''Yahudi'' () is a 1958

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

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

romantic

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction such as c ...

directed by Bimal Roy. It 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 ...

, Meena Kumari,

Sohrab Modi Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', ''Sikandar (1941 film), Sikandar'', '' ...

, Nazir Hussain, Nigar Sultana among others. It is based on the play '' Yahudi Ki Ladki'' by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, a classic in

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

theatre, about persecution of Jews in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

in the empire's centre —

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Although not very well received critically, the film was a big hit despite its alien theme, and was the third-highest grossing Indian film of 1958, owing to the box office draw of Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari. The film's lyricist Shailendra won the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist at the 6th Filmfare Awards, for the song "Yeh Mera Diwanapan Hai", sung by Mukesh. The plot bears similarities to Jacques Fromental Halévy's opera

La Juive ''La Juive'' (, ) is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' ...

. The story revolves around the life of a foster relationship.

Plot

Ezra (

) is a jeweller who has a son named Elijah. He also has a friendly butler/childminder called Emmanuel. At the beginning of the film, Ezra is due to leave on a trip. As he does, Elijah becomes upset and stands on the balcony. On the roads of the Jewish quarter, Brutus ( Nazir Hussain), Governor of Rome, is passing, making an announcement. A stone slips from Elijah's hand on the balcony and hits Brutus on the head. Brutus immediately gets Elijah arrested, and as Elijah is a Jew, sentences him to death. Hearing this, Ezra rapidly returns and arrives at the doorstep of Brutus. He begs Brutus to free Elijah, but Brutus feeds Elijah to hungry lions. Ezra sadly returns to his house and mourns his son. Emmanuel sees that his master is almost catatonic. In revenge, Emmanuel kidnaps Lydia, motherless daughter of Brutus, and takes her to Ezra. Ezra snaps out of his catatonic state when the girl starts to call him father, and he refuses to kill her and instead adopts her as his child. Brutus' anger brews. He orders the guards to find his daughter, and call for punishment of all Jews. Emmanuel helps him and Lydia escape the guards, who eventually break down the front door -- after which he tells them a tale about how he murdered Lydia and fed her to stray dogs, to which the enraged guards react by killing him. Ezra remains hidden and raises Lydia, who grows up thinking she is Ezra's daughter and that her name is Hannah. Fifteen years pass and Ezra grows to become a successful jeweller, well known to be so good and a Jew. Hannah ( Meena Kumari) grows into a beautiful young lady and attracts attention from many. The Emperor of Rome arrives in

for the marriage of his son Prince Marcus (

) to Brutus' niece Princess Octivia ( Nigar Sultana). However, Prince Marcus avoids talking about his wedding and opposes it. One day, when returning from a hunting trip, he is injured and is cared for by Hannah. He then disguises himself as a Jew and goes back into the Jewish neighbourhood. He rescues Hannah from the unwanted attentions of a Roman soldier and meets her father, Ezra, not as Prince Marcus but as Moshe, a successful Jew from Alexandria. Ezra is happy to meet him and "Moshe" and Hannah fall in love. However, Hannah soon notices that something isn't right. Prince Marcus then reveals who he is, making Hannah very upset at his dishonesty, and she banishes the Prince from her life. Then comes the day of the wedding of Prince Marcus and Princess Octivia. Everyone is invited. Before the ritual could commence, Hannah shouts that she had been cheated by a Roman. Ezra joins in to get back at his enemy Brutus. He clamours for justice. The Emperor demands the name of the culprit and Hannah claims it is Prince Marcus. Brutus tries to rebut Hannah and Ezra, but the Emperor insists that justice must be done. Heartbroken, Hannah returns home. She is followed by Princess Octivia. Hannah sees the Princess at her doorstep and denies her entry. Hannah knew the princess would beg for the Prince's life. However, the princess tells Hannah that the Prince will be sentenced to death the very next day. Early the next day, without warning, Hannah takes Ezra with her to the Emperor. There she recants her accusation of the prince. She tells the Emperor that the man that cheated was not the prince but a look-alike. Ezra is shocked, and Brutus, filled with joy, sentences Hannah and Ezra to death. They are to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil that very day, in front of the Prince. Unable to bear that his beloved will be burnt in front of him, Prince Marcus blinds himself, then goes to the cauldron chamber. Ezra is begging for Hannah's life, and Hannah is trying to reason with Ezra that she'd rather die than live a life of hate. But Brutus stops at nothing and wants the two to die. Immediately, Ezra tells Brutus that he knows where the Governor's lost daughter is. Brutus is confused and says that this is Ezra's revenge and accuses the Jew of lying. Ezra sarcastically agrees. Brutus still begs Ezra for his daughter's whereabouts and Ezra will only reveal it on one condition: Hannah is to be thrown into the cauldron as soon as Brutus finds out who his daughter is. Ezra tells Brutus and the confused Hannah that Hannah is Brutus' daughter and the Jew tells the guards to throw Hannah into the boiling oil. Brutus orders them to stop. Ezra looks at Hannah and dies. Hannah cries over her foster father's dead body. Brutus tells Hannah not to cry, but Hannah does not listen. She runs away from Brutus looking for the Prince. Shocked to find him blind, Hannah lends him support and helps him as the two disappear into the distance.

Cast

as Ezra Johari *

as Shehzada Marcus * Meena Kumari as Hannah / Lydia * Nigar Sultana as Shehzadi Octavia * Nazir Hussain as Brutus * Anwar Hussain as Antonio * Minu Mumtaz as Ruth * Tiwari as Emmanuel * Murad as Emperor

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

* Indira as Yasmine *Adil *Bikram kapoor as Leo * Baby Naaz as Young Lydia *Romi as Elijah * Helen as Dancer / Singer *

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

as Dancer / Singer * Kamala Laxman as Wedding Dancer / Singer

Soundtrack

References

External links

*
Full movie YouTube
{{Bimal Roy 1950s Hindi-language films 1958 films Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan Films directed by Bimal Roy Films set in the Roman Empire Indian historical drama films Films about royalty Films about antisemitism Indian films based on plays Indian epic films Historical epic films 1950s historical drama films 1958 drama films