India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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 ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

A. R. Kardar Abdur Rashid Kardar (1904–1989) was an Indian film actor, director and producer. He is credited with establishing the film industry in the Bhati Gate locality of Lahore, British India (now in Pakistan). The music director was Anil Biswas, with lyrics by Khan Shatir Ghaznavi. Produced by National Studios, the story, screenplay and dialogue writer was M. Sadiq and the cinematographer was P. G. Kukde. The film starred

Sardar Akhtar Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into pr ...

, Zahur Raja,

Sitara Devi Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several prest ...

, Jyoti, Sankatha Prasad, Sunalini Devi,

Bhudo Advani Bhudo Advani (17 August 1905 – 25 July 1985) was an Indian character actor and comedian. He started his acting career in theatre with the notion of spreading awareness on social issues. He came to Bombay on the advice of an Ajanta Cinetone rep ...

and Baby Meena (

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 ...

). The story involves two sisters, Rama and Lachhi. The younger sister Lachhi, is raped by the rejected suitor of the other sister and gets pregnant. The film then follows the child being brought up by Rama while the real mother, Lachhi, works as a maid in the same house.

Plot

Two sisters Rama (

Sardar Akhtar Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into pr ...

) and Lachhi (

Sitara Devi Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several prest ...

) spend their time teasing each other. Rama's marriage is fixed with Darpan (Zahur Raja). However, the marriage is called off and Rama is married off to someone else. Unable to bear the humiliation, Darpan supposedly rapes Lachhi, as it's not made clear whether she was a willing partner. In the meantime, Rama's husband dies and she is now living a widowed life. When its learnt that Lachhi is pregnant, Rama takes her in and brings up Bina (Baby Meena) as her own daughter. Bina assumes Lachhi is just a maid working in her house. Much later, Bina finds out the truth about Lachhi being her mother.

Cast

*

Sardar Akhtar Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into pr ...

as Rama * Zahur Raja as Darpan *

Sitara Devi Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several prest ...

as Lachhi *

Baby Meena Meena Durairaj (born 16 September 1976), known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry as well as Hindi cinema. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi ...

as Bina * Kanhaiyalal *

Bhudo Advani Bhudo Advani (17 August 1905 – 25 July 1985) was an Indian character actor and comedian. He started his acting career in theatre with the notion of spreading awareness on social issues. He came to Bombay on the advice of an Ajanta Cinetone rep ...

* Sankatha Prasad * Sunalini Devi * Sayani Atish * Satish * Amir Bano

Production

Pooja deals with the "shattering consequences of feudal sexual codes". Kardar was interested in themes involving "sexual abnormality". He had earlier used the idea in his film '' Pagal'', which dealt with a "psychotic doctor" given to sexual obsession. Sitara's role of the unwed mother in the film was appreciated.

Soundtrack

The music director was Anil Biswas, while the lyricist was Shatir Ghaznavi. The singers were Sitara Devi, Sardar Akhtar, Zahur Raja, Jyoti, Tara Harish and Anil Biswas.

Song List

References

External links

* {{A. R. Kardar 1940 films 1940s Hindi-language films Films directed by A. R. Kardar Indian drama films 1940 drama films Indian black-and-white films Hindi-language drama films