''Taxi Driver'' is a 1954 Hindi-language

romantic musical film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

produced by

Navketan Films Navketan Films was a film production house based in Mumbai, India. Started in 1949 by actor-director and producer Dev Anand and his elder brother Chetan Anand, whose debut film, ''Neecha Nagar'', received the Palme d'Or (Best Film) award, at the ...

. The film was directed by Chetan Anand and stars his brother

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 ...

, along with

Kalpana Kartik Mona Singha (born 19 August 1931), also known by her stage name Kalpana Kartik, is a retired Hindi film actress. She starred in six films in the 1950s. She is the widow of the late Hindi film actor and film maker Dev Anand. Mona Singha was a ...

Sheila Ramani Sheila Ramani (2 March 1932 – 15 July 2015), also known as Sheila Kewalramani, was an Indian actress who was introduced into Bollywood by the film-maker Chetan Anand. She is known for her role in the movie ''Taxi Driver''. She was born in Sin ...

and Johnny Walker. The film was written by Chetan himself, along with his wife

Uma Anand Uma Anand (1923 – 13 November 2009) was an Indian journalist, actress, and a broadcaster in the mid-1900s. She was born in 1923 in Lahore, Punjab, British India to a prominent Bengali Christian family. One of her sisters, Indu Mitha, is a Bh ...

and his other brother Vijay Anand. The film's music director was

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 the lyrics were written by

Sahir Ludhianvi Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described ...

Plot

Mangal (

) is a taxi driver who is called "Hero" by his friends because of his altruistic habits. He is a driver who drives a cab by day, then at night listens to the seductive club dancer Sylvie (

) who has feelings for him. One day, while assisting another taxi driver, Mangal comes to the assistance of a damsel in distress, Mala (

), who is being molested by two thugs. Mangal gallantly rescues her, and attempts to take her to her destination, but to no avail, as the person she is looking for is Ratanlal, a music director, and he has moved out. The next day, Mangal and Mala again attempt to seek Ratanlal but the entire day is spent in vain. Mala starts living in Mangal's tiny apartment and both become attracted to each other. When Mala finds out about Sylvie, she decides to leave him. He goes in search of her, but in vain. Meanwhile, Ratanlal hires Mangal's taxi to go to some place. Due to certain circumstances, Mala returns to Mangal. Mangal takes Mala to Ratanlal's place and she is accepted there. Subsequently, she becomes a famous singer with the help of her music director friend. Will Mangal ever get a chance to tell about his love for Mala? What will Sylvie's reaction be?

Legacy

Dev Anand's taxi in the movie was a 1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster 4-Door Sport Sedan.

Cast

as Mangal "Hero" *

as Mala *

as Sylvie * Johnny Walker as Mastana *

Krishan Dhawan Krishan Dhawan (1926 - 20 May 1994 was an Indian character actor in Hindi language films. Career Krishan Dhawan was an actor, known for Vidhaata (1982), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963) and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974). Personal life He is the fat ...

as Gambler * M. A. Latif as Mr. D'Mello *

Sarita Devi Laishram Sarita Devi (born 1 March 1982) is an Indian boxer from Manipur. She is a national champion and a former world champion in the lightweight class. In 2009, she was awarded Arjuna award by the government of India for her achievements. ...

as Mangal's Sister-in-law *

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by

and the lyrics were penned by

Awards

Filmfare Best Music Director Award The Filmfare Best Music Album Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad Ali was the fir ...

for

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 ...

– for the

Talat Mehmood Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the popular male Indian film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in acti ...

version of the song- "Jayen To Jayen Kahan"- This song was also the second song to top the then popular

Binaca Geetmala ''Binaca Geetmala'' was a weekly countdown show of top filmi songs from Hindi cinema. It was popular and had millions of listeners. ''Binaca Geetmala'' was broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bharati ...

Trivia

Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik married secretly during lunch break at the shooting of this film. Sarita Devi who plays the character of Mangal/Hero's bhabhi, played the role of Shabri in TV series Ramayan 30 years later.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0047561 1950s Hindi-language films 1950s romantic musical films 1954 films Films directed by Chetan Anand Films scored by S. D. Burman Films set in Mumbai Indian black-and-white films Indian romantic musical films