''Alibaba And 40 Thieves'' (Alibaba Aur 40 Chor) is a

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

fantasy action film directed by

Homi Wadia Homi Wadia (22 May 1911 – 10 December 2004) was an Indian film director and producer in Bollywood (Hindi cinema). He was the co-founder of Wadia Movietone productions, established in 1933 and later after the closure of Wadiatone, he founded Ba ...

. The film was a Basant pictures presentation under the Wadia Brothers Production banner. The story, screenplay and additional dialogue were by

J. B. H. Wadia Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia (13 September 1901 – 4 January 1986), commonly referred to as J. B. H. Wadia, was a prominent Bollywood movie director, screenwriter, producer and founder of Wadia Movietone Studio. He was born in prominent Parsi famil ...

, while the dialogues were written by Chand Pandit and Tahir Lucknavi. The art direction and special effects were by

Babubhai Mistry Babubhai Mistry (5 September 1918 – 20 December 2010) was an Indian film director and special effects pioneer who is best known for his films based on Hindu mythology, such as ''Sampoorna Ramayana'' (1961), ''Mahabharat'' (1965), and ''Parasm ...

. The music was composed by

Chitragupta Chitragupta (Sanskrit: चित्रगुप्त, 'rich in secrets' or 'hidden picture') is a Hindu deity assigned with the task of keeping complete records of the actions of human beings and punishing or rewarding them according to their ...

and

S. N. Tripathi Shri Nath Tripathi (14 March 1913 – 28 March 1988) was an Indian composer, whose active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s. Tripathi's multi-faceted work range included being a composer, writer, actor, and director of films. His debut film ...

. Chitragupta had worked as an assistant to S. N. Tripathi in some of the mythology and fantasy films before branching out on his own. The lyricist was

Raja Mehdi Ali Khan Raja Mehdi Ali Khan (23 September 1915 – 29 July 1966) was an Indian poet, writer and a lyricist. Early life and career Raja Mehdi Ali Khan was born on 23 September 1915 at Karamabad village, near Wazirabad, Gujranwala District of Punjab, Br ...

. It stars

Mahipal Mahipal (1919 -2005) was an Indian actor who worked in bollywood mostly in stunt films like ''Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag, Roop Lekha, Sune ...

Shakila Shakila Mohseni Sedaghat ( fa, شکیلا محسنی صداقت, Šakīlā Moḥsenī Sadāqat), known mononymously as Shakila ( fa, شکیلا, Šakīlā; born May 3, 1962), is an Iranian singer-songwriter based in San Diego, California. She is ...

in the lead roles, with

B. M. Vyas Brij Mohan Vyas (Hindi language, Hindi: बृज मोहन व्यास) (1920-2013) was an Indian actor of Bollywood who is best remembered for his role of Ravana in Babubhai Mistri's Sampoorna Ramayana (1961). He was the younger brother ...

, Sharda, Lalita Kumari and

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

. The film based on the

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

fantasy adventure follows the story of Alibaba finding the cave filled with treasure and his escapades thereafter. Homi Wadia rebooted this film as '' Alibaba Aur 40 Chor'', with lead protagonist as

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thriller ...

, while continuing

as the main antagonist from this film. The songs from the movie went on to be used in the 1956 Tamil adaptation.

Plot

Alibaba and his brother are out with their donkeys when one donkey runs away and Alibaba follows looking for him. Hiding behind a stone he sees forty thieves ride up to a hillside and the chief saying "Khul Ja Sim Sim" (Open Sesame) and a cave door opening. He later goes back there and returns a rich man. The jealousy of Alibaba's brother's wife lands her husband in trouble with his head being cut off. Marjina, Alibaba's beloved finds a tailor who sews him back. The thieves find out about Alibaba and meet him under false pretenses. He invites them home where Marjina finds out the chief's strategy of pretending to be a merchant. She gets the 40 vats he's brought to hide the thieves in thrown down the hill. Finally Alibaba is free of the thieves and lives amicably with his brother and family.

Cast

as Alibaba *

as Marjina *

as Abu Hassan *

as Qasim Khan * Sharda as Sitara * Maruti Rao as Abu * Lalita Kumari as Fatima Begum * Shalini as Salma * Sardar Mansoor * Dalpat * Shri Bhagwan * Shapoor Aga *

as Dancer

Music

The music direction was by

and

who had started out as a composer by assisting Tripathi. Together they gave 'folk-based' music with some classical input by Tripathi. The songs were sung by

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

and

Shamshad Begum Shamshad Begum (Hindi: शमशाद बेगम, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and ...

. Lyrics written by

Song list

References

External links

* {{Homi Wadia 1954 films 1950s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by Homi Wadia Films scored by S. N. Tripathi Films scored by Chitragupta Indian fantasy films Films based on Ali Baba 1950s fantasy films