''Kitaab'' (''English: The Book'') is a 1977 Indian

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 ...

written and directed by

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

. The film stars

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, script writer, composer, and singer who predom ...

Vidya Sinha Vidya Sinha (15 November 1947 – 15 August 2019) was an Indian actress who acted in Hindi films, most known for '' Rajnigandha'' (1974), ''Chhoti Si Baat'' (1975) and '' Pati Patni Aur Woh'' (1978). She started her career as a model and won th ...

, Shreeram Lagoo,

Keshto Mukherjee Keshto Mukherjee (7 August 1925 – 2 March 1982) was an Indian actor and comedian. He was born in Kolkata,Bengal Presidency, British India. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecas ...

and Asit Sen. The film was based on Bengali story ''Pathik'' by

Samaresh Basu Samaresh Basu (11 December 1924 – 12 March 1988) was a writer in modern Bengali literature, known for his versatility and vast range of themes. He wrote under the pen name ''Kalkut''. Basu was awarded the 1980 Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengal ...

. The musical score is by

R. D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

with lyrics by Gulzar.

Plot

Babla (Master Raju) is a kid who lives in a village with his mother (Dina Pathak). His mother sends him to his sister's (

) place (in a city) so that he can go to a good school. Initially, Babla likes both school as well as his sister's home very much and becomes a good friend with Pappu (Master Tito), his classmate. They roam around in streets, watch street magic shows and wish they could do such tricks, look inquisitively at how sweets are made, make fun of teacher, etc. They enjoy all these things thoroughly. But Babla gets reminded of the harsh reality of life when his sister and brother-in-law start scolding him for his disinterest in studies and complaints from the school regarding his so-called irresponsible behavior (like making fun of teachers, singing in the classroom, etc.). He gets to realize that nobody understands kids, their innocence, their view of life and he will have to grow up to enjoy life fully. One day Babla decides that he will be better off living with his mother in the village. He runs off and gets on a train. Since he does not have a ticket, the ticket-master catches him and makes him get off at the next station. In the night he feels cold and looks around for shelter. He finds an old woman sleeping in a blanket and lies down beside her sharing the blanket. In the morning, finding the old woman still sleeping, he picks up a coin from her container and goes off to drink water. While drinking water he sees that lot of people have gathered around the old lady. He goes there and finds out that the lady he had been sleeping with was dead. He gets scared to his core and realizes that life is, in fact, not that simple for those who are poor. He puts back the coin he had taken and runs off to his mother's place. There he finds his mother, sister and brother-in-law worrying about him. They are overjoyed to see Babla back and Babla promises to everyone that he will study sincerely and never create trouble for anyone.

Cast

Raju Shrestha Fahim Ajani or Raju Shrestha, initially credited as Master Raju or Master Rajoo, is an Indian film and television actor, who started his film career as a child actor, in the 1970s. Raju has acted in films like Gulzar's '' Parichay'', Hrishikes ...

as Babla *

as Nikhil Gupta *

as Komal Gupta *

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 ...

as Kusum *Tito Khatri as Pappu * Shreeram Lagoo as Baijuram *

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi a ...

as Babla's Mother *

as Pandit Shankar Lal *

Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri (14 July 1938 – 15 October 1990) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumnus, Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory Co ...

as Principal *T.P Jain as English Teacher *Ram Mohan as Ustad

Soundtrack

#"Dhanno Ki Aankhon Men Hai Raat Kaa Suramaa" -

#"Hari Din To Bitaa Shaam Hui Raat Paar Karaa De" -

Rajkumari Dubey Rajkumari Dubey (1924 – 2000), better known by her first name, Rajkumari, was an Indian playback singer who worked in Hindi cinema of 1930s and 1940s. Best known for her songs, "Sun Bairi Baalam Sach Bol Re" in ''Bawre Nain'' (1950), "Gha ...

#"Mastarjee Kee Aa Gayee Chitthee" -Shivangi Kolhapure #"Mere Sath Chale Na Saya" - Sapan Chakravarty

References

External links

* {{Gulzar Films scored by R. D. Burman 1977 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Gulzar Films produced by Gulzar Films based on works by Samaresh Basu Indian drama films