''Devar'' is a 1966 Hindi film directed by Mohan Sehgal. It stars

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

Deven Verma Deven Verma (23 October 1937 – 2 December 2014) was an Indian film and television actor, particularly known for his comic roles, with Bollywood directors like Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar. He also produced and directed fi ...

and

Shashikala Shashikala Saigal (née Jawalkar; 4 August 1932 – 4 April 2021), better known by her first name, was an Indian film and television actress, who played supporting roles in hundreds of Bollywood films beginning in the 1940s. Early years Shas ...

. The music is by Roshan and the lyrics by

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist 4 times during his career. He wrote over 6000 film songs in more than 300 films. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Pr ...

; this is their only film together that met with success. The film is based on the short novel ''Naa'' by the Bengali writer Tara Shankar Bandopadhyay. This novel was already adapted into a 1954 Bengali film of the same name, and the 1962 Tamil movie ''

Padithaal Mattum Podhuma ''Padithal Mattum Podhuma'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by A. Bhimsingh. Based on the 1961 novel ''Naa'', by the Bengali writer Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, the film stars Sivaji Ganesan, K. Balaji, ...

''.

Plot

Shankar and Bhawariya are childhood lovers who have been parted by unfortunate circumstances. Shankar's cousin Suresh is an advocate. Matchmaker Ram comes up with marriage proposals for both the cousins. Following family traditions, it is decided that the boys will meet the respective brides by proxy. Suresh falls in love with Madhumati. He cooks up a wicked plot. He writes two letters to each of the families due to which an innocent and less educated Shankar is badly treated by his parents. One day accidentally Shankar learns that Madhumati is Bhawariya, the girl whom he used to love. So also, Bhawariya's brother, a handwriting expert learns of Suresh's wicked plan. Bhawariya's brother asks Suresh to accept his guilt before Shankar’s parents presuming that it is Suresh sitting on the chair, but it happens to be Shankar who listens to this and learns of everything. In a rift between Shankar and Suresh, Suresh dies accidentally, for which Shankar is held as the culprit. Madhumati who is determined to see her husband's murderer hanged, changes her words in the end and saves Shankar. The film ends without Madhumati ever knowing that Shankar is her childhood lover.

Reception

''The Essential Guide to Bollywood'' (2005) says that the film "contained deep elements of Bengali literature... The film is remarkable for projecting the ironic twists of fate in an unconventional format with the lead pair bound to the 'wrong' spouses till the very end." In 2014, ''

The Friday Times ''The Friday Times'' (TFT) is a Pakistani English-language online publication based in Lahore, Pakistan. History ''The Friday Times'' was first published in May 1989. TFT's founder-editor Najam Sethi and publisher Jugnu Mohsin, a husband-and- ...

'' noted that this film was "probably the only role that omedian DevenVerma played that had shades of grey... He may have played a villain but many left the theatre wondering how such a good looking, suave man could have such a complex character."

Cast

as Shankar *

as Bhawariya/Madhumati *

as Shanta *

as Suresh *

Lalita Kumari Lalita or Lalitha may refer to: Hinduism * Tripura Sundari, or Lalita, a goddess in Shakti centred Hinduism * Lalita (gopi), a figure in Krishna tradition Film * ''Lalita'' (1949 film), an Indian folklore Oriya film * ''Lalitha'' (film), a ...

as Basanti *

Durga Khote Durga Khote (née Vita Lad; 14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her time. She remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starr ...

as Madhumati's mother * Dhumal as Ram Bharose *

Sulochana Latkar Sulochana Latkar (born Rangu Diwan; 30 July 1928 – 4 June 2023), better known by her screen name Sulochana, was an Indian actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema, who acted in 50 films in Marathi and around 250 films in Hindi. She was most known ...

as Shakuntala * Sabita Chatterjee as Lily *

Raj Mehra Raj Mehra (born 20 May 1913 – 10 April 1993) was an Indian character artist and film actor in Hindi language films, especially known for his role as a father of leading actors. During his career, he worked in over 300 Hindi films. Some of hi ...

as Thakur Mahendra Singh *

Tarun Bose Tarun Bose (14 September 1928 – 8 March 1972) was an Indian actor, active in Bollywood during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and education Bose was born in Kolkata, though he grew up in Nagpur, where he studied at St. Francis High School. ...

as Advocate Gopinath *

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 Diwan Jaswant Rai (as Sapru) * Mumtaz Begum as Shankar's mother *

Bela Bose Bela Bose (1943 or 1944 – 20 February 2023) was an Indian dancer and actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Bela Bose was born in Calcutta on 1 January 1943 or 1944 into a well-to-do family. Her fathe ...

as dancer in 'roothe saiyan' song *

Brahm Bhardwaj Brahm Bhardwaj (25 October 1920 — 29 July 1989) was an Indian actor of Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmante ...

as Public Prosecutor *

Nazir Kashmiri Nazir Kashmiri was a prolific character actor in Hindi cinema who appeared in over 100 films. His career extended from 1941 to 2008 spanning 67 years. He started his career in Lahore. He appeared in several Lahore productions before moving to B ...

as judge *

Pardeep Singh Pardeep Singh is an Indian weightlifter from Jalandhar, Punjab who won silver medal in the men's 105 kg weight class at the 2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and als ...

Soundtrack

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0060306 1966 films 1960s Hindi-language films 1960s Indian films