''Saudagar'' () is a 1973

Bollywood 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 "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

, directed by

Sudhendu Roy Sudhendu Roy (1921–1999) was a noted Indian film director, art director and production designer in Hindi cinema, most known for his realistic art direction in auteur Bimal Roy's films, like '' Sujata'' (1959), ''Madhumati'' (1959) and '' Ba ...

and based on the Bengali story, ''Ras'', by

Narendranath Mitra Narendranath Mitra (30 January 1916 – 14 September 1975) was an Indian writer and poet, best known for his short stories in the Bengali-language. Several of his works have been adapted into films, such as Mahanagar directed by Satyajit Ray. ...

. It stars

Nutan Nutan Samarth-Bahl ( Samarth; 4 June 1936 – 21 February 1991), known mononymously as Nutan was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Nutan was noted for her natu ...

as Mahzubeen and

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

as Moti, in the leading roles. It also featured

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Born in the Kapoor Haveli i ...

, and

Padma Khanna Padma Khanna is an Indian actress, dancer and director. She appeared mainly in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is most remembered for her role in the film '' Saudagar'' with Amitabh Bachchan and also as Queen Kaikeyi in ...

as Phoolbanu. Murad,

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 (Badi Bhi), Dev Kishan, Jugnu and V. Gopal are also featured in the film. Though the film didn't do well commercially, it was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

46th Academy Awards The 46th Academy Awards were presented on Tuesday, April 2, 1974, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Burt Reynolds, Diana Ross, John Huston, and David Niven. ''The Sting'' won 7 a ...

, but didn't receive a nomination.

Plot

Moti is a famous" gur" (unrefined concentrated date palm juice) trader of Sultanganj who trades in the seasonal gur made of "

Khajur ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle East, ...

" (date-palm). During the offseason, he meets a girl, Phoolbanu, and falls in love with her. Moti approaches Phoolbanu's father, who asks for mehar (

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry, bride-wealth, bride service or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowry ...

), which he does not have. Majubee, a widow who is Moti's business associate, prepares the gur for him to sell. Her gur (and consequently Moti's) is very famous and people always prefer to buy from Moti. Moti decides to marry Majubee so that he does not have to pay her, and hence can save more and sooner. Majubee, unaware of Moti's ulterior motive, is first surprised by the proposal, but later accepts it. At the end of the season, Moti saves enough for the meher and divorces Majubee with pretext that she has illicit relationship with her much respected brother in law. Majubee being shocked has cursed Moti before leaving. This incident shocks Majubee and people of the community. Moti meets Phoolbanu's father and asks again for his daughter's hand. Satisfied with the meher, he marries off his daughter (Phoolbanu) to Moti. Side by side, Moti was using all the money he has earned with the help of Majubee and was taking more debt after marriage with Phool banu for a luxurious lifestyle. Meanwhile, a fish trader (Nadeer) asks Majubee to marry him. He is honest with her, explaining that he has small children and wants Majubee to look after them. He always treats her with courtesy.As a result, Majubee has left for another village. All is fine till the Gur season arrives. Phoolbanu is terrible at making Gur, and Moti's customers stop buying from his shop. It is almost the end of the gur season, and Moti does not make a good profit that year. One day Phoolbanu making the gur leaves in between to take bath when Moti arrives and sees the gur has been burnt. He badly beats Phoolbanu with a stick. Thereafter, his father in law arrived for reconciliation and they again started living together. But one morning Moti while collecting the sap from the palm tree gradually realises his mistake. He arrived at home without any plant sap for gur manufacturing. Phoolbanu(Phooljan) asked him where are the today's sap. Moti said he left the work of gur manufacturing. Realising that Moti is upset and totally broken Phoolbanu left for her father's home. Simultaneously on the way Phoolbanu saw Moti coming with plant sap but gradually realises that he is going somewhere else. Phoolbanu followed him on th way and realised that Moti is going to Majubee's house. Moti has finally realised his mistake. He takes two cans of date-nectar and approaches Majubee at her husband's house to request her to make him some Gur to sell. At first, Majubee is very angry upon seeing Moti, but she understands that he is in a pitiful condition and is indirectly begging for her forgiveness. She also sees Phoolbanu listening to everything from behind a fence. As the eyes of the two ladies meet, they start weeping and hug each other affectionately.

Cast

as Majubee "Maju", Moti's former wife. *

as Motallib a.k.a. Moti *

as Nadeer *

as Phoolbanu "Phool jaan" *

Murad Murad or Mourad () 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 is derived ...

as Sheikh *

as Badi Bhi *Dev Kishan as Waheed Bhaijan, Razak's elder brother *Jugnu as Usman *V. Gopal as Gafoor * C.S. Dubey as Banerjee * Yunus Bihari as buyer * H.L. Pardesi as Sikandar * Paro as Khaala * Habiba Rehman as village girl * Narbada Shankar as Mallik babu * Shriram Shastri as Sadan babu * Suraiya as villager

Music

The music for the film was composed by the versatile composer Late

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...

. Lyrics were also by Ravindra Jain. He composed several memorable songs for the movie, notably: #"Har Haseen Cheez Ka" -

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

#"Sajana Hain Mujhe Sajna Ke Liye" -

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 ...

#"Kyon Laayo Sainya Paan" - Asha Bhosle #"Husn Hain Ya Koi Qayamat Hain" -

Mohammed 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 ...

, Aarti Mukherjee #"Door Hain Kinara" -

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...

#"Tera Mera Saath Rahe" -

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 ...

#"Main hoon Phool Banu" - Lata Mangeshkar

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saudagar (1973 Film) 1973 films 1973 drama films Indian drama films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films scored by Ravindra Jain Films based on short fiction Rajshri Productions films Films directed by Sudhendu Roy Hindi-language drama films Films based on works by Narendranath Mitra

Plot

Cast

Music

See also

References

External links