''Chaitali'' is a 1975

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 ...

film, directed by veteran director

Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee (30 September 1922 – 27 August 2006) was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as ''Hrishi-da'', he directed 42 films during his ca ...

. The film, released in 1975, was produced by Mrs. Monabai Roy. It is based on the Bengali novel of the same name by Bengali writer

Ashapoorna Devi Ashapurna Devi (8 January 1909 – 12 July 1995), also Ashapoorna Devi or Ashapurna Debi, was a prominent Indian novelist and poet in Bengali. In 1976, she was awarded the Jnanpith Award and Padma Shri by the Government of India, D.Litt. by ...

. The music of the film was composed by the duo

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music. Laxmikan ...

. The film has actors

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first "He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has w ...

Saira Banu Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi language films. She was one of the most popular actresses in her heyday in the Indian film industry in the 1960s and early 1970s. Career Saira Banu was the ...

and

Pradeep Kumar Pradeep Kumar (born Sital Batabyal; 4 January 1925 – 3 November 2001) was an Indian actor who is recognized for his work in Hindi, Bengali and English-language films. Career When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. He sta ...

in lead.

Plot

Manish, a college professor, takes in Chaitali, a thief, and offers to support her to go straight. Chaitali lies that she is a widow when she isn't even married since she is the daughter of a fugitive and is brought up in a kotha (dancing house) by her protective stepmother. To hide her background, she lies, and that leads to more lies. Manish's brother Avinash is a lawyer practicing from home, and his bedridden wife Prabha accuses Chaitali of stealing a valuable necklace to which Chaitali quickly confesses. Before that, Chaitali, Manish and his mother had visited their family Guru for his guidance where Chaitali had confessed her life story to Manish. Out on the streets, she takes up dancing, which Manish misinterprets as her slap on his generosity. She decides to return money for the stolen necklace with earnings from her dancing but this is interpreted as arrogance and she is thrown out of the house. Soon, Avinash tells the truth to Manish as to why Chaitali confessed to stealing the jewellery.

Cast

as Manish *

as Chaitali *

Abhi Bhattacharya Abhi Bhattacharya (20 November 1921 – 11 August 1993) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Bengali cinema, who is most remembered for his roles in films of the 1950s and the 1960s, such as '' Yatrik'' (1952), '' Jagriti'' (1954), '' Anuradha'' ...

as Chaitali's father * Shyama as Chaitali's stepmother *

as Avinash * Bindu as Prabha *

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

as Manish's mother

Soundtrack

References

External links

* 1975 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films based on Indian novels {{1970s-Hindi-film-stub