''Saudagar'' is a 1973

Bollywood 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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, directed by

Sudhendu Roy Sudhendu Roy (1921–1999) was a noted Indian film director, art director and production designer in Hindi cinema, most known for his realistic art direction in auteur Bimal Roy's films, like '' Sujata'' (1959), ''Madhumati'' (1959) and '' Ba ...

and based on the Bengali story, ''Ras'', by Narendranath Mitra. It stars

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 ...

as Mahzubeen and

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

as Moti, in the leading roles. It also featured

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the seco ...

and

Padma Khanna Padma Khanna is an Indian actress, dancer and director. She appeared mainly in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is most remembered for her role in the film '' Saudagar'' with Amitabh Bachchan and also as Queen Kaikeyi in Ram ...

as Phoolbanu. Murad,

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as (Badi Bhi), Dev Kishan, Jugnu and V. Gopal are also featured in the film. Though the film didn't do well commercially, it was selected as the Indian entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the 46th Academy Awards, but didn't receive a nomination.

Plot

Moti (Amitabh Bachchan) is a " gur" (unrefined concentrated cane sugar) trader who trades in the seasonal gur made of "

Khajur ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

" (date-nectar). During the offseason, he meets a girl, Phoolbanu, and falls in love with her. Moti approaches Phoolbanu's father, who asks for mehar (

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...

), which he does not have. Majubee (Nutan), a widow who is Moti's business associate, prepares the gur for him to sell. Her gur (and consequently Moti's) is very famous and people always prefer to buy from Moti. Moti decides to marry Majubee so that he does not have to pay her, and hence can save more and sooner. Majubee, unaware of Moti's ulterior motive, is first surprised by the proposal, but later accepts it. At the end of the season, Moti saves enough for the meher and divorces Majubee. This incident shocks Majubee and people of the community. Moti meets Phoolbanu's father and asks again for his daughter's hand. Satisfied with the meher, he marries off his daughter (Phoolbanu) to Moti. All is fine till the Gur season arrives. Phoolbanu is terrible at making Gur, and Moti's customers stop buying from his shop. Meanwhile, a fish trader (Majhi) asks Majubee to marry him. He is honest with her to say that he has small children and wants Majubee to look after them. He always treats her with courtesy. It is almost the end of the gur season, and Moti does not make a good profit that year. One day Phoolbanu making the gur left in between to take bath when Moti arrives and sees the gur has been burnt. He badly beats Phoolbanu with a stick. Now he is finally left with no other option than to request Majubee to make a few vats of Gur for him to sell. He takes two cans of date-nectar and approaches Majubee at her husband's house to request her to make him some Gur to sell. He is followed by Phoolbanu. At first, Majubee is very angry on seeing Moti but understands that he is in a pitiful condition and is indirectly begging her forgiveness. She also sees Phoolbanu listening to everything from behind a fence. As the eyes of the two ladies meet, they start weeping and hug each other affectionately. The movie ends with this scene.Saudagar(a great businessman)(a Synopsis, Review
/ref>

Cast

as Majubee "Maju", Moti's former wife. *

as Motallib a. k.a Moti *

as Nadeer *

as Phoolbanu "Phool jaan" *

Murad Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It ...

as Sheikh *

as Badi Bhi *Dev Kishan as Waheed Bhaijan, Razak's elder brother *Jugnu as Usman *V. Gopal as Gafoor * C.S. Dubey as Banerjee * Yunus Bihari as buyer * H.L. Pardesi as Sikandar * Paro as Khaala * Habiba Rehman as village girl * Narbada Shankar as Mallik babu * Shriram Shastri as Sadan babu * Suraiya as villager

Music

The music for the film was composed by the versatile composer Late

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...

. Lyrics were also by Ravindra Jain. He composed several memorable songs for the movie, notably: #"Sajana Hain Mujhe Sajna Ke Liye" -

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 ...

#"Kyon Laayo Sainya Paan" - Asha Bhosle #"Husn Hain Ya Koi Qayamat Hain" -

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 ...

, Aarti Mukherji #"Har Haseen Cheez Ka" -

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 ...

#"Door Hain Kinara" -

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

#"Tera Mera Saath Rahe" -

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 ...

#"Main hoon Phool Banu" - Lata Mangeshkar

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saudagar (1973 Film) 1973 films 1973 drama films Indian drama films 1970s Hindi-language films Films scored by Ravindra Jain Films based on short fiction Rajshri Productions films Films directed by Sudhendu Roy Hindi-language drama films Films based on works by Narendranath Mitra

Plot

Cast

Music

See also

References

External links