''Souten'' () is a 1983 Indian

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 ...

-language

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

Saawan Kumar Tak Saawan Kumar Tak (9 August 1936 – 25 August 2022) was an Indian film director, producer, and lyricist. He directed many Hindi films, including successful films like ''Saajan Bina Suhagan'', ''Souten'', '' Souten Ki Beti'', ''Sanam Bewafa'', ' ...

, starring

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna () (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. He is called as the "First Superstar of Hindi cinema", he consecutively starred in a record ...

Tina Munim Tina Ambani (née Munim) is a former Indian actress. She is married to Anil Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Group. She is actively involved in many foundations and charities. Many of these were established in the memory of her in-laws, Dhirubhai a ...

Padmini Kolhapure Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include ''Zindagi'' (1976) and ''Dream Girl'' (1977). She had her breakthrough ...

, Prem Chopra and

Pran Pran most often refers to , the concept of a "life force" in Hindu philosophy. Pran may also refer to: People *Pran Kishore Kaul, Kashmiri actor *Pran Nath Lekhi (1924/1925–2010), Indian lawyer *Pran Nath (musician) (1918–1996), Hindustani cl ...

. It was written by Kamleshwar, with music by Usha Khanna. The song "Shayad Meri Shaadi" sung by

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 ...

and Lata Mangeshkar became especially memorable. Khanna's chemistry with Munim also proved popular. The film was remade in Kannada as '' Krishna Nee Begane Baro'' and in Telugu as '' Tene Manasulu''. ''Souten'' was a silver jubilee hit on its release.

Plot

Shyam is an ambitious man who meets Rukmini, the daughter of a millionaire, and falls in love with her. They get married despite opposition from Rukmini's family. While Shyam wants to become a father, Rukmini is not interested in becoming a mother yet. Consequently, their relationship sours and eventually ends. Radha, daughter of Shyam's employee, brings a ray of hope into Shyam's life. What happens next forms the climax of the story.

Cast

as Shyam Mohit * Tina Munim as Rukmini Mohit (Ruku) *

as Radha *

as Raisaheb Prannath Pasha * Prem Chopra as Sampatlal * Shreeram Lagoo as Gopal * Shashikala as Renu Prannath Pasha *

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works notably in Hindi films, and Telugu, and a few Gujarati and a few Tamil films. He has appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient ...

as Mr. Jain *

Vijay Arora Vijay Arora (27 December 1944 – 2 February 2007) was an Indian actor in Hindi films and television serials who was known for ''Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' and as Indrajit in the television serial '' Ramayan''. Career He also appeared in the se ...

as Vijay * Satyendra Kapoor * Roopesh Kumar as Bingo (Photographer) * Yunus Parvez as public prosecutor, lawyer * Sudhir Dalvi as public prosecutor, lawyer * T.P.Jain as Gunwant Lal

Production

According to the director, ''Souten'' was the first Hindi film ever to be shot in Mauritius. Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi were offered the role of Rukmini, but they both turned it down, leading to Tina Munim being signed. Prior to ''Souten,'' Rajesh Khanna was not having a good run at the box office, as many of his previous films were failures. Although films like ''

Thodisi Bewafaii ''Thodisi Bewafaii'' () is a 1980 Hindi movie written and directed by Esmayeel Shroff. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Shabana Azmi and Padmini Kohlapure. The music is by Khayyam.The film was a commercial hit and in some cities celebrated as a ...

'' (1980) did provide some respite, he could not achieve the same level of popularity he enjoyed in the early 1970s. ''Souten'' and '' Avtaar'' (1983) are believed to be the two movies which temporarily restored some of his lost stardom.

Awards

;

31st Filmfare Awards The 31st Filmfare Awards were held in 1984, with the Indian New Wave Cinema at its peak. ''Betaab'' and ''Masoom'' led the ceremony with 8 nominations each, followed by ''Arth'' with 7 nominations and ''Ardh Satya'' with 6 nominations. ''Ardh ...

: Nominated * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Music Director – Usha Khanna * Best Lyricist – Saawan Kumar for "Shayad Meri Shaadi Ka Khayal" * Best Lyricist – Saawan Kumar for "Zindagi Pyaar Ka Geet" * Best Male Playback Singer –

for "Shayad Meri Shaadi Ka Khayal"

Soundtrack

The music of this movie was composed by Usha Khanna (one of the two female music composer to have ever worked in Bollywood). Saawan Kumar Tak himself penned the lyrics to the famous songs.The song 'Zindagi Pyar Ka Geet Hai' of this movie is a popular one. The song, 'Main Teri Chhoti Behna Hoon' is sampled on the Four Tet track 'Morning' on the album

Morning/Evening ''Morning/Evening'' is the eighth album by British electronic musician Kieran Hebden, released under his alias Four Tet in 2015 by Hebden's own Text Records and via the online music store Bandcamp. As a child, Hebden had inherited a collect ...

. The song, 'Meri Pehle Hi Tang Thi Choli' was supposed to be a duet between Lata Mangeshkar and

. However, Mangeshkar refused to sing this song due to the explicit lyrics. This led to Anuradha Paudwal singing it with Kumar. This film was a huge success of the year 1983. It was one of Rajesh Khanna's favourites.http://ibosnetwork.com/asp/filmbodetails.asp?id=Souten

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0348078, Souten 1983 films Indian romantic drama films Indian family films 1983 romantic drama films 1980s Hindi-language films Films shot in Mauritius Hindi films remade in other languages Films scored by Usha Khanna Films directed by Saawan Kumar Tak