Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam

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Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
File:Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbrar Alvi
Produced byGuru Dutt
Screenplay by
Based onSaheb Bibi Golam
by Bimal Mitra
Starring
Music byHemant Kumar
CinematographyV. K. Murthy
Edited byY. G. Chawhan
Production
company
Release date
  • 29 July 1962 (1962-07-29)
Running time
152 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box office8.4 million[2]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (transl.The Master, the Wife, and the Slave) is a 1962 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Abrar Alvi and produced by Guru Dutt, who also co-stars in it alongside Meena Kumari, Rehman, and Waheeda Rehman. Based on Bimal Mitra's Bengali-language novel Saheb Bibi Golam (1953), It is set in the 19th century during the British colonialism in India and focuses on Bhoothnath (Dutt) who meets the lonely wife (Kumari) of a zamindar (Rehman). The film follows her effort to keep her husband—who likes to drink and spends most of his time with watching the performances from prostitutes—staying at their home by drinking with him and how she is consequently addicted to it, leading both of them into bankruptcy.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is the second adaptation of the novel, after the 1956 Bengali film. Having seen the novel and its staged version, Dutt wanted Saheb Bibi Golam to be adapted it into a film. The book's rights was bought after his production venture, Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), was commercially successful and covered his company's loss following the failure of his last directorial project, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). The screenplay was written by Mitra and Alvi for a year, facing several difficulties in translating the novel from Bengali to Hindi. Principal photography was completed by V. K. Murthy in Andheri and Dhakuria, and the film was later edited by Y. G. Chawhan. Hemant Kumar composed the soundtrack, while Shakeel Badayuni wrote the lyrics.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was released on 29 July 1962. Although failed commercially, with a total gross of 8.4 million (US$120,000), it garnered positive response from critics; most appreciation were given to the cast's performances, particularly that from Kumari, and Murthy's cinematography. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam won four Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Alvi, and Best Actress for Kumari. It also received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Sixth Best Indian Film, while Alvi was awarded the Best Director trophy at the latter function. The film was chosen as the Indian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not nominated.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam became a milestone of Bollywood and is considered amongst the most important films in Dutt's career. Kumari's performance is also regarded as one of the finest performances in the history of Indian cinema, making her particularly known for tragedic roles. In 2012, its screenplay was published as a book under the title of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam: The Original Screenplay, which also contains interviews between the authors (Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari) and the cast and crew members. On the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013, CNN-IBN included Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam in their listing of "100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time".

Plot[edit]

The film opens with the ruins of an old haveli in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), where a group of labourers is busy pulling down what remains. When the workers break off for lunch, the overseer takes a walk around the haveli. As he sits at a place, there begins a flashback to the end of the 19th century.

The lower-class yet educated Atulya "Bhoothnath" Chakraborty arrives in the colonial Calcutta looking for work. Along with his brother-in-law, he lives in the haveli of the Choudhury zamindar family. Bhoothnath meets Subinay, a dedicated member of the Brahmo Samaj, and is employed at the latter's factory Mohini Sindoor. Subinay's daughter, Jaba, hears the conversation and is amused by the behaviour of Bhoothnath, whom she considers an unsophisticated rustic. Apart of that, Bhoothnath becomes fascinated with the goings-on in the haveli and, every night, observes the decadent lifestyle of the Choudhury brothers.

One night, another servant of the haveli, Bansi, takes Bhoothnath to meet the younger zamindar's wife Chhoti Bahu, who implores him to bring her sindoor. She has a poor relationship with her unfaithful husband, who spends most of his time watching a prostitute performing, and believes that it will keep him home. Bhoothnath is struck by her sadness and inadvertently becomes her secret confidante. Chhoti Bahu's repeated attempts to appease her husband fail, and she consequently becomes his drinking companion to keep him by her side. Jaba's marriage is finalised with Supavitra, who is also a Brahmo Samaj member, but she declines it after his father died. During the same time, Bhoothnath leaves from the factory as Subinay closed it due to his ill; Subinay later died. Bhootnath becomes an architect trainee and goes away to work on a training project.

When he returns, he sees the haveli has partially ruined. Chhoti Bahu is now a desperate alcoholic and her husband is paralysed. Meanwhile, Bhoothnath learns that he and Jaba were betrothed as children. One night, Chhoti Bahu asks Bhoothnath to accompany her to a nearby shrine to pray for her husband. Their conversation is overheard by the elder zamindar, Majhle Babu, who suspects that Chhoti Bahu is having an affair with Bhoothnath, and he orders his henchmen to chase them. As Bhoothnath and Chhoti Bahu travel in the carriage, it is stopped by the henchmen. Bhoothnath is knocked unconscious and Chhoti Bahu is abducted. When he wakes up in the hospital, Bhoothnath is told by Bansi that Chhoti Bahu has disappeared and while her husband is dead.

The flashback ends. Bhoothnath's workers inform him a skeleton is found buried in the ruins of the haveli. From the jewellery on the corpse, Bhoothnath realises it is the remains of Chhoti Bahu. The last scene shows a nostalgic Bhoothnath riding away on a carriage with Jaba, now his wife.

Cast[edit]

The cast is listed below:[3]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

A bungalow in Khandala was rented by Guru Dutt for the screenplay writing

Guru Dutt wanted to adapt Bimal Mitra's Saheb Bibi Golam (1953) into a film after reading it, and watching its staged version at the Rang Mahal Theatre, Calcutta with his wife Geeta, Mitra, and Abrar Alvi.[4][5] This marked the novel's second cinematic adaptation after its 1956 version.[6] The novel was written in and never translated from Bengali. He asked Alvi to write screenplay for his future project. According to Alvi, he was surprised knowing Dutt gave him the offers. Dutt had previously discharged him from his company, Guru Dutt Movies Pvt. Ltd., after Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), in which Alvi served as the screenwriter, became a box-office bomb and made him could not give salaries to his workers.[4] Since then, Dutt decided to not direct any films he worked on.[7] After his next release Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) succeeded commercially, he was able to save the studio from bankruptcy and later acquired the rights of Saheb Bibi Golam.[8] He and Alvi started with translating the novel to Hindi, but the latter was confused as he was not fluent in Bengali. They tried translating it word-for-word, however, realised the process would be really slow; after a few days, they stopped.[4]

Dutt invited Mitra, who lived in Calcutta, to visit him at a bungalow Dutt rented in Khandala for a one-year period. Alvi revealed that Dutt was always thorough on any aspects of the projects he did and the bungalow was used to ensure that both Mitra and Alvi were more concentrated to the screenplay writing. After arriving in Khandala, Mitra and Alvi invited someone whom the latter called "Mr. Mukherjee", who was fluent in Bengali and Hindi, to be "bridge between us". However, the translator gave up after fifteen days, asking them to do the rest by themselves. Alvi recalled that the screenplay was written "slowly but surely"; he and Mitra did many changes on the story so the film would be fit with Hindi audience's interest. For instance, they removed several characters who appears in the novel version, including Swami Vivekananda, and made Bhoothnath looks more naïve and uneducated.[9] Dutt's biographer, Nasreen Munni Kabir, estimated the translating took two months in total, and Dutt—who was impressed by the screenplay—suggested Alvi to direct the film.[8][10] Yasser Usman reported that it was the first time for the screenplay of a film Dutt produced to be finished before the shooting was commenced. In preparation, Alvi was sent to Calcutta to learn the Bengali milieu and zamindars' background.[11]

Casting[edit]

Kumari in a scene from the 1952 film Baiju Bawra.
Meena Kumari (seen here in the 1952 film Baiju Bawra) had always wanted to portray a Bengali woman, and got the opportunity when Dutt offered her a lead role in the film

Dutt and Alvi completed the casting.[12] Shashi Kapoor was the first choice to play Bhoothnath. He was invited for a meeting with Dutt but late for two-and-a-half hours, which made Dutt irritated and cancelled to cast him.[13] Biswajit Chatterjee, who portrayed Bhoothnath in the play, became Dutt's next choice. They had a dinner at the Grand Hotel to discuss about it.[5] It was to be Chatterjee's debut in Bollywood, but his friends and fans informed him that his popularity among Bengali people was increasing. So, he reluctantly wrote a letter to Dutt rejecting the offer (a decision he regretted in later years). Chatterjee kept performing Bhoothnath at the same theatre for the next four months, when Hemant Kumar offered him a lead role in his production venture, the 1962 psychological thriller Bees Saal Baad, which would become Chatterjee's Bollywood debut.[14] The role went on to be played by Dutt himself, requiring him to shave his moustache so it would make him look younger.[15]

The photographer Jitendra Arya's wife Chhaya Arya was suggested to portray Chhoti Bahu.[16] She lived in London, and the film's production team asked her to move to Bombay (now Mumbai). In October 1960,[17] she arrived there for a photoshoot. When seeing the results, Dutt felt she was not too wanton- and motherly-looked for the role.[18] He searched for a more suitable actress and believed it was Meena Kumari.[lower-alpha 1] In 1953, she lost the opportunity to be cast for a role eventually given to Suchitra Sen in Devdas (1955)[21] and always wanted to portray a Bengali woman character since.[22] Her husband, Kamal Amrohi, refused his offers feeling Chhoti Bahu has negative shades and asked for 600,000 (US$8,400), but Dutt could pay 200,000 (US$2,800) only.[23] The persisted Kumari convinced him that there are no actress who was capable except her and, by 1962, had finally got the role. Alvi said she was entranced by the film's themes and saw the role had potential to boost her career.[24]

Rehman was cast as Kumari's character's husband.[3] The film marked the sixth collaboration between Waheeda Rehman and Dutt—after C.I.D. (1956), Pyaasa (1957), 12 O'Clock (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool, and Chaudhvin Ka Chand.[25][26] In Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, she features as the "couldn't-care-less carefree" Jabba.[27] Initially, she wanted playing Chhoti Bahu after reading the novel. However, Dutt felt that Waheeda Rehman was too younger for it, saying that she did not look like a woman but a girl. Still insisting, she asked Dutt and the film's cinematographer V. K. Murthy to do a photoshoot where she would dress up as Chhoti Bahu, wearing a Bengali sari and a tilaka. After looking at the photos, Murthy agreed with Dutt and likened her to a child. When Alvi was appointed to direct the film, she was called by him and offered to portray Jabba. Notwithstanding, Dutt showed disapproval once again because he had recognised as an established actress and did not want her to star in it as the second female lead after Kumari. He explained that the film's title represents its three leads: Sahib for Rehman, Bibi for Kumari, and Ghulam for Dutt, but none of which do it so for Waheeda Rehman. In spite of that, the actress told him she was fine by it.[28]

Filming[edit]

Shooting of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam

Principal photography for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam took place in Andheri and a forty-to-fifty-room haveli in Dhakuria.[29] It started on 1 January 1961 with a muhurat ceremony was being held, attended by the film's production team (including Dutt, his wife Geeta, and Waheeda Rehman) and Mitra, who was invited again by Dutt specifically to "grace" it. The cinematography was done by V. K. Murthy, while the sets were designed by Biren Nag.[30] Bhanu Athaiya—who did not know much about Bengali people and their looks—designed the actors' costumes, and Dutt sent her to Calcutta to prepare for it.[31] According to Usman, the latter was also greatly involved in the film's direction, especially that of the song sequences,[32] though it is Alvi only whose name appears in the credits.[33]

Shooting had almost ended by the beginning of 1962, except for the scenes in which Chhoti Bahu is featured.[34] Kumari initially rejected the role due to her husband's request, but he later gave up on his decision.[35] A consecutive 45-day schedule was done in Andheri for the completion.[34] There are no scenes of Chhoti Bahu and Jabba together. Waheeda Rehman admitted she really wanted to do one with her, so she asked Dutt to rework on the story. She suggested to shoot a scene where Jabba keep asking Bhootnath about Chhoti Bahu and is later brought by him to her haveli. However, he dismissed the idea saying that the characters never meet in the novel and the audience would not be interested by it.[36] After filming, P. Thackersey and Y. G. Chawhan handled the audiography and editing, respectively.[37][38]

Soundtrack[edit]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
Soundtrack album by
Recorded1 December 1962
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length31:11
LabelSaregama
ProducerHemant Kumar
Hemant Kumar chronology
Hansuli Banker Upakatha
(1961)
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
(1962)
Nav Diganta
(1962)

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Kumar, with lyrics written by Shakeel Badayuni.[3] Featuring vocals from Geeta and Asha Bhosle, the album was released by Saregama on 1 December 1962.[39] The songs were directed by Dutt, however, Alvi replaced him while he was not at the sets during the shooting of "Bhanwara Bada Nadan". Dutt watched the result for ten times, but felt disappointed and re-shot it with adding comedic elements in it.[40] After the film's release, Dutt cut out the song "Sahil Ki Taraf" from the climax, in which Chhoti Bahu resting her head on Bhoothnath's lap, since the audience criticised it. The song was consequently re-used by Kumar for "Ya Dil Ki Suno Duniyawalo"[41] of the 1966 film Anupama.[42]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)[39]
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Meri Baat Rahi Meri Man Men"Asha Bhosle4:10
2."Meri Jaan O Meri Jaan"Asha Bhosle3:38
3."Sakhiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin"Asha Bhosle5:46
4."Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Theme" (Instrumental) 3:03
5."Bhanwara Bada Nadan"Asha Bhosle4:29
6."Chale Aao Chale Aao"Geeta Dutt1:43
7."Na Jao Saiyan Chhuda Ke Baiyan"Geeta Dutt4:07
8."Piya Aiso Jiya Men Samaya Gao"Geeta Dutt4:15
Total length:31:11

Release and reception[edit]

Release[edit]

Posters for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam were printed by Dutt and Alvi.[12] The film was released on 29 July 1962,[43][44] with its initial audience response was negative. A day post the premiere, Dutt went to the Minerva Cinema, Bombay,[45] and observed they were disappointed by the scene where Chhoti Bahu asked for a last sip of alcohol and the song "Sahil Ki Taraf", which made Chhoti Bahu and Bhoothnath's relationship ambiguous. He visited the director K. Asif's house, where the latter suggested to make Chhoti Bahu recovers from her addiction and, in result, her marital relationship is getting better. Dutt demanded Alvi and Mitra to write a new climax, and invited Kumari once more for a one-day shooting. In the next day, while they were discussing the unexpected changing, Dutt decided to maintain it and removed the Chhoti Bahu scene and "Sahil Ki Taraf" instead, saying that he did not mind if it became a box-office disappointment. He added that it was not possible to create another one, as the changing would make the audience confused to the whole plot.[46]

Exact figures for the film's box-office earnings are not available. Firoze Rangoonwala, in the 1973 book Guru Dutt, 1925–1965: A Monograph, reported it did not do well financially but still better than that of Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959),[47] while in 2005 Stardust deemed the film an "average grosser".[48] Box Office India estimated its total grossing to be 8.4 million (US$120,000), supporting Rangoonwala's claim.[2] Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was the official submission from India to the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, and its special shorter version was made.[49] On 26 June 1963, Dutt, Kumari, Waheeda Rehman with sister Sayeeda, and Alvi arrived in East Berlin (now Berlin) while the screening occurred the next evening.[50] All twenty-five people attending it gave poor response as well due to the film's melodramatic plot, unrelatable themes, and slow screenplay.[51] Apart from the failure, it received a Golden Bear nomination but lost to the French comedy To Bed or Not to Bed and the Japanese action film Bushido, Samurai Saga (both 1963).[52]

Critical response[edit]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam received positive feedback by both contemporary and modern critics, who praised the cast's performances—particularly that from Kumari—the cinematography, the costumes, and the art direction.[7][53] What the reviewers panned was how the character Chhoti Bahu unconventionally depicted as an alcoholic woman only.[47] In a review dated 24 June 1962, the writer of The Times of India thought that the film is excellent owing to its well-written screenplay which makes an effective balance between the film's characters and emotional sequences and "provides a neat dramatic pattern". Declaring the film as "a classic in celluloid", he added it is "a specially successful job" though was based on Mitra's novel, which the writer found to be untidy and wordy in the writing style.[54] Kabir, who collected Dutt's handwritten letters for a book titled Yours Guru Dutt (2006), reported it was one of few reviews he read during his lifetime.[55]

Vinod Mehta, who biographed Kumari's life in 1972, believed Kumari overshadows her co-stars and added, "Gone were the traces of frivolity, gone was the look of undernourishment, gone was the look of the 'girl-next-door'. She was now a woman of sharp, mature, mysterious persona ... whose one smile concealed a thousand enigmas."[56] In her 1985 book Profiles: Five Film-makers from India, Shampa Banerjee complimented her for being the greatest performer in the film. She also found Bhoothnath to be completely different from any roles Dutt has played before, taking note of its "rustic simplicity and comic innocence, coupled with a deeply compassionate nature, lent Bhootnath's character an immediate realism, a natural complexity, which justified the keen internal version of the older Bhootnath who recounts the tale."[57] On 19 February 1989, The Illustrated Weekly of India's Khalid Mohamed hailed Waheeda Rehman's role is as equal as that of Kumari's and said of how important she is in the film, though hers is a supporting whereas Kumari's is a lead.[58]

Dinesh Raheja wrote a column for Rediff.com in 2003, in which he spoke of how he felt that Dutt was at his best by playing Bhootnath and featuring without his moustache. Raheja, however, was critical of Rehman and suggested that her scenes could be removed partially as her character, which he deemed perky, is less important to the film's main plot.[59] Writing for The Hindu in 2008, A. P. S. Malhotra saw Kumari's portrayal of what he referred to as a "career-defining role" is an "awe-inspiring performance". He also appreciated Athaiya's costumes and Murthy's cinematography, stating that both of which are outstanding throughout the film.[7] Anna M. M. Vetticad, in an article published by Firstpost website in 2020, opined Kumari has played her role brilliantly and also commended the production aspects, including the art direction.[60] In 2021, Sampada Sharma of The Indian Express observed of the actress, "Her perpetually melancholic eyes and her pristine beauty make her a tragic figure who is slowly drowning in a sea of despair."[61]

Accolades[edit]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam won a National Film Award in the category Best Feature Film in Hindi and three trophies from the 10th Filmfare Awards that includes Best Film, Best Director (Alvi), and Best Actress (Kumari).[62][63] The film was subsequently selected by the Film Federation of India to represent India to win the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 35th Academy Awards. Chosen over the Tamil-language romantic drama Nenjil Or Aalayam (1962),[64] Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, however, failed to be nominated and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wrote a letter to Dutt telling him that, according to their country's culture, it was inappropriate for a woman to be an alcoholic.[65][66]

Award Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref(s)
26th Annual BFJA Awards Best Indian Films (Sixth) Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Won [67]
Best Director (Hindi) Abrar Alvi Won
Best Actor (Hindi) Guru Dutt Won
Best Supporting Actor (Hindi) Rehman Won
Best Cinematographer (Hindi) V. K. Murthy Won
Best Dialogue (Hindi) Abrar Alvi Won
13th Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Nominated [68]
10th Filmfare Awards Best Film Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Won [63]
[69]
Best Director Abrar Alvi Won
Best Actor Guru Dutt Nominated
Best Actress Meena Kumari Won
Best Supporting Actor Rehman Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Waheeda Rehman Nominated
Best Story Bimal Mitra Nominated
Best Cinematography V. K. Murthy Won
10th National Film Awards Best Feature Film in Hindi Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Won [62]

Legacy[edit]

"It must have been in 1961 or 1962. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was during the filming of the final scene in Sahib Bibi [Aur Ghulam]. Jabba is waiting for Bhoothnath in a carriage in the haveli ruins. That was the last time we worked together. He never offered me another role after Sahib Bibi [Aur Ghulam]."

— Waheeda Rehman on Dutt ending their collaboration with the film[36]

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam attained cult status and became a milestone in Hindi cinema.[60][70] Along with Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), critics have regarded the film amongst his best work.[71][72] According to Banerjee, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was Dutt's last major contribution for the industry.[57] It is also the only film where Alvi served as the director.[73] Kumari's performance has been regarded by film experts as one of her career's best;[74] the scholar Tejaswini Ganti stated that the film has made her known particularly for tragedic roles,[75] and Raheja commented, "Meena took the audience on an unforgettable odyssey into the inner recesses of the mind of an emotionally and physically cloistered woman."[76] She played the similar type of role in several more films that includes the dramas Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Chitralekha (1964), Gazal (1964), Kaajal (1965), Phool Aur Patthar (1966), and Pakeezah (1972).[77][78] Dutt collaborated with Kumari for a second time in Sanjh Aur Savera (1964), which was the last film released during his lifetime—with an exception for Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi that premiered posthumously two years after his death in 1964.[79][80]

Several lists has featured Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. In 2005, Rachel Dwyer selected the film for her book 100 Bollywood Films,[81] and The Times of India's Rachna Kanwar included it in her listing of "25 Must See Bollywood Movies", commenting: "Chhoti Bahu is the most spectacular character in tragedienne Meena Kumari’s career; a role that was uncannily similar to her own life Meena Kumari, like the miraculous sindoor she yearns for in the film mesmerizes you with her acting skills ... The film remains with you forever simply because of the splendid performance of Meena Kumari."[82] As parts for celebrating the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013, it was featured by CNN-IBN and Filmfare on their lists of "100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time" and "100 Best Films", respectively.[83][84] The next year, the American indologist Philip Lutgendorf of the University of Iowa chose the film for his listing of "Ten Indian Popular Films that are Not-to-be-missed".[85] Dwyer, this time writing for an article for the Hindustan Times, listed the film in "70 Iconic Movies of Independent India" in 2017.[86] On India's 75th Independence Day in 2021, the film appeared in The Indian Express's listing of "75 Films that Celebrate the Journey of India".[87]

In an interview with Pervaiz Khan of Sight & Sound in 1994, the scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha considered the film to be a much more accurate depiction of India's corrupt feudalism in the 19th century than Satyajit Ray's drama of the same themes, Jalsaghar (1958).[88] In 2010, a retrospective of Dutt's films, including Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, were screened in Israel and positively received by the audience.[89] The journalist Jai Arjun Singh wrote in the following year that it is "one of Hindi cinema's most vivid treatments of a transitional period in India’s social history".[90] A dialogue told by Rehman to Kumari, "Gehne tudwao, gehne banvao. Aur koriyaan khelo. So aaram se." (Break old jewellery sets, make new ones. Play with shells. And sleep.), and a dialogue said by Kumari, "Hindu ghar ki bahu hokar, kya sharab pee hai kissine?" (Has any Hindu household's daughter-in-law ever drunk liquor?), attained popularity.[59] The film's screenplay was later published as a book, titled Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam: The Original Screenplay, in 2012 by the film historians Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari. It also contains the authors' interviews with the living cast and crew who worked on the film.[22][28]

Notes[edit]

  1. According to Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam's director and writer Abrar Alvi, Chhaya Arya was cast first by Guru Dutt to play the role of Chhoti Bahu and then Meena Kumari was chosen as her substitute.[19] Mohan Deep and Vinod Mehta, both of whom have published biographical books about the latter actress, wrote that Kumari was Dutt's first choice, after her husband Kamal Amrohi showed disapproval of his wife to accept the role then Arya was suggested, and Kumari was selected again after Arya opted out.[20]

References[edit]

  1. Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 374.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Box Office 1962". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Saheb Biwi Aur Gulam Cast & Crew". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Saran 2009, p. 120.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Bhattacharya, Roshmila (11 July 2020). "This Week That Year: Biswajeet Chatterjee and a dream that died with Guru Dutt". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. Kabir 1996, p. 167; Somaaya 2003, p. 71.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Malhotra, A. P. S. (30 August 2008). "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Kabir 1996, p. 167.
  9. Saran 2009, p. 121.
  10. Bhattacharya, Roshmila (12 July 2018). "This Week, That Year: How Guru Dutt wooed Abrar Alvi". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  11. Usman 2021, pp. 198–199.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Mehta 1972, p. 57.
  13. Usman 2021, pp. 199–200.
  14. Bhattacharya, Roshmila (5 May 2014). "When snakes and spirits crossed paths". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  15. Saran 2009, p. 130.
  16. Saran 2009, p. 125.
  17. Bhatia, Uday (8 September 2017). "Jitendra Arya: Keep calm and carry a camera". Mint. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  18. Saran 2009, pp. 125–128.
  19. Saran 2009, p. 141.
  20. Deep 1998, pp. 102–103; Mehta 1972, p. 58.
  21. Deep 1998, p. 102.
  22. 22.0 22.1 Bhattacharya, Roshmila (22 April 2012). "Wine, woman and a song..." Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  23. Deep 1998, pp. 102–103.
  24. Saran 2009, pp. 141–142.
  25. Kabir 1996, p. 123; Saran 2009, p. 84; Usman 2021, pp. 69, 125.
  26. Ramachandran, T. M. (June 1972). "Good upbringing". Film World. Vol. 8, no. 6. p. 20. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  27. Gulzar, Nihalani & Chatterjee 2003, pp. 509–510.
  28. 28.0 28.1 Raheja, Dinesh; Kothari, Jitendra (2 May 2012). "'Guru Duttji was miscast in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  29. Kabir 1996, p. 118; Saran 2009, p. 133.
  30. Usman 2021, pp. 202–203, 215.
  31. Kabir 1996, p. 118.
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Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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