''Aurat'', also known by its English title ''Woman'', is a

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

directed by

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

and starring

Sardar Akhtar Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into pr ...

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 'Su ...

Yakub Yakub or Yaqub ( ar, يعقوب‎, Yaʿqūb or Ya'kūb , links=no, also transliterated in other ways) is a male given name. It is the Arabic version of Jacob and James. The Arabic form ''Ya'qūb/Ya'kūb'' may be direct from the Hebrew or indire ...

, Kanhaiyalal and

Arun Kumar Ahuja Arun Kumar Ahuja (born Gulshan Singh Ahuja 17 January 1917 – 3 July 1998), popularly known as Aroon, was an Indian actor and producer who was active in Hindi cinema in the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in over 30 films in both leading and ...

. The film's music is by Anil Biswas and dialogue is by

Wajahat Mirza Wajahat Hussain Mirza Changezi ( hi, वजाहत मिर्ज़ा; 20 April 1908 – 4 August 1990) was an Indian screenwriter and film director who penned the dialogues of some of the most successful films in India during the 1950s an ...

. Mehboob Khan later remade this film as ''

Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wom ...

'' (1957), which is considered one of the biggest hits of all time in

Indian Cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

(and again repeated Wajahat Mirza for dialogues, Kanhiyalal as Sukhi Lala and Faredoon Irani for cinematography).

Plot

Radha (

) is an indomitable woman, toiling away to feed her three sons and to pay off Sukhilala ( Kanhaiyalal), the village's rapacious moneylender. When she learns that she is pregnant again, her husband, Shamu (

), runs far away, leaving her to fend for herself against poverty and the lecherous advances of Sukhilala. Later, the two eldest children die, leaving her with only two sons: the strait-laced Ramu (

) and the wild Birju (

). The latter of the two becomes a bandit, who kills Sukhilala and kidnaps his childhood sweetheart. As a result, Radha and Ramu are cast out of the village. Eventually, Radha kills Birju for dishonoring her.

Cast

as Ramu *

as Radha *

as Briju * Aroon as Shamu * Harish as Bansi * Jyoti as Jamna * Kanhaiyalal as Sukhi * Vatsala Kumtekar as Kamla * Sunalini as Sunder Chachi * Brijrani as Tulsi * Akbar Gulam Ali as Laloo * Kanu Pande as Chandoo * Wasker as Fulchand * Amirbanu as Kashibai

References

External links

* *
Full movie on YouTube
1940 films Indian black-and-white films 1940s Hindi-language films Films scored by Anil Biswas Films directed by Mehboob Khan Films about women in India Filicide in fiction Articles containing video clips 1940s Urdu-language films Indian drama films 1940 drama films Hindi-language drama films Urdu-language Indian films {{1940s-Hindi-film-stub