''Babul'' (English: ''Father's House'') is a 1950

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 ...

musical drama film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by S.U. Sunny, produced and with music direction by

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

. The film stars

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 ...

Nargis Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid, also known as Nirmala Dutt; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) known mononyomusly as Nargis was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the ...

, Munawar Sultana in pivotal roles. A box office success, the film became the 2nd highest earning film of 1950, earning an approximate gross of Rs. 12,500,000 and a net of Rs. 70,00,000.

Plot

Ashok hails from a wealthy family and has a job as a postmaster, but it is clear that his job requires little hard labor, aside from sending an occasional telegram, leaving him time to enjoy his comforts –

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and song writing. A girl named Bela, the poor and simple daughter of the former postmaster strives for his affections and is supported by her poor father who wants her married. Bela prepares Ashok's meals, teases and amuses him, and imagines a happy marriage with Ashok, who likes her but is not in love with her. Bela has competition from the wealthy landowner Jamnadas's daughter Usha, who lives a lavish lifestyle in a hilltop

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

. Usha, drives a foreign car and seems more suitable for Ashok, the young postmaster. Bela, heartbroken, in a fit of jealousy lies to Usha that Ashok has confessed his love for her and is playing a double game. Bela witnesses Usha's wedding while sitting in a tree, believing that shortly afterwards she would be married off to Ashok. But the tree branch that she is sitting on breaks and she falls to the ground, severely injured. As she is brought back to her father's home in this condition, Ashok arrives and promises her father he would marry Bela. As Ashok sits on Bela's bedside to comfort her, Bela dreams again that the black-veiled rider has come to get her and dies.

Cast

as Ashok *

as Bela * Munawar Sultana as Usha * Amar as Usha's Father *

Jankidas Jankidas Mehra (1910 – 18 June 2003) was an Indian actor of Hindi cinema, cyclist, production designer, and writer. He made over 1000 film appearances between the 1930s and 1997. Biography Sports Although various press articles in India ...

as Ashok's Father * Jugnu as Munshi * Khursheed as Munshi's Wife * Uma Devi as Tun Tun (Munshi's Daughter)

Music

The score and a soundtrack of fifteen songs was composed by

and the lyrics were penned by

Shakeel Badayuni Shakeel Badayuni (3 August 1916 – 20 April 1970) was an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter in Hindi / Urdu language films. Early life Shakeel Badayuni was born in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhta Qadi ...

. The songs were mostly about the joys and pains of love, and the film is closely connected to the lyrics. The best known song in the film ''Chod Babul Ka Ghar'' (literally meaning ''Now you must leave your father's house''), is performed when a newly married girl departs from her maternal home and village. The love song ''Nadi Kinare'' (''On the bank of a river'') is performed by Ashok and Usha and a group of boatmen.

Cinematography

The film takes a theatrical form, largely attributed to the set of the film and script. Cinematographer Fali Mistry contributes much to the film with atmospheric lighting, especially during night scenes and is able to create an essence of darkness in the hilltop mansion which adds an element of suspense.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babul (1950 Film) 1950 films Films scored by Naushad 1950s Hindi-language films Indian musical drama films 1950s musical drama films Indian black-and-white films