Foot Path

One of my friends pointed out that the film consists of a prophetic dialogue that our nation {India} does not have a strict law to curb the activities of those who make a profit on account of death.

I checked it and found that it fully applies with present plight in India where people are dying apparently due to mismanagement of the Pandemic with indifference or collusion of the ruling elite.

This is one of Dilip Kumar's most sophisticated film which oddly failed to find favour with the critics.The black market is presented in a very subtle way and the story-line is impressive.Dilip Kumar's acting is a tour-de-force,especially the ending confession at the police station with the ticking of the wall-clock!Ramesh Thapur,Anwar Hussain and Meena Kumari also give good performances.The song 'sham-e-gham ki kassam'memorable.The script and direction are splendid.It is a mystery why Zia Sarhadi did not made more films.Variations on this theme have been countless but none can match Sarhadi's subtlety.Altogether a gem of a movie.A real film noir of the Indian Screen.

The writer has touched the evil of black marketing with surgical precision. It's a never ending theme, which holds good even today in the periods of pandemic. It's amazing how aptly the writer understood the black market methodology way back in 1953.

The music is beautiful, especially two songs, one by talaat Hussain and one by Asha Bhosley(Sham e Gham ki qasam and kaisa Jadoo dala re) carry everlasting appeal.

Acting by Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari is the finest indian cinema could ever produce. Especially Dilip Kumar,s confession in the police station can be easily rated as greatest piece of acting ever produced by an indian actor.

It's beyond understanding how the indian cinema critics didn't rate this movie as a distinct and extra ordinary piece of work.

It's gem of a work and is strongly recommended for viewers.