Bhabhi (1957 film)


Bhabhi is a 1957 Hindi film directed by Krishnan-Panju for AVM Productions. The namesake of an earlier film directed by Franz Osten in 1938, the film stars Balraj Sahni, South Indian actress Pandari Bai and Nanda in pivotal roles.
The film went on to become the eighth highest grossing Bollywood film of the year. The film was a remake of the Tamil film Kuladeivam, which itself was a remake of the 1954 Bengali film Bhanga Gara, which in turn was based on the novel Bijila by Prabhavathi Devi Saraswathi. Kula Dheivam was later remade in Kannada as Jenu Goodu. Pandari Bai reprised her role in all versions except Bengali.

Summary

Although a graduate in Arts, Shanta agrees to marry a less educated widowed businessman Ratanlal, who has a son Mithu, from his first marriage, and re-locates to live with him, his brothers; Ramesh, Rajan and Baldev, and an aunt. Ratanlal permits her to let her child-widowed sister, Lata, to also live with them. Shanta soon earns the respect and love of everyone in the family. Ramesh marries Advocate Motilal's daughter Tara, while Rajan marries Mangala, who is Munshiram's daughter. After these marriages, misunderstandings crop up, generally generated by Mangala, so much so that Tara joins forces with her, forcing the brothers to separate from each other, with Ratanlal dividing the property and business equally amongst them, and re-locating in a small village house, while Ramesh now lives with Tara and her brother, Jeevan and his wife. Rajan does not get along with Mangala, takes to alcohol in a big way, stops his medical studies and joins the army, and Baldev re-locates to Bombay. The question remains: will this troubled family ever be re-united during their respective lifetimes?

Cast

Awards and nominations