''Mujhe Jeene Do'' () is a 1963

Hindi film 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 ...

, directed by

Moni Bhattacharjee Moni Bhattacharjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter of the 1960s who directed Hindi language films. Career Bhattacharjee started as an assistant to Bimal Roy on many classic films of the 1950s. After the success of the film ''Madhum ...

and written by

Aghajani Kashmeri Syed Wajid Hussain Rizvi (Urdu: , born 16 October 1908 – 27 March 1998), better known by his film screen name, Agha Jani Kashmiri (Urdu: ), was an Indian screenwriter, former actor and Urdu poet. He worked in Bollywood films, as a writer for a ...

. This dacoit drama 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 ...

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress and dancer. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses, Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by G ...

Nirupa Roy Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who had appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow, Roy was known for her acting ability, and was uncharitab ...

Rajendranath 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Shot in the Chambal Valley ravines of

Bhind Bhind is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the Bhind district. Demographics As of 2011 Indian Census, Bhind had a total population of 197,585, of which 105,352 were males and 92,233 were females. Populati ...

Morena Morena is the headquarter city of Morena district, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is governed by a municipality corporation. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Chambal division. It is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. G ...

under police protection in Madhya Pradesh state, and Mohan Studios,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

the film highlights the acting talents of its star cast: Waheeda Rehman and Sunil Dutt. The music is by the composer

Jaidev Jaidev (3 August 1918 – 6 January 1987; born Jaidev Verma) was a music composer in Hindi films, most known for his work in films: '' Hum Dono'' (1961), '' Reshma Aur Shera'' (1971), ''Prem Parbat'' (1973), ''Gharaonda'' (1977) and '' Gaman ...

. It was the fourth highest grossing Bollywood film of the year, and the official selection at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also the second success in a row of actor Sunil Dutt's production banner, Ajanta Arts, after ''Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke'', which had been released earlier that year. ''Mujhe Jeene Do'' was India's third "

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquia ...

" film, a genre loosely inspired by Hollywood westerns, but more so by the menace of dacoity in Central India in the early 1960s. The film was a major success, like the earlier two other big films in the same genre, ''

Ganga Jamuna ''Ganga Jamna'' (ISO 15919: ''Gaṅgā Jamunā''), also transliterated as ''Ganga Jamuna'' or ''Gunga Jumna'', is a 1961 Indian crime drama film, written and produced by Dilip Kumar, and directed by Nitin Bose, with dialogues written by Wajahat ...

'' (1961) and Raj Kapoor's '' Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai'' (1960).

Overview

Dacoits were traditionally shown as a rogue or menace to the society, especially in

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 ...

cinema, here for the first time film director, tried to show them in a fresh humanist perspective, thereby giving the film its memorability. The film's humanist angle is credited to its director Moni Bhattacharjee, who earlier assisted realist cinema master

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as '' Do Bigha Zamin'', '' Parineeta'', '' Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas'', ''Madhumati'', '' Sujata'', '' ...

in ''

Do Bigha Zamin ''Do Bigha Zamin'' () is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem " Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, it is c ...

'' (1953) and ''

Madhumati ''Madhumati'' is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and John ...

'' (1958), before turning director himself. The film was film actor

's second film as a film producer, after ''

Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke ''Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke'' () is a 1963 Hindi film starring Sunil Dutt and Leela Naidu in the lead roles. This film was Sunil Dutt's debut production, directed by R.K. Nayyar, with music composed by Ravi. Premise Dutt's favourite writer A ...

'' (1963), through which he yet again tried to break away from the traditional romantic leads he was offered in the mainstream

cinema. Though, here again, his role turned out to be that of romantic dacoit, though his acting received wide acclaim, and even

Filmfare Best Actor Award The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is an award, begun in 1954, presented annually at the Filmfare Awards to an actor via a jury. This is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi (Bollywood) films. The award was fir ...

of 1965. Both ''Mujhe Jeene Do'' and ''Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke'' were written by Sunil's best friend and favourite screenwriter,

Synopsis

''Mujhe Jeene Do'', is a classic dacoit drama from the

western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

s genre, a story about how love can lead to the redemption of even a hardened criminal like Thakhur Jernail Singh (

), who is a noted dacoit in Chambal Valley. One night, he happens to meet Chameli (

) a courtesan, at a wedding she was performing at. They elope and fall in love, later they have a son. But their romance is short-lived as he is about to be captured by the police, that is when Jernail sends Chameli away to a neighbouring village to raise their son, as he is sure of his end. Unfortunately, the village she goes to has an old grudge with the Jamila to settle and attacks the hapless mother and son as a mob, but the police save them in time, and even promises them the seized property of Jernail.

Cast

as Thakur Jarnail Singh *

as Chameli Jaan *

as Champa *

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

as Dara Khan's Mom *

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 ...

as Dara Khan * Manorama as Chamelijaan's Mom * Siddhu as Thakur Kirpal Singh * Anwar Hussain as Phool Singh *

Tarun Bose Tarun Bose (14 September 1928 – 8 March 1972) was an Indian actor, active in Bollywood during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and education Bose was born in Kolkata, though he grew up in Nagpur, where he studied at St. Francis High School. ...

as Superintendent of Police *

Kumari Naaz Salma Baig (20 August 1944 - 19 October 1995) popularly known as Kumari Naaz or Baby Naaz was an Indian actress in Hindi language films. Career She started her career as a child actor in films. Her best remembered role as a child artiste was i ...

as Chauthi Begum (as Naaz) *

D.K. Sapru Daya Kishan Sapru (16 March 1916 – 20 October 1979), was an Indian actor famed for a variety of character roles in Hindi cinema, particularly villains, judges and aristocrats in crime thrillers and dramas. His most notable performances were in ...

as Zamindar *

as Farida - Dhara's Sister * Wasi Khan *

Mohan Choti Mohan Choti (1935 – 1 February 1992) was an Indian actor who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. The name Mohan Choti came from a fictional character of the same name from the 1957 film '' Musafir'', in which he plays a tea shop delivery boy ...

as Kripal Singh's Goon *

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

Krishan Dhawan Krishan Dhawan (1926 - 20 May 1994 was an Indian character actor in Hindi language films. Career Krishan Dhawan was an actor, known for Vidhaata (1982), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963) and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974). Personal life He is the fat ...

as School-teacher * Asit Sen as Pandit Ram Avtar *

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

as Maulana Sheikh Rahim * Dulari as Phool Singh's Wife

Soundtrack

The music of

, coupled with lyrics by

Sahir Ludhianvi Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet and film song lyricist who wrote primarily in Urdu in addition to Hindi. His work influenced Indian cinema, i ...

, add to the tragic nature of the film. Also standing out is the cheerful song ''Nadi Naare'' sung by

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 ...

, noted for perfect rendition of the high-pitched song.

Awards

* 1964

- Won * 1964 Cannes Film Festival: Official selection, in competition for awards

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0057332, title=Mujhe Jeene Do
Mujhe Jeene Do at Waheeda Rehman Retrospective, 2001
1963 films Indian crime drama films 1963 crime drama films Indian Western (genre) films 1963 Western (genre) films 1960s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films scored by Jaidev 1960s Urdu-language films Films directed by Moni Bhattacharjee