''Bahu Begum'' is a

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and " Hollywood". The industry, producing films in t ...

directed by M. Sadiq, and starring

Pradeep Kumar Pradeep Kumar (4 January 1925 – 27 October 2001) was an Indian actor who is recognized for his work in Hindi, Punjabi and English-language films. (Dinesh RahejaEver the royalRediff.com website, Published 2 June 2003, Retrieved 16 February 2 ...

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Known as "The Tragedy Queen", she is regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinem ...

and

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

. The film has music by Roshan and lyrics by

Sahir Ludhianvi Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet who wrote primarily in Urdu in addition to Hindi. He is regarded as one of the greatest film lyricists and poet ...

. This film is known for songs, "Hum Intezaar Karenge Tera Qayamat Tak", sung by

Mohammad Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

and "Duniya Kare Sawaal" by

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 ...

. The film is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

period drama set in the erstwhile Era of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

woven around a mythical story of Bahu Begum's manor.

Plot

The film is set in Lucknow, where widower Nawab Mirza Sultan lives with his daughter Zeenat Jahan in an old mansion, and he no longer has much wealth. They pretend to be wealthy, rent out part of the mansion, and the daughter desires luxuries that the father cannot afford. She visits a local jewellery shop to try on jewels (in pretense that she will purchase them) though she cannot afford. There a rich man, Nawab Sikandar Mirza, sees her and falls in love with her. Zeenat, on the other hand, is in love with Nawab Yusuf, and they meet each other at a nearby

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

shrine every Thursday. In a twist of fate, Yusuf's uncle cunningly fixes her marriage with Nawab Sikandar Mirza, though she assumes it is with Yusuf. When she finds the truth, it is the day of marriage. Dressed as a bride she goes to the local shrine hoping to meet Yusuf there, as it is Thursday. But because Yusuf is out of town, he does not show up and Zeenat faints. The wedding ceremony has commenced without her, as everyone assumes that the bride (as per the custom at that time) is in her carriage behind the curtains, and her silence is equivalent to approval. At Nawab Sikander Mirza's Haveli, the 'doli' comes empty. As he doesn't know what happened, he and his sister Suraiya hide the fact that Bahu Begum isn't in the palanquin, proclaiming that she is ill, and thus no one is able to meet her. Zeenat wakes up at the shrine past midnight and returns home but her disgraced and enraged father asks her to leave. She then goes to Yusuf's house to seek shelter, not knowing that he is out of town, and is told by his maternal uncle, Mir Qurbani Ali, that Yusuf does not love her and has relocated to

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

for a few months. She then goes to her in-laws' but is unable to speak freely with her 'husband' as he is angry and distracted. Devastated she runs away to the nearby

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

, but trips and faints in front of a horse carriage being ridden by a courtesan (

tawaif A ''tawaif'' () was a highly successful courtesan singer‚ dancer‚ and poet who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. Many tawaifs (" nautch girls" to the British) were forced to go into pro ...

), returning from her late night function. Zeenat wakes up at the home of the courtesan, Nazeeran Bai, who had rescued her from the road. Her misfortune has taken her to a kotha (brothel). Her father and supposed husband, meanwhile, are hiding the truth and pretending all is well in order to keep their honour. But thereafter destiny brings her to that place only which is supposed to be her in-laws' house, i.e., the residence of Sikandar Mirza. She is sent there to sit in as "temporary wife" to facilitate the marriage of her supposed sister-in-law Suraiya. When Zeenat arrives, Sikandar Mirza and Suraiya are pleasantly surprised to see that the real bride or the Bahu Begum has finally come to her destination. Her arrival is a great sigh of relief for them and now they show the Bahu Begum to the female relatives (only due to the tradition of Muslim ladies' remaining behind the veil in the presence of the males not closely related to them). But Zeenat tells Sikandar Mirza that when the

Nikah In Islamic law, marriage is accomplished through the marriage contract, known as a () or more specifically, the bride's acceptance of the groom's dowry (''mahr'') and the witnessing of her acceptance. The contract has rights and obligatio ...

was being performed by the Qaazi (Muslim priest), she was not present and she had not given her consent for the marriage and therefore, she is not his wife as per the law and their religion. However, she adds that she will never leave him, because his honour as well as the honour of his family is too important for her to take any such step, and she will remain the Bahu Begum of the household for the rest of her life. Sikandar Mirza, being a thorough gentleman and a kind person, is happy with this small consolation too, and does not impose himself upon her. Suraiya is married off under the stewardship of her Bhaabhi, i.e., Zeenat, the highly respected Bahu Begum of the house. But the story gets another twist when Yusuf returns and learns that he has become a victim of his maternal uncle's conspiracy. Deeply hurt to know that his sweetheart has been married to another person but not able to accept the reality, he approaches Zeenat at the house of Sikandar Mirza. Zeenat tells him that though her marriage was not properly executed and therefore she is unmarried in the eyes of the law and the religion, he should forget her as she will never compromise with the honour of Sikandar for the sake of her own happiness. Their conversation is overheard by Sikandar and then he sets his mansion on fire. He dies in it while making it look like that Zeenat died in it as well, to unite the lovers and ensure that they live happily together without the world knowing the truth.

Cast

as Nawab Sikandar Mirza *

as Yusuf *

as Zeenat Jahan Begum * Johnny Walker as Achchan * Naaz as Suraiya *

Lalita Pawar Lalita Pawar (née Amba Laxmanrao Shagun; 18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as a character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Bollywood, Hindi, Marathi cinema, Marathi and Gujarati c ...

as Naziran Bai *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as Kariban * Zeb Rehman as Bilqees *

D. K. Sapru Daya Kishan Sapru (16 March 1916 – 20 October 1979), was an Indian actor famed for a variety of character roles in Hindi cinema, particularly villains, judges and aristocrats in crime thrillers and dramas. His most notable performances were in ...

as Nawab Mirza Sultan * Indira Bansal as Shagufta Begum * Rajan Haksar as Nawab Pyare Miyan * Helen as

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

Music

The film has music by Roshan with lyrics by

References

External links

* * {{BH movie, bahu-begum Indian drama films 1967 films 1960s Hindi-language films 1960s Indian films Indian multilingual films 1960s Urdu-language films Films set in Uttar Pradesh 1967 drama films Films scored by Roshan (music director) 1967 multilingual films Films about Islam Films directed by M. Sadiq Films about courtesans in India