Gaman ( hi, गमन, English:Departure) is a

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

released in 1978, starring

Farooq Sheikh Farooq Shaikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

and

Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who worked in films, television series and theatres. She appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just o ...

in the lead roles and introducing

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest a ...

in a supporting role. It is the

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

Muzaffar Ali Muzaffar Ali (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, cultural revivalist, and social worker. Biography Ali was born in Lucknow in 1944. The eldest son of Raja Syed Sajid Husain Ali, the ruling prince of ...

, who went on to make '' Umrao Jaan'' (1981). The film deals with the issue of the futility of urban migration, using the story of a migrant from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai, who tries to find a foothold in his new life as a taxi driver. The film's music was by

Jaidev Jaidev (3 August 1918 – 6 January 1987; born Jaidev Verma) was a music composer in Hindi films, most known for his work in films: '' Hum Dono'' (1961), ''Reshma Aur Shera'' (1971), ''Prem Parbat'' (1973), ''Gharaonda'' (1977) and ''Gaman'' ...

, who won the

National Film Award for Best Music Direction The National Film Award for Best Music Direction (the Silver Lotus Award) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the Directorate of Film Festivals to a musician who has composed the best score for films produced within t ...

in 1979 for his work, and for the Song "Aap ki Yaad Aati Rahi",

Chhaya Ganguly Chhaya Ganguly (also spelled Ganguli) is an Indian playback singer. She received National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her first film song "Aapki Yaad Aati Rahi Raat Bhar" at the 26th National Film Awards For the same song, she wa ...

won a

National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to a female playback singer for the best renditions of songs from soundtracks within the Indian film industry ...

. Shahryar wrote songs for the film, most notably "Seene Mein Jalan, Aankhon Mein Toofaan", sung by

Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...

, which highlighted the alienation and broken dreams of the migrant community. Ghazal singer Hariharan made his playback singing debut with the film.

Plot

In order to improve their lifestyle, Ghulam Hasan (

Farooq Shaikh Farooq Shaikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

), who hails from

Lakhimpur Kheri Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of . The nation ...

, a town in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, decides to relocate to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, on the insistence of his close friend Lalulal Tiwari (

Jalal Agha Jalal Agha (11 July 1945 – 5 March 1995) was an Indian actor and director in Bollywood films. He was the son of the popular comedian actor Agha. Jalal studied acting at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Career He made his d ...

). He leaves behind his ailing mother and wife (

). Lalulal helps him get a job cleaning taxis. Ghulam subsequently learns how to drive, and is hired to drive a taxi. In spite of his best efforts, he is unable to save enough money to visit

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

and his family. Lalulal has problems of his own, in spite of being settled in Bombay for several years. Having a sweetheart, Yashodra (

Gita Siddharth Gita Siddharth (died 14 December 2019) was an Indian actress and social worker. She acted in mainstream Bollywood as well as art house cinema, like '' Parichay'' (1972), ''Garm Hava'' (1973), and ''Gaman'' (1978). She was best known for her ro ...

), he is unable to even rent a decent apartment, and lives in a shanty tenement, which is slated to be demolished by the

Bombay Municipal Corporation The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC; IAST: ), also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), is the governing civic body of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. It is India's richest municipal corporation. The BMC ...

. Ultimately, Lalulal and Yashodara are murdered by the latter's family, as the family wants Yashodara to support them instead of marrying Lalulal. Ghulam decides to return to Lucknow, but procrastination prevents him from doing so. Closing shots show him driving his taxi in the city of dreams.

Cast

as Ghulam Hasan *

as Khairun *

as Yashodhara *

Sulabha Deshpande Sulabha Deshpande ( mr, सुलभा देशपांडे; 1937 – 4 June 2016) was an Indian actress and theatre director. Apart from Marathi theatre and Hindi theatre in Mumbai, she acted in over 73 mainstream Bollywood films. She als ...

as Vasu's mom *

as Lallulal Tewari *

Protima Bedi Protima Gauri Bedi (12 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian model turned Odissi exponent. In 1990, she established Nrityagram, a dance school in hesarghatta Bangalore. Early life Protima was born in Delhi,''Time Pass: The Me ...

as Passenger doing make up *

as Vasu *

Satish Shah Satish Shah (born 25 June 1951) is an Indian actor. He is best known for his comic roles in films like ''Jaane bhi Do Yaaro'' (1983), ''Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi'' (1984), ''Sarabhai vs Sarabhai'' (2004), ''Main Hoon Na'' (2004), ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (200 ...

as Passenger *

Arvind Deshpande Arvind (from sa, अरविन्द ') is a common Indian masculine name meaning lotus. The name is of Hindu origin. Its variants include Aravind, Aravinda, Aravindan, and Aurobindo (). Meaning ' means sun in the Sanskrit language. In pa ...

as Shankar *Amir Bano as Amma *Arun Bhutanatha *Dinshaw Daji as Parsi passenger *Hameed *Arun Joglekar as Ganpat *Hridaya Lani *Hira Devi Mishra as Lalluram's mother *Nitin Sethi as Thakur Amar singh *Mahabali Singh

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

, - , 1979 , Chhaya Ganguli (for ''Aap ki Yaad Aati Rahi'') ,

, , - , 1979 ,

References

External links

* {{Muzaffar Ali 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Urdu-language films Urdu-language Indian films 1978 films Films directed by Muzaffar Ali Films set in Lucknow Films set in Mumbai Films shot in Mumbai Works about human migration Films scored by Jaidev 1978 directorial debut films