''Mera Saaya'' () is a 1966 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

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Raj Khosla Raj Khosla (31 May 1925 – 9 June 1991) was one of the top director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi film industry from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was known for bringing in "neo-noir" and style in Indian cinema, and also as a "women's direc ...

. The music is by

Madan Mohan Madan Mohan is a form of the Hindu god, Krishna. Krishna is celebrated as ''Madan Mohan'', who mesmerizes everyone. His consort, Radha is glorified as Madan Mohan's ''Mohini'', who can even mesmerise Madan Mohan (her Kahn). Radha is known as th ...

and lyrics by

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 ...

. The film stars

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1929 — 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director and politician. Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful film ...

and Sadhana. This is director

's third film with Sadhana after ''

Ek Musafir Ek Hasina ''Ek Musafir Ek Hasina'' ''(English: A Traveller and A Beauty)'' is a 1962 Bollywood film directed by Raj Khosla and starring Joy Mukherjee, Sadhana in lead roles. The film was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee. The film's music is by O. P. Nayya ...

'' (1962) and ''

Woh Kaun Thi? ''Woh Kaun Thi?'' () is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film directed by Raj Khosla, starring Sadhana, Manoj Kumar and Prem Chopra. Though the screenplay was written by Dhruva Chatterjee, parts were later rewritten, wherein Manoj K ...

'' (1964). The film became a box office success. It is a remake of the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

film '' Pathlaag'' (''The Chase''). Manohar Amberkar won the

Filmfare Best Sound Award The Filmfare Best Sound is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of some of the award winners and the films for which they won. List See also * Filmfare Awards * Bollywood ...

Plot

Thakur Rakesh Singh, an affluent descendant of the royalty, is a lawyer and happily married to Geeta for three years. He goes to London for higher studies and after one year receives the news of his wife's illness. He immediately comes back only to witness his wife's death in his hands. He builds a small memorial in her memory in his mansion. He deeply mourns her by always sitting at that memorial and listening to recorded songs sung by Geeta. While things are like this, one day a police inspector Daljit comes to meet him. He explains to him about the bandit they caught on the other day, Raina who claims to be the wife of Rakesh. Rakesh meets her and gets shocked as she looks exactly like Geeta. But he rejects that she was his wife as he saw his wife dying and buried her with his own hands. But that woman claims that she was indeed Geeta and tells him about intimate moments they shared. Rakesh gets surprised but suspects some mischief. The case proceeds in the court and Rakesh starts to cross-examine that woman. She answers every question correctly and claims that she was kidnapped by someone two to three days before her arrest. When Rakesh asks why she has no

mangala sutra A mangala sutra (), or thaali (ISO: ''tāḷi''), is a necklace that the groom ties around the bride's neck in the Indian subcontinent, in a ceremony called ''Mangalya Dharanam'' (). The necklace serves as a visual marker of status as a ma ...

on her, which was a compulsory ornament for married Hindu women, she tells him that she removed it before going out on that day. He wouldn't believe that, as Geeta would consider mangala sutra very sacred and wouldn't have removed it. After some drama, he asks her about her diary, which Geeta always keeps near to her and she fails to answer. He decides that she was just an impostor and asks the court to convict her. She becomes emotionally unstable after all this drama and ends up in a mental institute. One night, she escapes from there and comes to Rakesh's house. There, she explains to Rakesh all that has happened. Geeta had a twin sister named Nisha, who was a bandit just like their mother. Geeta hides the fact about her criminal family and marries Rakesh. But one day her sister comes to her in a pitiable condition and asks her to give her shelter for one night. Geeta, seeing her sick get out of her house to buy medicine. But she doesn't want other family members to know about Nisha and makes Nisha dress like her and even gives her own mangalsutra to Nisha. But when she comes out, Ranjit singh, Nisha's husband mistakes her for Nisha and takes her away without giving her a chance to talk. When Ranjit Singh discovers that she wasn't Nisha, he wants to take her back, but police arrest them on their way back. While she was explaining all this to Rakesh, Ranjit Singh comes there and confirms her story. Police shoot him and he dies at Nisha's memorial. Rakesh and Geeta reconcile and start their regular life.

Cast

as Thakur Rakesh Singh *

Sadhana Shivdasani Sadhana Shivdasani (2 September 1941 – 25 December 2015), known mononymously as Sadhana, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films, primarily active between 1958-1981. Regarded as one of the finest and iconic actresses of the golden age ...

as Geeta / Raina (aka Nisha) *

Shivraj Shivraj ( hi, शिवराज; 1920 - 3 June 2017) was an Indian actor. Selected filmography *''Singaar'' (1949) *'' Andolan'' (1951) (He played a key role) *'' Patita'' (1953) *''Devdas'' (1955) *'' Seema'' (1955) *''Dekh Kabira Roya'' ( ...

as Family Doctor *

K.N. Singh Krishan Niranjan Singh (1 September 1908 – 31 January 2000), known as K. N. Singh in Indian cinema, was a prominent villain and character actor. He appeared in over 200 Hindi films over a long career stretching from 1936 to the late 1980s. ...

as Prosecuting Lawyer * Anwar Hussain as Inspector Daljit *

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 ...

as Daku Suryavar Singh / Ranjit Singh *

Manmohan Manmohan means 'Winner of the heart'. It is another name of Krishna, the Hindu deity, one of the "avatars" (or "incarnation") of Lord Vishnu. Manmohan may also refer to: *Man Mohan Adhikari (1920–1999), former Prime Minister of Nepal *Manmohan (a ...

as Doctor (in mental hospital) * Dhumal as Bankeji *

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran, in Kokani Muslim Family. He started his film career with th ...

as Munshiji *

Jagdish Sethi Jagdish Sethi was an Indian actor and director. Filmography Actor Director External links

* 20th-century Indian film directors Indian male film actors Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{India-film-actor-stub ...

as Judge

Music

The music for the film is composed by

. The song "Nainon Mein Badra Chhaaye" which is based on Raag

Bhimpalasi Bhimpalasi or Bheempalasi (also known as Bhimpalas or Bheempalas) is a Hindustani classical raga. Raga Bhimpalasi belongs to the Kafi Thaat. Theory * Aarohana: * Avaroha: The raag has komal Ni and Ga. It is an Audava-Sampoorna jati raga, imp ...

and sung by

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 ...

has a rendition of

Sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

and won Madan Mohan the "Sur Singar" Award for the best classical song for the year 1966. The haunting title track "Tu Jahaan Jahaan Chalegaa, Mera Saaya Saath Hoga" sung by

appears twice in the film & remains a classic.

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 ...

's song "

Jhumka Gira Re "Jhumka Gira Re" (Hindi: झुमका गिरा रे, "Earring Has Fallen") is an Indian Hindi song from the 1966 Bollywood film '' Mera Saaya''. It was sung by Asha Bhosle. The song was picturized on Sadhana Shivdasani. It was written ...

" also became very popular. It secured 4th spot in the annual top chart of Binaca Geetmala. All lyrics were written by

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0060689 1960s Hindi-language films 1966 films Films directed by Raj Khosla Films scored by Madan Mohan Hindi remakes of Marathi films Indian thriller films