''Yahudi'' (), is a 1958

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 de ...

-language

action 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-gen ...

directed by

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as ''Do Bigha Zamin'', ''Parineeta (1953 film), Parineeta'', ''Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas (1955 film), D ...

. It starred

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

Sohrab Modi Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', '' Sikandar'', ''Pukar'', ''Prithvi Va ...

Nazir Hussain Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and acted in almost 500 films. Dev Anand starred in a large proportion of the films he acted in ...

, Nigar Sultana and others. It was based on the play ''

Yahudi Ki Ladki ''Yahudi Ki Ladki'' (The Jew's Daughter) is a historical Urdu play by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, on the theme of persecution of Jews by the Romans. It was first published in 1913. The play became his best known work, and a classic in Parsi-Urdu theatr ...

'' by

Agha Hashar Kashmiri Agha Hashar Kashmiri (born Muhammad Shah, 3 April 1879 – 1 April 1935) was an Urdu poet, playwright and dramatist. A number of his plays were Indian Shakespearean adaptations. Early life He started to show interest in stage dramas and mo ...

, a classic in

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

-Urdu theatre, about persecution of Jews in the Roman Empire. Although, not very well received critically, the film was a big hit despite its alien theme, and was the third-highest grossing Indian film of 1958, owing to the box office draw of Dilip Kumar. The film's lyricist Shailendra won the

Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The awards were first given in 1954; however, the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1959. List of winners 1 ...

at the 6th ceremony, for the song "Yeh Mera Diwanapan Hai", sung by

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

. The plot bears similarities to

Jacques Fromental Halévy Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

's opera

La Juive ''La Juive'' () (''The Jewess'') is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' was one of t ...

. The story revolves around the life of a foster relationship. Set in the era of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

over 2000 years ago, it focuses upon the

persecution of Jews The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history, prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BCE, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. ...

at that time in the empire's centre -

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Plot

Ezra (

) is a

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

who has a son called Elijah. He also has a friendly butler/childminder called Emmanuel. In the beginning, Ezra is due to leave. As he does, Elijah becomes upset and stands at the balcony. In the roads of the Jewish area, Brutus (

Governor of Rome A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, is passing, making an announcement. Watching over the balcony is Elijah. A stone slips from his hand and hits Brutus on the head. Brutus immediately gets Elijah arrested, and as Elijah is a Jew, sentences him to death. Hearing this, Ezra rapidly returns from his trip and arrives at the doorstep of Brutus. He begs Brutus to free Elijah, but Brutus feeds Elijah to hungry lions. Ezra sadly returns to his house. In revenge, Emmanuel kidnaps Lydia, motherless daughter of Brutus, and takes her to Ezra. Ezra refuses to kill Lydia and instead adopts the child. Brutus' anger brews. He orders the guards to find his daughter, and call for punishment of all Jews. Ezra remains hidden and raises Lydia, who grows up thinking she is Ezra's daughter and that her name is Hannah. Years pass and Ezra grows to become a successful jeweller, well known to be so good and a Jew. Hannah (

) grows into a beautiful young lady and attracts attention from many. The Emperor of Rome arrives in

for the marriage of his son Prince Marcus (

) to Brutus' niece Princess Octivia ( Nigar Sultana). However, Prince Marcus avoids talking about his marriage and opposes it. One day, when returning from a hunting trip, he gets hurt and is cared for by Hannah. He then disguises himself as a Jew and goes back into the Jewish area. He rescues Hannah from the unwanted attentions of a Roman soldier and meets her father, Ezra, not as Prince Marcus but as Monshija, a successful Jew from Alexandria. Ezra is happy to meet him and "Monshija" and Hannah fall in love. But Hannah soon notices that something isn't right. Prince Marcus then reveals who he is, making Hannah very upset at his dishonesty, and she banishes the Prince from her life. Then comes the day of the marriage of Prince Marcus and Princess Octivia. Everyone is invited. Before the ritual could commence, Hannah shouts aloud that she had been cheated by a Roman. Ezra joins in to get back at his enemy Brutus. He clamors for justice. The Emperor demands the name of the culprit and Hannah claims it was Prince Marcus. Brutus tries to rebut Hannah and Ezra, but the Emperor insists that justice must be done. Heartbroken, Hannah returns home. She is followed by Princess Octivia. Hannah sees the Princess at her doorstep and denies her entry. Hannah knew the princess would beg for the Prince's life. However, the princess told Hannah that the Prince will be sentenced to death the very next day. Early morning the next day, without warning, Hannah took Ezra with her to the Emperor. There she told him that she takes the accusation back. She tells the Emperor that the man that cheated was not the prince but a look-alike. Ezra is shocked, and Brutus, filled with happiness, sentences Hannah and Ezra to death. They are to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil that very day, in front of the Prince. Unable to bear that his love will be burnt in front of him, Prince Marcus blinds himself, then goes to the cauldron chamber. Here Ezra is begging for Hannah's life, and Hannah is trying to reason with Ezra that she'd rather die than live a life of hate. But Brutus stops at nothing and wants the two to die. Immediately, Ezra tells Brutus that he knows where the Governor's lost daughter is. Brutus is confused and says that this is Ezra's revenge and accuses the Jew of lying. Ezra sarcastically agrees. But Brutus begs Ezra and Ezra will only tell on one condition. That Hannah is thrown into the cauldron as soon as Brutus finds out who his daughter is. Now Hannah is confused. Ezra tells Brutus that Hannah is Brutus' daughter and the Jew tells the guards to throw Hannah into the boiling oil. Brutus orders them to stop. Ezra looks at Hannah and dies. Hannah cries over her foster father's dead body. Brutus tells Hannah not to cry, but Hannah does not listen. She runs away from Brutus and finds the Prince. Shocked to find him blind, Hannah lends him support and helps him as the two disappear into the distance.

Cast

as Ezra Johari *

as Shehzada Marcus *

as Hannah / Lydia * Nigar Sultana as Shehzadi Octavia *

Nazir hussain Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and acted in almost 500 films. Dev Anand starred in a large proportion of the films he acted in ...

as Brutus * Anwar hussain as Antonio *

Minu Mumtaz Minu may refer to: *Minu Island, Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran *Minu District, an administrative subdivision of Iran *Minu, Lorestan, a village in Lorestan Province, Iran * Minu-Sepehr Aerospace University, Los Angeles, California, United S ...

as Ruth *

Tiwari Tiwari () is a surname of the Hindu Brahmin communities commonly found in India and Nepal. Alternative spellings include Tiwary and Tewari. Notable people Independence activists *Chandra Shekhar Azad (born Chandrashekhar Tiwari) *Adrian Cola Rie ...

as Emmanuel *

Murad Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It ...

as Emperor

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

* Indira as Yasmine *Adil *Bikram kapoor as Leo *

Baby Naaz Salma Baig (20 August 1944 - 19 October 1995) popularly known as Kumari Naaz or Baby Naaz was an Indian actress in Hindi language films. Career She started her career as a child actor in films. Her best remembered role as a child artiste was i ...

as Young Lydia *Romi as Elijah *

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

as Dancer / Singer *

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

as Dancer / Singer *

Kamala Laxman Kamala Laxman was an Indian author of children's books, and the wife of cartoonist R. K. Laxman. Kamala died in 2015 at the age of 90. She is survived by her son Srinivas, a retired journalist, her daughter-in-law Usha and granddaughter Rimanika. ...

as Wedding Dancer / Singer

Soundtrack

References

External links

*
Full movie YouTube
{{Bimal Roy 1950s Hindi-language films 1958 films Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan Films directed by Bimal Roy Films set in the Roman Empire Indian historical drama films Films about royalty Films about antisemitism Indian films based on plays Indian epic films Historical epic films 1950s historical drama films 1958 drama films