''Saraswatichandra'' is a

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

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 released in 1968. It starred

Nutan Nutan Samarth Bahl (4 June 1936 – 21 February 1991), known mononymously as Nutan, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. In a career spanning nearly four decades, she appeared in more than 70 films, mostly as a protagonist, in both bi ...

and Manish among others and was directed by Govind Saraiya. The film was based on '' Saraswatichandra'', a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

novel, by Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, set in 19th-century

feudalism in India Indian feudalism refers to the feudal society that made up India's social structure until the Mughal Dynasty in the 16th century. The Guptas and the Kushans played a major role in the introduction and practice of feudalism in India, and are exam ...

. It also won the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

s in the ''Best Cinematography'' and ''Best Music Director'' categories.

Story

''Saraswatichandra'' tells the story of a young aristocrat, Saraswatichandra, whose marriage has been fixed with Kumud (

), an educated girl from a rich family. Saraswati decides to cancel the engagement and writes to Kumud to inform her. However, she replies and the two continue exchanging letters. Saraswati decides to defy customs and pays a visit to his fiancée. A short-lived romance ensues. Saraswati returns home after promising Kumud and her family that he will return for her. However, a family feud takes place and Saraswati writes to Kumud that he will not able to marry her. This triggers a series of misunderstandings, ending up in Kumud's marriage to a rich but illiterate suitor named Pramad (Ramesh Deo). As soon as she joins her husband at his palace, he quickly disdains her for nautch girls, and hardly hides his double life, asking her not to comment on his "weakness". Meanwhile, Saraswati, having forsaken his home, has been roaming the country, and reaches Pramad's mansion. His presence is made known to Kumud's father in-law, who despises his son's cheap life, and adopts the well-educated Saraswati as his secretary. The two former lovers meet, but Kumud is adamant to perform the duties of a faithful wife. Saraswati witnesses her anguished life and tries to reach out to her, but she objects. Nevertheless, things change, because Pramad’s behaviour grows more openly flirtatious. Kumud requests Saraswatichandra to stay away from her personal life and asks him to leave her in-laws' house. Determined to do whatever it takes to make her life easier, Saraswati decides to leave Kumud's life. On his way he is caught by dacoits and left for dead in the sun. A group of holy men spot him and take him away to their hermitage where he starts leading the life of a recluse. Things darken for Kumud. She's chased away from Pramad’s mansion after he discovers one of Saraswati's letters. This gives Pramad the pretext he's been looking for: she must go back to her mother's house. Kumud's dignified attitude has earned her the friendship of women in her in-laws’ household, and they reveal to Pramad’s parents that he has chased his wife out of lust and selfishness. Pramad is thrown out of his house and he vows never to return. After leaving her in-laws' house, a disheartened Kumud tries to drown in the river but is retrieved by some holy women on the banks. They take her to the same temple where Saraswati is trying to atone for his sins. The two lovers come face to face for one more time. Kumud submits to her fate and accepts the senior sister’s advice that she must do something for Saraswati. The latter, on the other hand, has a mission to fulfill: told by the guru that Pramad is dead, he will have to break the news to Kumud. A (very static) meeting is organised: after having realised that their fate has again brought them together, they admit that they are made for each other, and love blossoms between them. But Kumud doesn’t know she’s a widow, and still hangs on to the hope that she might change her husband. When Saraswati reluctantly tells her, he faces a new Kumud, who must now embrace the widow’s status. The film ends with Saraswati accepting Kumud's request of marrying her younger sister, Kusum.

Cast

as Kumud Sundari * Manish as Saraswati Chandra / Navin Chander * Vijaya Choudhury as Kusum *

Ramesh Deo Ramesh Deo (30 January 1926 – 2 February 2022) was an Indian film and television actor who worked in more than 285 Hindi films, 190 Marathi films and 30 Marathi dramas with over 200 showings in his long career. He also produced feature films, ...

as Pramad *

Sulochana Latkar Sulochana Latkar (born 30 July 1928) known by her screen name Sulochana, is a well-known actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema and has acted in 50 films in Marathi and around 250 films in Hindi. She is most known for her performances in Marathi ...

as Kumud's mother *

B. M. Vyas Brij Mohan Vyas (Hindi language, Hindi: बृज मोहन व्यास) (1920-2013) was an Indian actor of Bollywood who is best remembered for his role of Ravana in Babubhai Mistri's Sampoorna Ramayana (1961). He was the younger brother ...

as Kumud's grandfather *

Seema Deo Seema Deo (born as Nalini Saraf; 1942) is Hindi and Marathi movie veteran actress. She has acted in over 80 Marathi and Hindi movies. Early life She was born and brought up in Girgaum, Mumbai. Personal life She was married to actor Ramesh ...

as Alak * Jeevan Kala * S.B. Nayampalli as Pramad's father *

Sulochana Chatterjee Sulochana Chatterjee was a former Indian film actress, who worked as a character actor in Hindi and Bengali cinema, appearing in 93 films, most notably Aaja Sanam ''Aaja Sanam'' is a 1968 Bollywood film directed by Yusuf Naqvi. The film sta ...

as Pramad's mother * Babu Raje * Dulari as Saraswati Chandra's step-mother *

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 Saraswati Chandra's father *

Surendra Surendra is an Indian masculine given name. Notable people with this name include: * Surendra (actor/singer) * Surendra Bhave * Surendra Chaturvedi * Surendra Dubey * Surendra Gambhir * Surendra Hiranandani * Surendra Jain * Surendra Jha 'Sum ...

* Praveen Paul as Kumud's aunt

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by

Kalyanji Anandji Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...

and lyrics were penned by Indeevar.

Awards and recognition

* 1969, National Film Awards ** Best Cinematography,

Nariman Irani Nariman A. Irani (? 10 December 1977) was a Bollywood cinematographer and film producer. He is most known for producing ''Don'' (1978) made under his banner Nariman Films and for his work as cinematographer in Chhailla Babu (1977). He died i ...

** Best Music Director, Kalyanji-Anandji * 1969,

Filmfare Best Dialogue Award The Filmfare Best Dialogue Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of the award winners since 1958 and the films for which they won. Superlatives ;Most Awards *Gulzar – 4 *Rahi M ...

, S. Ali Raza

References

External links