''Grahasti'' () also called ''Grihasti'', is a 1963 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 ...

-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 ...

, directed by

Kishore Sahu Kishore Sahu (22 November 1915 – 22 August 1980) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. He appeared in 22 films between 1937 and 1980, and he directed 20 films between 1942 and 1974. His directorial venture Kuwara Ba ...

. Produced by

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

for

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Sub ...

(Gemini Chitra, Chennai), its music director was Ravi and the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayuni. Pandit Mukhram Sharma wrote the dialogues with cinematography by P. Ellappa. The film starred

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

Rajshree Rajashree Shantaram (born 8 October 1944), known as Rajshree, is an Indian actress of Bollywood. She is best known for her work in the movies '' Janwar'' and ''Brahmachari''. Personal life Rajshree is the daughter of acclaimed Indian filmmake ...

Nirupa Roy Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who had appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow, Roy was known for her acting ability, and was uncharitab ...

Indrani Mukherjee Indrani Mukherjee (born 1 March 1942) is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films during the 1960s and 1970s and starred in over 70 films. After playing the heroine in some films, notably '' Usne Kaha Tha'' (1960) and '' Aakhri Khat'' (1966 ...

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'' ...

, Lalita Pawar and

Gajanan Jagirdar Gajanan Jagirdar (2 April 1907 – 13 August 1988) was a veteran Indian film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked in Hindi Cinema, also called Bollywood, as well as Marathi cinema. The period of 1942 to 1947, saw his rise as a film direct ...

. ''Grahasti'' was the first film to "start the trend" of family dramas being made in South India. The story revolves around Harish Khanna (Ashok Kumar) who leads a dual life, having two sets of families in different cities. The effect the exposure has on him and his family forms the basis of the story.

Plot

Harish Khanna (

) lives in a happy household consisting of his wife Maya (

) and his large family of seven daughters and one son in Meerut. Also staying with them is his widowed sister ( Lalita Pawar), and her son Jaggu (

Mehmood Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Siam Mahmud *Mahmood (singer) (born 1 ...

). Harish spends five days of the week away from his family for work in Delhi. Harish and Maya soon have a ninth child much to Maya's consternation, as her older daughter, Kamla (Bharati Malvankar) who is married to Gopal is also expecting a child. The fact that Kamla is pregnant is a cause of anxiety, as according to Gopal's parents, the couple have not been together since the wedding and her pregnancy is considered as a sign of her disreputable character. Gopal is not there to give an explanation and his parents decide to send Harish's older daughter back home. Harish finds out that two of his daughters, Kiran (

) and Kamini (

) are in love with Mohan (

), the son of the College principal, and Ravindra (Soodesh Kumar) respectively, and that Jaggu is in love with Rekha (

Shobha Khote Shubha Balsavar ('' née'' Khote) is an Indian film and television actress who has worked in several Hindi-language and few Marathi-language films. She is also a former women's national champion in swimming and cycling. Early life and educati ...

). Harish decides to get the three pairs married. Their meeting is fixed on Friday, the same day Harish always returns from Delhi. Harish has not appeared. Suddenly, a young lad by the name of Sundar appears. He is looking for Harish. He later explains that Harish is his father and he desperately needs to see his father to ask for money for his school fees. Not long after, Harish appears and the situation turns to chaos. One thing led to another to the extent of affecting the marriage of Kamla and Gopal. When Kamla is sent home accompanied by her in-laws back to her parents, Harish loses his cool and he is forced to break his promise he had made to one person he respects the most; his father in law, the father of Sundar's mother. His second wife is none other than Maya's younger sister, Radha ( Pushpavalli), whom Maya thought was dead. When Maya's father (

) had approached Harish to marry his daughter, Harish had assumed it was Radha, as the two were in love with each other. When Radha finds out that Maya too loves Harish, she forces him to marry Maya. Harish and Maya then leave their hometown Meerut, where Harish was helping his father-in-law in his car mechanic business, to go for a job to Rangoon at the invitation of Haris's brother in law, his sister's husband. One day, his brother-in-law brings home cinema tickets to see a stage performance. Maya, Jaggu and his mother went for it. The time period is WW II, and during a bomb raid, it is assumed that all three of them are killed. Harish gets back to India after he fails to find them. Radha's father who is already heartbroken due to Maya's death, asks Harish to marry Radha, but complications arise when news by telegram reaches them that Maya is alive in Rangoon. Her father then suffers a heart attack, but makes Harish promise that he'll not let Radha know that Maya is alive, nor tell Maya that he's married to Radha, as he feels that each may sacrifice their life for the other. After Harish ends up telling the truth, Gopal too admits to having spent nights with his wife, Kamla, without his parents' knowledge. All ends well with the last scene; the families, in laws, brides and grooms are in the wedding processions !! The end

Cast

as Harishchandra Khanna *

as Maya Khanna *

as Mohan *

as Kiran Khanna *

as Jaggu * Lalita Pawar as Harishchandra's Sister *

as Kamini Khanna *

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi) (25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil, Telugu with few Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi film industry. She was a popular lead actress in the 1960s. Devika is the grand daughte ...

as Radha * Sudesh Kumar as Ravindra *

as Rekha *

Achla Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

as Gopal's Mother *

Bharati Malvankar Bharati or Bharathi may refer to: Hinduism * Bharati, an epithet of the Hindu goddess of knowledge and music Saraswati * Bharati, consort of Hindu wind god, Vayu Given name * Bharathi (Tamil actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress * Bharathi V ...

as Kamla *

as Mohan's Father * Pushpavalli as Mohan's Mother *

Iftekhar Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer. Career Iftekhar was born in ...

as Harishchandra's Brother-in-law * Kanhaiyalal as Ram Swaroop *

Manmohan Krishna Manmohan Krishna (26 February 1922 – 3 November 1990) was a popular Indian film actor and director, who worked in Hindi films for four decades, mostly as a character actor. He started his career as a professor in Physics and held master's de ...

as Doctor * Jagirdar as Radha and Maya's Father

Reception and box office

The film premiere was held at the Naaz Theatre in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

on 28 February 1963. The songs and story were appreciated by the critics. With the crowds "storming" the theatre, ''MotherIndia'' magazine commented that "Grahasti has pleased the masses". The film was a big box office success, with journalist Randor Guy describing it in ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' as a "box-office bonanza". The ''Thought'' journal called it a "Daringly different domestic drama".

Awards

The music composer Ravi won an award for the song "Jeevan Jyot Jale". It was adjudged the Best Classical Composition in the "Sur-Singar Film Awards" for 1963. He won the "Swami Haridas Award", while Asha Bhosle won the "Mian Tansen Award" as the singer.

Story inspiration and remake

The film was adapted from a true story as recorded by Randor Guy in ''The Hindu'' and based on Liam O'Brien's hit play, which in turn was made into a film of the same name, '' The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' (1959) with

Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...

. Producer S. S. Vasan first presented the story idea to

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

, who turned it down. It was then made in Hindi with Ashok Kumar playing the main character. The success of the film changed Ganesan's mind and it was produced in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

as ''

Motor Sundaram Pillai ''Motor Sundaram Pillai'' is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by S. S. Balan and written by Veppathur Kittoo. A remake of the Hindi film '' Grahasti'' (1963), itself based on the American film '' The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker ...

'' (1966), with Ganesan playing the role enacted by Ashok Kumar.

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Tel ...

and Manimala played the two wives. The film was also remade in Telugu as '' Manchi Kutumbam'', in Malayalam as Samudaram with Prem Nazir and Sheela as lead roles.

Soundtrack

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

's rendition of the song "Jeevan Jyot Jale" won her the "Mian Tansen Award". The song was cited as the best song of 1963 out of the 544 songs released that year from a total of 77 films. The other popular number from the film was Geeta Dutt's "Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Lala". The music composer was Ravi and the lyrics were by Shakeel Badayuni. The playback singers were

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 con ...

, Mohammed Rafi,

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian playback singer and a famous Hindi and Bengali classical artist, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a ...

and

Usha Mangeshkar Usha Mangeshkar (born 15 December 1935) is an Indian singer who has recorded many Marathi, Manipuri, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Nepali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Assamese songs. Personal life Usha Mangeshkar is an Indian singer. She is the fou ...

Song list

References

External links

* {{Gemini Studios Films scored by Ravi 1963 films 1960s Hindi-language films Films directed by Kishore Sahu Gemini Studios films Indian drama films Hindi films remade in other languages 1963 drama films Hindi-language drama films