Hoon is borrowed from Frank Capra's 1941 film Meet John Doe. Thankfully they haven't simply lifted the original script but have tried to work in an Indian context.

Based on Bengali story, Ras by Narendranath Mitra…lol – Bengali who else!!? Moti is a businessman (man basically).

He happens to see a voluptuous damsel (Phoolbano) and wants to marry her. Her father asks for dowry (Meher) which he has to collect.

He hits upon a plan. He marries his business associate, Mejubhen (who made gur – molasses) for him to sell in the market. She is an aged (older to him) thin & shrivelled widow. Because he married her – he did not have to pay her plus he was sorted for couple of months – with cooked food and clean clothes & house ready for him. He does not show any interest in eff-ing her though – for she was not attractive enough (this should have been enough hint about his ulterior motives btw….but the grey cells of the entire women clan apparently is on leave…vacationing in some distant island with an imaginary lover)! The poor lady had no clue as to what was his trip actually! He eventually collects enough money – kicked her butt (divorced her) & married Phoolbano! After all the bodily pleasures, the season of selling comes & Moti asks Phoolbano to prepare gur. She was more into 'sleeping & having fun' and making gur was something that she was not very fond of. She gets busy in beautifying herself and manages to spoil the gur recipe!(famous song 'sajna hai mujhe' – after which she gets a tight slap from the same sajna! – lol).

He eventually takes her – shamelessly – to Mejubhen so that she could teach her to make gur. Film ends here! Conclusion :

Male (some…majority actually) psychology is pretty clear here! They give more importance to 'skin' – beauty is just skin-deep for them. Period.

Women also understand this syndrome that males suffer from…and thus they are more into spending time in the beauty parlours and trying desperately to look young, taut and firm…lest the male they are tied to through marriage & rituals will kick their butt and go. They are thus giving lesser time to household requirements but diving for Botox and silicon sack treatments…or are just plain indifferent to the emotional needs of males – tit for tat after all huh!

(PS. Males (some) start having emotional needs only after reaching an age where they are unable to perform voraciously on bed…not before that)

Any kind of proposal should definitely be followed by a total background check before agreeing to marry any bloke with ulterior motives (men should also do a thorough background check – episodes of Saavdhaan India showing females torturing men – just unbelievable …eerie)….how long would humans remain dumb is the matter to ponder upon now!

Hindi movies rarely have subtle and powerful acting depicting complex human weaknesses like desire leading to destruction of lives. A simple tale told powerfully. Watch it with compassion for the characters; understanding the limitations of the culture (Mehr money for Marriage starting the problem and Easy Divorce compounding it); and Desire in one area destroying lives in another..

"Yeh aag nahi Bujhi" as the last line nails it home. Very subtle acting; Powerful Screenplay .. Must Watch.