''Baseraa'' is a 1981

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 ...

film produced by

Ramesh Behl Ramesh Behl was an Indian film director and producer belonging to Behl family of Hindi films. He produced known successful films like The Train (1970 film), '' Kasme Vaade'' (1978). He directed films like '' Jawaani'' (1984), '' Pukar'' (198 ...

, and directed by

Ramesh Talwar Ramesh Talwar is an Indian film, theatre, television and film director, co-producer and actor. He is the nephew of the film writer, short story writer and playwright Sagar Sarhadi. Talwar began his career as a child artist in ''Love in Simla' ...

. The film is based on a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

novel by Leela Phansalkar. It stars

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful acto ...

Raakhee Raakhee Gulzar ( Majumdar) (; born 15 August 1947), professionally known as Raakhee, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. One of the leading and most popular actresses of the 1970s and early 1980s, Raakhee is a ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (; born 10 October 1954), better known by her mononymous stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in mo ...

, Raj Kiran,

Poonam Dhillon Poonam Dhillon (born 18 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. A former Eve’s Weekly Miss Young India 1978, she is best known for her 1979 film ''Noorie.'' Some of her well-known films include '' Red Rose'' (1980), '' Dard'' (1981), ...

in lead roles. The music was composed by R. D. Burman. The movie was a hit at the box office and the lead actor's performance was much praised. The film was remade in Telugu as ''Thodu Needa'' (1983), in Tamil as ''Kanmaniye Pesu'' (1986), in Malayalam as ''Nirabhedangal'' (1987) and in Kannada as ''Suvvi Suvvalaali'' (1998).

Plot

Purnima and Balraj Kohli are a happily married middle-aged couple, living in a rich neighborhood of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. They have two sons, Sagar and Babbu. Sagar falls in love with medico Sarita and they get engaged. It is revealed that Purnima is Balraj's second wife and not the biological mother of Sagar. Balraj is the husband of Sharada, Purnima's elder sister. When the newly married Purnima had lost her husband in an accident, a shocked Sharada fell down the stairs, damaging her head. She is in a mental institution in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

for the past 14 years. Over the years, with no hopes of Sharada's recovery, Balraj and Purnima married. When Sharada gets hit on her head by an inmate of the institution, she suddenly comes out of her coma. While the doctor explains to her that she was in a comatose state for the past 14 years but does not reveal that Balraj and Purnima are married. As Sharada heads home, alerted by the doctor, Purnima arranges everything to look like it was 14 years ago, making herself up like a widow, and sending Babbu to stay with Sarita. Balraj is happy to see Sharada recovered but sad to see Purnima in a widow's attire. They maintain things in that way for some time for fear that Sharada will fall ill again if she learns the truth. When Purnima's son Babbu escapes from Sarita's hostel, the truth is revealed to Sharada. Shocked, she loses consciousness and becomes violent on regaining it. Balraj and Purnima are forced to send her back to the mental institution. Sarita, while trying to pacify her, realizes that Sharada is play acting to be crazy to exit from her family. Sharada extracts a promise from her to keep it secret.

Cast

as Balraj Kohli *

as Sharda Kohli *

as Purnima Kohli * Raj Kiran as Sagar Kohli *

as Sarita Sethi * A. K. Hangal as Sharda and Purnima's father *

Iftekhar Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1920 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar or Iftikhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his film roles as a police officer. Career Iftekhar wa ...

as Doctor Gokhle *Master Vikas as Babbu *Sudha Chopra as Mrs. Sethi *Mrs. H.F. Mistry as ladies hostel matron * Raj Kumar Kapoor as Dr. Gupta *

Gulshan Bawra Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 2 ...

as Mukul

Music

The score was composed by R. D. Burman. The lyrics were penned by

Gulzar Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...

. Songs were sung 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 ...

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

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 ...

Trivia

Rekha played Raj Kiran's mother in the film, despite being six years younger than him in real life.

Awards

;

29th Filmfare Awards The 29th Filmfare Awards were held in 1982. Films belonging to the Parallel cinema, Parallel Cinema and Indian New Wave won most of the awards at the ceremony, signaling a trend where filmmakers and audiences were moving towards more meaningfu ...

: Nominated * Best Film – Rose Movies *

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

–

* Best Actress –

* Best Lyricist –

for "Jahaan Pe Savera" * Best Story – Leela Phansalkar

External links

* {{Ramesh Talwar 1981 films 1980s Hindi-language films 1980s Indian films Films scored by R. D. Burman Hindi films remade in other languages Films with screenplays by Gulzar Rose Audio Visuals Films directed by Ramesh Talwar Indian drama films