''Badal'' is a 1951 Indian Hindustani-language romantic

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Amiya Chakravarty and produced by Bhagwan Das Varma. Starring

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. She is considered as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema. One of the country ...

Prem Nath Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath (21 November 1926 – 3 November 1992) was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in ...

(in the title role) and

Purnima Pūrṇimā () is the word for full moon in Sanskrit. The day of Purnima is the day ('' Tithi'') in each month when the full moon occurs, and marks the division in each month between the two lunar fortnights (paksha), and the Moon is aligned exac ...

, the film tells the story of a common man named Badal, who wants to exact revenge upon the Jagirdar for killing his father but ends up falling for his daughter Ratna. Released in May 1951, ''Badal'' became one of the biggest box-office hits of the year. The film title comes from the Persian word for revenge. It was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

as '' Jayam Manade'' (1956).

Plot

Badal Singh is a young man whose father was brutally killed for not being able to pay the revenue to the collectors. The king is away, and the kingdom is ruled by a greedy Jagirdar. Badal, in order to exact revenge upon his father's murderers, forms a group of village man who steal from the Jagirdar's palace and distribute the stolen money among the people. An old Jagirdar, has to thus, announce a reward of hundred golden coins for the person who would bring Badal to his feet, but no one is able to catch him. One day, Badal and his group get to learn that the Jagirdar's young daughter Ratna is coming back to the kingdom from her maternal home. Unlike her father, Ratna is a childish and happy girl who loves riding horses. Badal's friend Himmat stops Ratna's palanquin en route, kidnaps her and takes her to Badal's hiding place. Ratna has not yet seen Badal; Badal asks Himmat to pose as him and he himself dons a disguise of Baga Singh. Badal (as Baga) indulges in a fake fight with Himmat (who is acting as Badal) in front of Ratna and saves her. He takes her to the palace singing a song for her. Ratna is impressed by his personality and singing talent, and slowly falls in love with him as Baga Singh. They begin meeting and romancing each other frequently, without the knowledge of the Jagirdar. One day, Ratna goes to Badal/Baga's house (which is actually his friend Myna's living place, and he lives as a guest there). Jai Singh, Ratna's fiancée follows her to Myna's house. When Ratna is talking with Baga, Jai, hidden behind a pillar, recognises him as Badal. A sword fight takes place between Baga and Jai, in which Badal's true identity is revealed. A heartbroken Ratna leaves his house in disgust. Now how will Badal make Ratna understand his motive? Will they ever reunite? What will happen to his father's revenge?

Cast

as Ratna *

as Badal Singh *

as Myna * Agha as Himmat * Randhir as Jagirdar Mahipal Singh * Krishnakant as Badal's uncle * S. Nazeer as Jai Singh * Bazid Khan (as Bazeed Khan)

Production

''Badal'' was inspired from ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

'' (1938). It was the first film to star Madhubala and Prem Nath together. The film was announced in February 1951 along with '' Saqi'' (1952), one more Madhubala-Nath starrer. Madhubala briefly dated Prem Nath during the film's production before she fell in love with

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''Badal'' was composed by

Shankar–Jaikishan Shankar–Jaikishan (also known as S-J) were an Indian composer duo of the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949 to 1971. They are widely considered to be one of the greatest music composers of the Hindi film industry. After Jaikisha ...

. Lyrics were penned by

Hasrat Jaipuri Hasrat Jaipuri, born Iqbal Hussain (15 April 1922 – 17 September 1999), was an Indian poet, who wrote in the Hindi and Urdu languages. He was also a renowned film lyricist in Hindi films, where he won the Filmfare Awards for Best Lyri ...

and Shailendra. Playback singers included

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

(for Madhubala) and

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It is commonly used as a male given name in India. People with the name Mukesh include: * Mukesh (singer) (1923–1976), Indian playback singer from ...

(for Prem Nath). The film's music was one of the reasons of its success.

Release

Before ''Badal'' was released on 1 May 1951 at the New Amar theatre, it was heavily publicised by the local distributor Ranjit Singh Seble. The film's posters were put were put on both sides of hired local rickshaw-pullers and on the vehicle sat a man with a loudspeaker announcing to the public that the film would be released at the New Amar soon. ''Badal'''s pamphlets were distributed all the way to G.B. Road and Bazar Sitaram, and some special cut-outs of actors Prem Nath and Madhubala astride a horse were erected in the front of the cinema. Incidentally, the shot was from the song "Main Rahi Bhatakne Wala Hoon", sung by

Box office

''Badal'' completed a silver jubilee run at the New Amar theatre. Overall, the film proved a box-office hit, and grossed 90 lakh along with a net of 50 lakh. It was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1951. According to ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', the film was a blockbuster success. The film was popular in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

as well, completing a 25 week-run in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. In 2011, ''Best of the Year'' gave its inflation-adjusted gross as ₹645.3 crore.

Impact

Former actress

Ameeta Ameeta (born as Qamar Sultana) is an Indian actress. She appeared in Hindi language films such as '' Tumsa Nahin Dekha'', ''Mere Mehboob'' and '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai''. Career Beginning A fan of Madhubala, Ameeta was enacting her idol's sword ...

is said to have become a huge admirer of Madhubala after watching ''Badal'', and had caught the attention of director-writer Lekhraj Bhakhri when she was enacting her idol's sword fighting scene from the film.

References

Sources

External links

*{{IMDb title, title=Badal, id=0130489 Indian romantic action films 1950s Hindi-language films Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan 1950s Indian films 1951 films Indian black-and-white films Hindi films remade in other languages