''Mehbooba'' is a 1976 Indian

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 ...

-language

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

produced by Mushir-Riaz and directed by

Shakti Samanta Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films such as ''Anand Ashram'' (1977), Anusandhan /'' Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981), ''anay abhi ...

. The film stars

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna () (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. He is called as the "First Superstar of Hindi cinema", he consecutively starred in a record ...

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

and

Prem Chopra Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist ...

. The story is based on the reincarnation theme. The music is composed by

Rahul Dev Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

. The film is noted for an impressive performance by the lead pair and for its haunting melodies such as the solo song "Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon", sung by both

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

, "Chalo Ri" by Lata and the duet song "Parbat Ke Peeche". The plot is based on

Gulshan Nanda Gulshan Nanda (1929 – 16 November 1985) was an Indian novelist and screenwriter. Many of his novels were adapted into Hindi films in the 1960s and 1970s, including more than a dozen big hits of the period — ''Kaajal'' (1965), ''Kati Patang'' ( ...

's novel ''Sisakate Saaz'', and Nanda also wrote the screenplay himself. Upon its release, the movie was a silver jubilee in many territories and did not do well in Mumbai. This film has gained a cult following over the years.

Plot

Singer Suraj (

) was presented with a

tanpura The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...

by his fiancée's father. Thereafter, he often listens to a haunting song at nights and observes that its name was "Ratna". One day, while going for a stage show, he gets stuck in heavy rain in an unknown place and goes to stay in a small motel, where he meets a woman named Ratna. During the night, he observes that Ratna, singing the same song he often hears at night, is going to a distant palace. He follows her instinctively and enters the abandoned palace. He tries to call out for Ratna, but learns from the old keeper of the palace that Ratna died more than a hundred years ago and people feel that she still haunts that place. Later, a portrait of Ratna makes him remember their previous life. In the previous life he was Prakash, chief singer of royal court. He was in love with Ratna, a beautiful and talented court dancer. They fell in love, but failed to consummate their relationship as Prakash was already promised to Jamuna in his

childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

and Ratna was to become a royal courtesan, At last, they decided to run away, but were killed on their way, promising each other that they would meet again. Suraj, after coming to his senses, feels lonely and confused. Shortly thereafter, he meets a gypsy, Jhumri (also Malini), who is Ratna's reincarnation. Soon he makes Jhumri remember her past life and her love for Prakash. This angers Rita Malhotra (

Asha Sachdev Nafeesa Sultan, better known by her screen name Asha Sachdev is an Indian actress known for her roles as a supporting actress in Bollywood films of the 1970s and 1980s. She acted in a few early films as a lead actress as well, including the hit ...

), Suraj's fiancée and Popatlal (

), who wants to marry Jhumri. Popatlal steals the portrait, and sets the gypsies against Suraj, ensuring a fight between Suraj and gypsies. But Suraj and Jhumri manage to overcome all the obstacles and consummate their relationship this time despite all odds.

Facts

Initially, R.D. Burman had made a draft song version of the song "Mere Naina Sawan Bhadho" and sent the recording tape to Kishore. R.D. Burman had informed him that there is female version of the song too to be picturised. Kishore thought he would not be able to do justice to the song. He asked R.D. Burman to give him the tape with Lata's version on it. R. D. Burman agreed. He listened to the song for 7 days before recording. Kishore Kumar had his version recorded only after this. Till date, his version is more famous than Lata Mangeshkar's. Lata Mangeshkar's version has a long alaap, which comes thrice in the song, in the beginning, after the first antara and in the end. Kishore's version has humming instead of this. There are some more alaaps and one more version of the song by Lata Mangeshkar, which comes in the movie. This song is based on "Raga Shivranjani". This song played an important role in the sequence continuity of the film. Another song, "Gori Tori Painjaniya" is the most complicated one in the album. By this time, Kishore Kumar had established himself as the voice of Rajesh Khanna. However, Khanna decided that the previous birth in the film would have Manna Dey and the current birth would have Kishore.

Cast

Crew

*Director:

*Story:

*Screenplay:

*Dialogue:

Akhtar Romani Akhtar ( fa, links=no, ) means "star" in Persian. It is a unisex name. It is also a common surname. A variant spelling is Akhter. Notable people with the given name or surname include: Given name Akhtar * Akhtar Aly Kureshy Pakistani lawyer ...

*Producer: Mushir Alam,

Mohammad Riaz Mohammad Riaz is an Afghan cricketer. He made his List A debut for Band-e-Amir Region in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament The 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament was a List A cricket competition t ...

*Production Company: M. R. Productions *Cinematographer:

Aloke Dasgupta Aloke Dasgupta is an Indian sitar player in the North Indian classical tradition. He lives in the United States in Torrance, California. Dasgupta studied under the sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, and has performed with George Harrison, V.G. Jog, ...

*Editor: Bijoy Chowdhary *Art Director:

Shanti Dass Shanti may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of Buddhism * S ...

*Stunts:

M. B. Shetty Muddu Babu Shetty (1 January 1931 – 23 January 1982) simply known as, M. B. Shetty, or Shetty was an Indian film stuntman and action choreographer and actor in Hindi cinema in 1970. He had a towering personality with a bald head, often ca ...

*Costume and Wardrobe:

Bhanu Athaiya Bhanu Athaiya (née Rajopadhye; 28 April 192915 October 2020) was an Indian costume designer and painter. She was the only woman member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and the first Indian to win an Academy Award. Alongside being Bolly ...

, Jaya Chakravarthy, Dattaram,

Shalini Shah Shalini Shah (b May 17) is a National Film Award-winning filmmaker; a film faculty member at Kumaun University; and the artistic-director/co-founder of the Kautik International Film Festival, Nainital, Uttrakhand. Awards Recipient of the Natio ...

, Shriman *Choreographer: Suresh Bhatt, Gopi Krishna *Music Director:

*Lyricist:

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born ...

*Playback Singers:

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

Awards

;

24th Filmfare Awards The 24th Filmfare Awards were held in 1977. ''Kabhi Kabhie (1976 film), Kabhi Kabhie'' led the ceremony with 13 nominations, followed by ''Mausam (1975 film), Mausam'' with 8 nominations and ''Choti Si Baat, Chhoti Si Baat'' with 6 nomination ...

: Nominated *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

–

* Best Supporting Actor –

* Best Music Director –

R. D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

* Best Lyricist –

for "Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon" * Best Story –

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

. The songs "Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon", "Mehbooba" (title track) and "Parbat Ke Peechhe" too, were popular numbers.

External links

References

{{reflist Films scored by R. D. Burman 1976 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films directed by Shakti Samanta Films about reincarnation Films based on Indian novels