''Solva Saal'' (English: ''Sixteenth Year'') is a 1958 Hindi movie. Produced by Chandrakant C. Desai, the film is directed by

Raj Khosla Raj Khosla (31 May 1925 – 9 June 1991) was one of the top director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi film industry from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was known for bringing in "neo-noir" and style in Indian cinema, and also as a "women's direc ...

. The film stars

Dev Anand Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand (26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011), better known as Dev Anand, was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema, through a career that spanned over six decades. He was ...

and

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 Awards, National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured wi ...

. The film's music is by

Sachin Dev Burman Sachin may refer to: * Sachin (given name), an Indian given name, including a list of people with the name ** Sachin (actor) (born 1957), Indian actor and filmmaker ** Sachin Tendulkar (born 1973), Indian cricketer Films * ''Sachein'', a 2005 Tam ...

and the lyrics by

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was ...

. This film also contains the song "Hai Apna Dil To Awaara" picturized on Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman in the train, sung 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 mouth organ by

Rahul Dev Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

. Director

makes a cameo appearance in the movie, as a director in a film shooting sequence. Khosla and Waheeda had a loud argument on the set when the latter refused to wear a low neck outfit for a scene. Khosla who had a similar objection to Rehman's contract clause for her first movie C.I.D, stormed out of set. Later shooting was continued after intervention of producers. The two, however never worked together.

Cast

as Prannath Kashyap *

as Laaj *

Bipin Gupta Bipin Gupta (21 August 1905 – 9 September 1981) was an Indian actor and artist during the 1930s and 1960s. He acted in Bengali and Hindi cinema, most notably in ''Baiju Bawra'' (1952), ''Jagriti'' (1954), ''Gharana'' (1961) and '' Khilona'' ...

as Shankarlal *

Sunder Sunder may refer to: *Sunder (actor) Sunder Singh as some of his earlier movies he's screen name given Sundar Lall he was a noted Indian film actor between the 1930s and 1980s. He acted in many Hindi and Punjabi language films in his career ...

as Gogi *

Jagdeep Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (29 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in ''Sholay'' (1975), Machchar in ''Purana Mandir ...

as Child Artist * Bir Sakuja as Biharilal * Kammo as Miss Neena (Shyam's Girlfriend) * Sheila Vaz as Dancer in 'Dekho Mohe Laga Solva Saal'

Plot

Laaj whose father has arranged her matrimonial alliance to his doctor friend's acquaintance, takes a family heirloom; pearl necklaces and elopes with her beau Shyam to Bombay. On the train, a crafty journalist named Prannath Kashyap overhears the lovers' plans and follows them in search of a story. Then Shyam gets off the train and runs off with the necklace. In pursuit of Shyam and to recover the necklace, Prannath comes to her rescue. What follows is a song-filled caper of intrigue, adventure and romance, all set in one eventful night. Prannath helps Laaj to get out of problematic situations. First on the railway track, then when Laaj is depressed, she tries to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. A brief interlude with the taxi drivers, who put themselves on the track of Shyam and with twists-n-turns, the necklace is retrieved and Laaj reaches home in time before her father wakes up and notices her absence. Young Laaj is wiser by the events of the night and realises that her Beau was only interested in her wealth. She agrees to go with her father to see him off at the airport who was going to Bangalore to settle the alliance with boy's mother. He plans to meet the prospective boy and introduce him to Laaj, as he was coming there with his doctor friend. As father and subdued Laaj is waiting at the airport he says to her "the boy I want you to marry is a nice guy, I like him a lot, but I want you to see him and decide". As the boy and doctor approaches them the boy looks at Laaj and stops, smilingly he says "she is the same". Approaching the father daughter duo, the doctor introduces the boy and as the Laaj looks up towards the boy she swoons and then smiles. Laaj and the boy smile mischievously as they make small talk. She gives her consent to the alliance and finds that the life is full of surprises after all.

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by

S. D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

and lyrics were penned by

. In one scene

says to

that his name should have been

instead of Prannath as he sings so well. In another scene Tun Tun as an aspiring singer sings a song 'Murali bairan bhai' from film

New Delhi (1956 film) ''New Delhi'' ( hi, न्यू डेल्ही) is a 1956 Indian Hindi-language black and white romantic comedy film written by Radhakishen with Inder Raj Anand and directed by Mohan Segal. The film starred Vyjayanthimala and Kishore Kumar ...

, originally sung by

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 ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0052217, Solva Saal Films scored by S. D. Burman 1958 films 1950s Hindi-language films Films directed by Raj Khosla