''Aar Paar'' () is a 1954 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language noir

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

. Directed by

Guru Dutt Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964; also known as Gurudatta Padukone) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998 ...

, it has music by

O.P. Nayyar Omkar Prasad Nayyar (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007) was an Cinema of India, Indian film music composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the most rhythmic and melodious music directors of the H ...

and lyrics by

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in the Hindi language film industry. He wrote lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was one of the dom ...

. ''Aar-Paar'' stars Johnny Walker, Shyama, Shakila,

Jagdeep Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (19 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in ''Sholay'' (1975), Machchar in '' Purana Mandi ...

Jagdish Sethi Jagdish Sethi was an Indian actor and director. Filmography Actor Director External links * 20th-century Indian people Indian male film actors 1903 births 1969 deaths {{India-film-actor-stub ...

. Raj Khosla and Atma Ram, Guru Dutt's brother assisted Guru Dutt in film direction. It is written in an article by ''

ThePrint The Print is an Indian online newspaper, owned by Printline Media Pvt Ltd. It was launched by journalist Shekhar Gupta in August 2017. History Printline Media Pvt. Ltd, founded by journalist Shekhar Gupta, was incorporated in New Delhi, Ind ...

'', which states "the beauty of Aar Paar's dialogue is that every character speaks in a language that reflects where they're from, their upbringing and education. Instead of one-size-fits-all Hindi, there's a bit of Punjabi, a bit of Parsi, inflections of Urdu, a smattering of street Bambaiyya, some heartland Hindi mixed with clumsy English. That attention to detail not only made the dialogue more authentic to the character, but also to the city of Bombay, long known for its cosmopolitan population." The film had very popular music. The album of the film was ranked #34 in the list of "Best Bollywood Albums of all time" by

Film Companion Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...

. It was also named the "Best Album of Golden Era" for the year 1954 in the 7th Mirchi Music Awards, 2014.

Plot

Kalu is a migrant taxi-driver in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He has two women who love him and would like to marry him. Kalu first wants to establish himself and become rich, before he can even think of marriage.

Cast

as Kalu Birju * Shyama as Nikki * Shakila as Dancer * Johny Walker as Rustam *

as Elaichi Sandow *

as Lalaji, Nikki's father * Bir Sakhuja as Captain * V. K. Murthy as Jailor Saxena *

Kumkum Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or any other local materials. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color. In ...

as a labourer (in song "Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar"; uncredited) *Noor as Rustam's Girlfriend (Uncredited) *

Tun Tun Uma Devi Khatri
Press Release, O. P. Nayyar with lyrics by

Trivia

Actress Noor played Johny Walker's girlfriend in this movie. In real life, she was Shakila's sister and wife of Johny Walker.

In popular culture

''Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar'' was sampled by Raghav in ''Can't Get Enough'' from his debut album '' Storyteller'' (2004).

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0046673 1950s Hindi-language films 1950s Indian films 1954 comedy films 1954 films Film noir Films directed by Guru Dutt Films scored by O. P. Nayyar Films set in Mumbai Indian black-and-white films Indian comedy films