''Miss Mary'' is a 1957 Indian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by L.V. Prasad. The movie is an AVM production, written by Hargobind Duggal, and directed by

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

. The original ''

Missamma ''Missamma'' () is a 1955 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by L. V. Prasad. It was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani on Vijaya Productions banner. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jam ...

'' was directed in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

in 1955 and was remade as ''

Missiamma ''Missiamma'' () is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by L. V. Prasad. Produced by B. Nagi Reddy and Aluri Chakrapani Vijaya Vauhini Studios, the script was adapted by Chakrapani from the Bengali novel ''Manmoyee Girl ...

'' in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

with Savitri playing the title role in both films. It was remade in Hindi as ''Miss Mary'' in 1957 with Meena Kumari in the titular role, keeping Jamuna as the constant factor in all these films. L. V. Prasad directed all three versions. The music was by

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemant Kumar and Hemanta Mukherjee, was a legendary Indian music composer and playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, as well as other Indian ...

with the lyrics and dialogue written by

Rajendra Krishan Rajinder Krishan Duggal (6 June 1919 – 23 September 1987) also credited as Rajendra Krishan, was an Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter. Biography Rajinder Krishan was born in a Duggal family at Jalalpur Jattan on 6 June 1919, in Gujrat ...

. The songs were sung by

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian playback singer and a famous Hindi and Bengali classical artist, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a ...

and

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 ...

. The film's script was adapted by Chakrapani from two Indian

Bengali-language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of t ...

novels: Rabindranath Maitra's ''Manmoyee Girls School'' and

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sharadindu compos ...

''Detective''. Meena Kumari, who was to later become famous for her tragedy roles meriting the sobriquet "Queen of Tragedy", acted in a few light-hearted roles in the 1950s in films such as '' Azaad'' (1955), ''

Mem Sahib ''Mem Sahib'' is a 1956 Bollywood drama film directed and produced by R.C. Talwar starring Meena Kumari, Kishore Kumar and Shammi Kapoor in lead roles. Plot Bombay-based Meena (Meena Kumari) lives a wealthy lifestyle along with her Chacha an ...

'' (1956),

Shararat (1959 film) ''Shararat'' (meaning "Mischief") is a 1959 Hindi romantic drama film written, produced and directed by H. S. Rawail. It stars Raaj Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Meena Kumari, Kumkum in lead roles, with the memorable song "Hum Matwale Naujawan" sun ...

, '' Kohinoor'' (1960) and ''Miss Mary''. For Gemini Ganesan (who was introduced to the Hindi-speaking film audience with this film), and for Meena Kumari, ''Miss Mary'' was one of the biggest hits of that year.The New Indian Express, Janani Sampath: The South-Bollywood Hero Brigade
/ref>

Plot

The film is a light-hearted comedy with

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

(who regularly played tragedienne roles) performing one of her rare comic acts. The story is about Arun (

Gemini Ganeshan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

), an unemployed teacher who comes across an advertisement offering a job at the Lakshmi School with the proviso that only married couples need apply. He meets Miss Mary (Meena Kumari), a Christian girl who is badly in need of a job to pay off her parents' debt. She agrees to pose as his wife. They hire Nakdau (

Om Prakash Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Nam ...

), a beggar-cum-conman as a servant to keep up the pretense. The school owners (Rai Sahib and his wife), are looking for their long lost daughter Laxmi (hence the Laxmi School), who went missing sixteen years ago and the only thing tying her to them is a locket and an identification mark in the form of a mole on her left foot. They employ a detective Raju (

) to find her. Raju is an orphan brought up as a nephew by the Rai Sahib. The old couple find a resemblance in Mary to their daughter and show her a photo of Laxmi that looks like her. Mary tells them that she can't be their daughter as she was brought up in a Christian environment by Christian parents. Mary feels bad for lying about her married status to the Rai Sahib and his wife. She and Arun start liking each other in spite of their constant bickering. The owner's other daughter and Mary's biological sister Sita (Jamuna) has a fondness for Arun which upsets Mary. There are several comic sequences involving Raju and his friend. The truth is revealed about Mary being the Rai Sahib's daughter Laxmi when her foster parents arrive.

Cast

as Laxmi / Miss Mary *

as Arun *

as Raju * Jamuna as Sita *

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 ...

as Laxmi & Sita's Mother *

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 Rai Sahib (Laxmi & Sita's Father) * Randhir as John *

as Nakdau *

Marutirao Parab Marutirao Parab, popularly known simply as Maruti, was an Indian actor and director best known for playing comic roles in Hindi films. Personal life Parab was married to Kamal - a small time star in Hindi films who appeared in movies like ''Das ...

as Interviewer *

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 Laxmi's Foster Father * A. Karunanidhi as Karunanidhi * Kesari as Vaidji

Soundtrack

The music and background score was composed by

and the lyrics were penned by

. The songs were popular, especially "Gaana Na Aaya, Bajaana Na Aaya" sung by

, "Yeh Mard Bade Dilsard, Bade Bedard", "O Raat Ke Musafir Chanda Zara Bata De", "Brindavan Ka Krishna Kanhaiya" sung by

and

, who first sang together in ''Ladli'' (1949), had a duet in the film: "Sakhi Ri Sun Bole Papiha Us Paar". Asha, despite her lack of training from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar and other Ustads, was able to follow Lata ably in her sargam-

taan ''Taan'' (Hindi: , ur, ) is a technique used in the vocal performance of a raga in Hindustani classical music. It involves the improvisation of very rapid melodic passages using vowels, often the long "a" as in the word "far", and it targets a ...

, keeping "perfect timing". Although

isn't the hero of this film, he displays his immense musical talent in the song "Gaana Na Aaya". With crazy lyrics like "O My Sita / Paplu Papita", the song is a nutty medley of various music forms and styles, which includes the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{AVM Productions 1957 films Films shot in India 1950s Hindi-language films Films scored by Hemant Kumar Films directed by L. V. Prasad Hindi remakes of Tamil films AVM Productions films Hindi remakes of Telugu films