''Mere Sanam'' (English: ''My Lover'' hi, मेरे सनम) is a 1965

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 ...

film starring

Biswajeet Biswajit Chatterjee (born 14 December 1936), known mononymously as Biswajit, is an Indian actor, producer, director, singer and politician known for his work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Early career After films in Calcutta including ''May ...

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...

Mumtaz Mumtaz ( ar, ممتاز) is a name commonly used in various countries in the Muslim world, mainly Afghanistan, Brunei, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Turkey. It can also be used as a female name. ''Mumtazah'' is a related female versio ...

, Pran and

Rajendra Nath Rajendra Nath Malhotra (8 June 1931 − 13 February 2008) was an Indian actor and comedian in Hindi and Punjabi films. Early life and family Rajendra Nath was born on 8 June 1931 in Tikamgarh, which is now in Madhya Pradesh. His family was f ...

. The film was a hit at the box office, especially because of the musical score by

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 ...

O. P. Nayyar Omkar Prasad Nayyar (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007) was an Indian film music composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the most rhythmic and melodious music directors of the Hindi film industr ...

and the

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 ...

collaboration. The film was shot in the beautiful locales of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

just before the outbreak of

Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

. The Songs "Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge", "Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera", "Pukarta Chala Hoon Main" and "Humdum Mere Maan Bhi Jao" are milestones in Hindi film music. This film is the unofficial remake of ''

Come September ''Come September'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. Plot Wealthy American businessman Robert Talbot owns a villa on the Ligurian coast, ...

'', which is a 1961 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan, starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin.

Story

Neena (

) is on an excursion trip to

, in the company of her mother Savitri Devi (

Achala Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

), who is also the warden of their girls hostel in

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 several female friends. During their journey, they decide to stay overnight at the Dreamland Hotel. Another lodger, Kumar (

Biswajit Chatterjee Biswajit Chatterjee (born 14 December 1936), known mononymously as Biswajit, is an Indian actor, producer, director, singer and politician known for his work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Early career After films in Calcutta including ''May ...

), who arrives there subsequently, finds their presence undesirable and asks the caretaker to get the surprised group to leave, as he is perturbed by the fact that his residential bungalow has been converted into the Dreamland Hotel! The caretaker, Shyam ( Pran) explains to the girls that Kumar is mentally unstable and under the impression that he is the owner of the hotel, as Shyam is involved in illegal activities there, for which he had converted the bungalow into a vice den. Kumar is the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to his uncle, Mr. Mehra's (

Nazir Hussain Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and acted in almost 500 films. Dev Anand starred in a large proportion of the films he acted in ...

) industrial empire and cotton mills as his father and Mr. Mehra were the best of friends. Mr. Mehra had relocated to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

for business, leaving his two-year-old daughter and his wife in her paternal home, subsequent to which came

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, which displaced his family. Meanwhile, during the trip itself, Shyam discovers through his servant, who had previously served under Mr. Mehra, that Savitri Devi is the lost wife of Mr. Mehra and Neena their daughter and thus true heir. He thus tries to cultivate both mother and daughter in the hope of usurping Mr. Mehra's wealth. After several misunderstandings and an altercation with goons at the nightclub of the hotel, because of Neena, Kumar and Neena fall in love and express their desire to marry to Mr. Mehra, who disapproves. Subsequently, Neena and her mother are given some intimate photographs of Kumar and Kamo by Kamo, alias Kamini (

Mumtaz (actress) Mumtaz Askari Madhvani (born 31 July 1947) is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she is the recipient of a Filmfare Award and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Hindi cinema. Born int ...

), who has been paid by Shyam to do so. But her greed makes her blackmail Shyam to give her more money to keep these secrets, whereupon he gets her killed. Kumar, to prove his innocence, barges into Kamini's room to find her dead, and is thus framed for her murder by eyewitnesses who see him there! Savitri Devi is united with her husband, on a chance meeting, but Neena has already left with her friend Pyarelal (

), who enlightens her about her true father, Shyam's bad intentions for her, and Kumar's innocence in Kamo's murder. Both of them chance to hear Shyam plotting to get Kumar shot at the beat of

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s, to be killed during a dance performance at the International club. Pyare silences the real dancer and replaces Neena with her and thus they are able to save Kumar from an untimely ghastly death. But Shyam grabs hold of Neena and escapes in his car to his hide out. He is chased by Kumar and overpowered there, along with the timely arrival of the police, thus resulting in a happy ending of the real family uniting together.

Cast

as Kumar *

as Neena Mehra *

as Kamini 'Kammo' * Pran as Shyam *

as Pyarelal *

as Mr. Mehra *

as Savitri Mehra * Dhumal as Banke * Asit Sen as Inspector Gopichand *

Laxmi Chhaya Laxmi Chhaya (7 January 1948 – 9 May 2004) was an Indian actress, dancer and teacher, who was known for her distinctive character roles and appearances in Hindi films. Following a series of roles as a child actor, Chhaya earned recognition ...

as Rita *

Ram Avtar Ram Avtar was a character actor turned comedian in Hindi cinema. He is best known for his roles in Nasir Hussain's films, especially '' Teesri Manzil'' (1967) and ''Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' (1973). These roles ranged from tickled train passenger in t ...

as stout jeep owner at check post * Jeevankala as lady car owner * Dev Kishan as Lalchand, Shyam's assistant * Maqsood as goon in Shyam's den

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by

, while the lyrics are penned by lyricist

. The soundtrack consists of 9 songs. Singers such as

Mohammad 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

have done the playback for the songs of the album. Songs such as "Pukarta Chala Hoon Main", "Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge" and "Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera" are still considered to be classics, while the others songs are also popular. There is also a small

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

, which

takes in the beginning of the song "Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title , id=0059445
Mere Sanam on YouTube
1965 films 1960s Hindi-language films Films scored by O. P. Nayyar Indian remakes of American films