''Kal Hamara Hai'' () is a 1959

Bollywood 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 ...

social drama film directed by S. K. Prabhakar and starring

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress and producer who worked in Hindi-language films. She ranked as one of the highest-paid entertainers in India in the post-independence era, ...

in dual role with

Bharat Bhushan ''Bharatbhushan Bhalla'' better known as ''Bharat Bhushan'' (14 June 1920 – 27 January 1992) was an Indian actor in Hindi language films, scriptwriter and producer, who is best remembered for playing Baiju Bawra in the 1952 film of the sam ...

. The plot revolves around two lookalike sisters Madhu and Bela who fall for a single man named Bharat.

Plot

Bharat, a young man, works as a puppet for greedy and wealthy Seth Hiralal. Hiralal once asks him to kill an old man who knows the truth of Hiralal's black marketing and show this as an accident, to which Bharat refuses. However, Hiralal himself knocks the old man down with his car and blames Bharat for this. Bharat is imprisoned but soon runs away from the jail with a thought of revenge. When he is about to murder Hiralal for destroying his life, Bharat meets a girl who is also hidden behind a pillar in order to steal something from Hiralal's house. She introduces herself as Madhu, and tells him that the purpose for stealing is she does not have money to buy medicines for her father, who met with a fatal accident just few days ago. Bharat decides to help Madhu and buys her medicine for her father. To his shock, her father is no one other than the old man whom Hiralal had asked to kill. Madhu's father is somehow not able to recognise Bharat. Madhu has a sister named Bela, who looks just like her and is sent to study in Delhi. One day, she sends a letter to Madhu telling her that she left the college as she was not able to pay the fees, and moreover, she is not interested in studies anymore. She began working as a dancer in a club to earn money. Hiralal notices Bela while she is dancing and tries to buy her. However, Bela is beauty-with-brains; she backs off Hiralal's plan, which infuriates him. On the other hand, in spite of no relation, Bharat begins helping Madhu financially and they fall in love. Madhu asks him to bring Bela back home and he promises her the same. Bharat goes to Delhi at once and tries to make Bela understand and succeeds. Bela, too like her sister, is impressed by his personality and falls for him. When Bela learns that Madhu also loves him, she leaves her sister's house; on her way is murdered by an infuriated Hiralal. Bharat is framed by Hiralal for murdering Bela. During the courtroom drama when Bharat is tried, it is revealed that he is the son of none other than Hiralal; his jealous relative had kidnapped him when he was an infant. As Bharat is imprisoned, Hiralal reveals to the court that Bela was killed by him. He also tells the court that throughout his life he earned money by wrong ways. He framed Bharat several times; he is regretting now. In the end, Bharat reunites with his family, marries Madhu and Hiralal is jailed.

Cast

as Madhu / Bela (double role) *

as Bharat *

Jayant Jayanta ( sa, जयन्त, "victory"), is a character who appears in Hindu literature. He is the son of Indra, the king of the devas (gods), and his wife, Shachi (Indrani). He has a sister called Jayanti. He appears in various Hindu scri ...

as Seth Hiralal *

Leela Chitnis Leela Chitnis (''née'' Nagarkar; 9 September 1909 – 14 July 2003) was an Indian actress in the Indian film industry, active from 1930s to 1980s. In her early years she starred as a romantic lead, but she is best remembered for her later role ...

as Hiralal's wife *

Murad Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It i ...

as Lawyer * Bhram Bhardwaj as Bharat's friend *

Hari Shivdasani Hari Shivdasani (1909–1994) was an Indian character actor in Hindi cinema from 1930s-1980s. Personal life Hari Shivdasani was a Sindhi Hindu from Karachi and had moved with his family to Mumbai at the time of the partition of the British Raj ...

as Inspector Umesh Mehra *

Nazir Kashmiri Nazir Kashmiri was a prolific character actor in Hindi cinema who appeared in over 100 films. His career extended from 1941 to 2008 spanning 67 years. He started his career in Lahore. He appeared in several Lahore productions before moving to Bo ...

as Doctor

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''Kal Hamara Hai'' 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 the lyrics were penned by Shailendra and

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was ...

Reception

According to a report by ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedl ...

'', ''Kal Hamara Hai'' opened to thronged houses and attracted "appreciative crowds" since its theatrical release on April 24, 1959. However, the enthusiasm among audience faded away after a few weeks. Nevertheless, the soundtrack was very well-received. Among the reviewers, Manjeet Singh of ''Thought'' disliked ''Kal Hamara Hai'' for its familiar tricks and story, but singled out

for her performance. Most of the reviews were mixed; Khatija Akbar said in 1997 that "''Kal Hamara Hai'' remained lacklustre, in spite of Madhubala's heroic efforts to save the movie. Playing twins, she turned in a polished performance, particularly in the role of the misguided "other" sister." On the contrary, Amarnath's daughter wrote: "Though ''Kal Hamara Hai'' did not do very well at the box-office, it is on the top of my list as one of my most favourite movies produced by my father. In my opinion, it was made before its time. It is a very thought-provoking socially conscious movie."

Trivia

*The scene where Bela (

) gives an autograph to a man was reused in 1962 film '' Half Ticket''. *Actor

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

was a frequent visitor of

K. Amarnath K. Amarnath (1 Dec 1914 – 14 May 1983) was one of the earliest film makers of Indian Cinema. His career as a movie producer and director spanned over four decades in the film industry. Early life Amarnath Gelaram Khetarpal was born in Mianw ...

on the sets of ''Kal Hamara Hai''. Later Kumar had admitted that the hero of ''

Upkar ''Upkar'' () is a 1967 Indian Hindi film directed by Manoj Kumar. The film held the top spot at the box office in 1967. It was Manoj Kumar's directorial debut film. Then India's prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri suggested Kumar to make a film b ...

'' (1967) was inspired from the hero of ''Kal Hamara Hai''.

References

Sources

External links

*{{IMDb title, tt0134757 1959 films 1950s Hindi-language films