all time great films 40,s & 50,s

This post only includes films released during 40's and 50's
Awara, 1951

Judge Raghunath is a wealthy district judge who convicts Jagga, a man whose father was a criminal, of rape on little evidence. The judge believes that "good people are born to good people, and criminals are born to criminals." Jagga later escapes and kidnaps the judge's wife Leela for revenge. When he finds out that she has just become pregnant, he releases her after four days and plans a different kind of revenge. The judge suspects that Leela was unfaithful to him with Jagga, and throws her out of the house.

She has a son, Raj, and they live in poverty as a result of being estranged from the father. As a child, Raj befriends Rita in school, but he is removed from the school rolls while trying to maintain a job, and Rita moves to another city. Even though they are separated, Rita remains in Raj's thoughts. On the streets, Raj turns to a life of petty crime and finds a father-figure in Jagga, who helps him to become a talented criminal.

While planning a bank robbery with his friends, Raj realises they need an automobile. He snatches a woman's purse after she steps out of the car, but finds no keys, and pretends to pursue the thief to release suspicion from him. After his elaborate act, he returns the purse to the woman, who is soon revealed to be Rita. Rita is now a ward of the Judge, who suspects that Raj is no good and eventually restricts Rita from seeing him. Raj and Rita, who is becoming a lawyer, eventually realize that they are the same childhood friends, and they fall in love. Raj tries to quit his life of crime, but his employers fire him when they find out that he was a thief.

Becoming desperate he goes back to Jagga for a money loan, but Jagga wants him to commit more crimes. Raj refuses, but steals a necklace from a man he meets on the street; not knowing it was the judge. When he gives the necklace to Rita for her birthday, she discovers that he is indeed a thief. Rita goes to Raj's mother and finds out the whole truth about his life.

When Raj realizes that Jagga is responsible for his mother's misery, he kills Jagga in a fit of rage. At his trial the judge in the case is Raghunath. Rita persuades him that Raj acted in self-defense. However, when Raj learns that the judge is his father, he escapes and attempts to kill him. Due to these actions, Raj is brought to another court, and is defended by Rita. In the end, Raj is sentenced to 3 years in prison for his crime, but Rita promises to wait for him.

Shree 420, 1955

A country boy, Raj (Raj Kapoor), from Allahabad, travels to the big city, Bombay, by walking, to earn a living. He falls in love with the poor but virtuous Vidya (Nargis), but is soon seduced by the riches of a freewheeling and unethical lifestyle presented to him by an unscrupulous and dishonest businessman, Seth Sonachand Dharmanand (Nemo) and the sultry temptress Maya (Nadira). He eventually becomes a confidence trickster, or "420," who even cheats in card gambling. Vidya tries hard to make Raj a good man but fails.

Meanwhile, Sonachand comes up with another scheme to exploit poor people, whereby he promises permanent homes to them at just Rs. 100. The scheme pays off, as people start hoarding money for a home, even at the cost of other important things. Vidya's contempt for Raj increases even more. Raj becomes wealthy, but soon realizes that he paid a very high price for it. When Raj discovers that Sonachand has no plans to fulfill his promises, he decides to make wrongs right.

Raj takes all the bond papers of the people's homes and tries to flee Sonachand's home, only to be caught by Sonachands and his cronies. In a scuffle that occurs, Sonachand shoots Raj and he falls unconscious. When people hear the shooting, they come and see Raj nearly dead. Sonachand tells police that Raj was trying to flee after stealing money from his safe, hence Sonachand shot him.

Upon this, the 'dead' Raj springs back to life and using pure logic, proves Sonachand's guilt. Sonachand and his partners are arrested, while Vidya happily forgives Raj. The film ends with Raj saying "Yeh 420 nahin, shree 420 hain" ("These are not simply con men, they are respectable con men").

Pyasa, 1957

Vijay (Guru Dutt) is an unsuccessful poet whose works are not taken seriously by publishers or his brothers (who sell his poems as waste paper). Unable to bear their taunting that he is a good-for-nothing, he stays away from home and is often out on the streets. He encounters a good-hearted prostitute named Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), who is enamoured with his poetry and falls in love with him. He also encounters his ex-girlfriend Meena (Mala Sinha) from college and finds out that she has married a big publisher Mr. Ghosh (Rehman) for financial security.

A dead beggar to whom Vijay gave his coat and whom he tries to save unsuccessfully from the path of a running train is mistaken for Vijay. Gulabo goes to Ghosh and gets his poems published. Ghosh does so feeling he can exploit the poems and make a killing. The poems are very successful. However, Vijay is alive and in the hospital after the train mishap.

Ghosh and Shyam, Vijay's close friend, refuse to recognise him and he is committed to a mental asylum since he insists he is Vijay and is thought to be mad. Vijay's brothers too are bought off by Ghosh not to recognize him and a memorial is held for the dead poet. Vijay with the help of his friend Abdul Sattar (Johnny Walker) escapes from the mental asylum and reaches the memorial service where he denounces this corrupt and materialistic world. Seeing that Vijay is alive his friend and brothers take side with a rival publisher for more money and declare this is Vijay. At a function to honor him, Vijay becomes sick of all the hypocrisy in the world around him and declares he is not Vijay. He then leaves with Gulabo to start a new life.

Madhumati, 1958

On a stormy night, Devendra (Dilip Kumar), an engineer, drives down a hill road with his friend to fetch his wife and child from the railway station. A landslide blocks their path and the friends take shelter in an old mansion off the road. Devendra finds the house uncannily familiar. In the large front room, he finds an old portrait which he recognises. His friend and the old caretaker join him, and Devendra, amidst flashes of memory from another life, sits down to tell his story while the storm rages outside.

Anand (Dilip Kumar) had come to Shyamnagar Timber Estate as its new manager. An artist in his spare time, he roamed the hills and fell in love with Madhumati (Vyjayantimala), a tribal girl whose songs have haunted him from a distance. Anand's employer, Ugra Narayan (Pran) is a ruthless and arrogant man and, as Anand refuses to bend down to him like others, he incurs his wrath. Anand has enemies among his staff. Sent away on an errand, he returns to find that Madhumati has disappeared. He learns that Madhumati had been taken to Ugra Narayan and confronts him, but he is beaten unconscious by Ugra Narayan's men. While the men are taking Anand's body out of the palace, his men meets with Madhumati's dad (Jayant) who had to fight for his own daughter's death. He does it and wins but dies laying down in the road while Charandas (Johnny Walker) hides then takes Anand's body to the hospital.

Anand's life is saved but his mind wanders. One day, he meets a girl who looks exactly like Madhumati. She says she is Madhavi but Anand refuses to believe her and is beaten up by her companions when he tries to plead with her. Madhavi finds a sketch of Madhumati and realises he was speaking the truth. She takes the sketch and learns his story. Meanwhile, Anand is haunted by the spirit of Madhumati who tells him that Ugra Narayan is her killer. He appeals to Madhavi to pose as Madhumati before Ugranarayan and help him get a confession out of him and she agrees.

Returning to Ugranarayan's palace, Anand begs permission to do a portrait of him. Next evening, with a storm brewing outside, Anand paints Ugra Narayan. At the stroke of eight, Ugra Narayan sees the pretend-Madhumati in front of him. Shaken, he confesses the truth. The police waiting outside the room come and take him away. Anand suddenly realizes that the questions Madhavi asked Ugra Narayan were things she could not have known, as even Anand did not know, such as where Madhumati was buried. Madhavi just smiles and moves towards the stairs. The real Madhavi, dressed as Madhumati, then rushes into the room. She is late, for the car failed on the way. Anand realizes it was Madhumati's ghost he had seen, not Madhavi. He runs up to the terrace, where the ghost beckons to him. Madhumati had fallen from the same terrace, trying to escape Ugra Narayan. Anand follows the ghost, falling to his own death.

Devendra's story is over. But he says "I finally did have Madhumati as my wife. In this life – Radha." Just then, news arrives that the train in which his wife was travelling has met with an accident. The road is cleared, and they rush to the station. Devendra's wife, Radha (Vyjayantimala) appears, unhurt with her baby.

Mother India, 1958

The film is set in 1957, the present day at the time of shooting. When construction of an irrigation canal to the village is completed, Radha (Nargis), considered to be the "mother" of the village, is asked to inaugurate the canal. She remembers her past, when she was newly married.

The wedding between Radha and Shamu (Raaj Kumar) is paid for by Radha's mother-in-law, who borrows the money from the moneylender Sukhilala. The conditions of the loan are disputed, but the village elders decide in favor of the moneylender, after which Shamu and Radha are forced to pay three quarters of their crop as interest on the loan of ₹500 (valued at about US$105 in 1957). While Shamu works to bring more of their rocky land into use, his arms are crushed by a boulder. Ashamed of his helplessness (being without arms) and humiliated by Sukhilala for living on the earnings of his wife, Shamu decides that he is of no use to his family and permanently leaves Radha and their three sons, walking to his own probable death by starvation. Soon after, Radha's youngest son and her mother-in-law die. A severe storm and the resulting flood destroy houses in the village and ruin the harvest. Sukhilala offers to save Radha and her sons if she trades her body to him for food. Radha vehemently refused his offer, but had to also lose her infant (her fourth son) to the atrocities of the storm. Although the villagers begin initially to evacuate the village, they decide to stay and rebuild it, persuaded by Radha.

Several years later, Radha's two surviving children, Birju (Sunil Dutt) and Ramu (Rajendra Kumar), are young men. Birju, embittered since childhood by the demands of Sukhilala, takes out his frustrations by pestering the village girls, especially Sukhilala's daughter, Rupa. Ramu, by contrast, has a calmer temperament and is married soon after. Birju's anger finally becomes dangerous and, after being provoked, he attacks Sukhilala and his daughter and steals Radha's kangan (marriage bracelets) that were pawned with Sukhilala. He is chased out of the village and becomes a bandit. Radha promises Sukhilala that she will not let Birju cause harm to Sukhilala's family. On Rupa's wedding day, Birju returns with his gang of bandits to exact his revenge. He kills Sukhilala and kidnaps Rupa. When he tries to flee the village on his horse, Radha, his mother, shoots him. He dies in her arms. The film returns to 1957; Radha opens the gate of the canal and its reddish water flows into the fields.

Sikandar

Sikandar or Sikander  is a 1941 epic Bollywood film directed by Sohrab Modi and starring Prithviraj Kapoor as Alexander the Great.The battle sequences featuring thousands of extras along with horses, elephants and chariots were picturised in Kolhapur.

Khazanchi

Khazanchi is a 1941 (pre-partition) blockbuster,directed by Moti B. Gidwani, starring M. Ismail, S.D. Narang, Ramola Devi and Durga Mota in lead roles.M. Ismail played the title role of a Khazanchi (English: Cashier). The movie was the biggest hit and the top earner of 1941.

Khazanchi is a murder mystery. Shadi Lal is a Khazanchi (English: Cashier) in a bank in Lahore. His son Kanwal wants to marry Madhuri, the daughter of a rich man, Durga Das.Ramola as Madhuri

Ramola Devi as Madhuri A wicked wealthy, Ajmal, also wants to marry Madhuri. One day, Shadi Lal goes to Bombay for some bank work and the news comes from the city that Shadi Lal murdered an actress and stolen her jewellery and money:A clever women, Tarawati, tricked Shadi Lal in a night club and stolen his money but her two accomplice men murdered her while snatching money from her and when intoxicated Shadi Lal wakes up he finds himself with her dead body and his money stolen. Seeing this, he run away and the on next day newspaper headlines, Khazanchi killed actress. He spends very bad days of his life during this period.Later, he gets caught and his son, Kanwal (an advocate now), fought the case from his side. Meanwhile, the newspaper reporter stumbles upon important facts regarding the stage actress' murder and got kidnapped by the villain but manages an escape and reach the court, revealing the truth. Thus Shadi Lal gets acquitted.

Basant

Basant is a 1942 Indian film directed by Amiya Chakrabarty. Music for the film was composed by Indian flute maestro and music director Pannalal Ghosh. The film starred Mumtaz Shanti, Ulhas and Madhubala (as a child artist).Cast:Kanu,Pramila as Meena,Madhubala (Credits - Baby Mumtaz) as Manju,Mumtaz Shanti as Uma,Suresh as Babul,Ulhas as Nirmal

Soundtrack:The music of the film was composed by Pannalal Ghosh with lyrics penned by P.L. Santoshi.

Kismet

Kismet is a 1943 Indian film, written and directed by Gyan Mukherjee and produced by Bombay Talkies during the second world war period,while it was in a succession battle between Devika Rani and Sashadhar Mukherjee after owner Himanshu Rai's death. The film is one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema. The movie was the first blockbuster movie of Indian cinema.The film came with some bold themes for the first time in Indian Cinema showing an anti-hero character, double role and an unmarried girl getting pregnant.

Rattan

Rattan is a 1944 Indian Bollywood film starring Swaran Lata, Karan Dewan and Amir Bano. It was a highly successful movie of 1944. The film is noted as the film which made Naushad one of the top contributors to music in Indian films and enabled him to demand a fee of Rs 25,000 a film.The heroine of the movie Swaran Lata had said in a live interview with the Pakistan Television years later that the tunes of the songs of Rattan were set by the lyricist D. N. Madhok himself. Abdul Rashid Kardar production spent 75,000 rupees in 1944 to make ‘Rattan’. The music by Naushad Ali was such a phenomenal hit that the company earned Rs 3 lacs as royalty from Gramophone sales in the first year.

Zeenat

Zeenat is a 1945 Indian Muslim social melodrama film directed by Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and starring Noor Jehan, Yakub, Majid, Himalayawala, and Karan Dewan. It was produced by Shirazali Hakim and Ramzanali S. Lakhani. The film’s story and dialogue was written by Wajahat Mirza Changezi. The music was composed by Meer Saheb and Hafiz Khan while the background music was provided by Rafique Ghaznavi.

It is the story of a young girl who loses her husband a few days after her wedding as a result of a fall from a horse but not before they have spent a night together unknown to others, leaving her pregnant. Her travails following the death of her husband and the music of the film made it the highest grossing Indian film of 1945

Anmol Ghadi

Anmol Ghadi is a 1946 Urdu/Hindi film directed by Mehboob Khan, starring Surendra, Suraiya and Noor Jehan. The film was musical hit and still remembered for its music by Naushad, which have hits like, Aawaaz De Kahaan Hai, Jawaan Hai Mohabbat Haseen Hai Zamana and Mere Bachpan Ke Saathi Mujhe Bhool Na Jaana. The film also featured playback singer, Mohd. Rafi first notable song, Tera Khilauna Toota,[2] and became the highest grossing film at the Indian Box Office in 1946.[1] The film was remade in Telugu in 2001 as Manasantha Nuvve (2001), again in Hindi as Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (2002), in Kannada as Manasella Neene (2002), in Tamil as Thithikudhe (2003), and in Bengali as Moner Majhe Tumi (2003).

Jugnu

Jugnu is a 1947 Indian film directed by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The film stars Noor Jehan, Dilip Kumar, Gulam Mohammad, Sulochana (Sr.), Latika, Zia, Jilloo, Agha, Shashikala and now famous playback singer Mohammed Rafi This film was the first major hit for Dilip Kumar who went on to become one of Indian film industry's legends.[

Plot:Sooraj is from a wealthy household. He meets Jugnu when he's tried to commit suicide by jumpung off a cliff and jugnu tries to stop him. In reality it was a ply conceived by sooraj and his friends to distract jugnu and all the girls so that they can steal the food prepared by the girls. All of them study in the same college and live in hostel. And thus slowly on meeting few times Jugnu and Sooraj fall in love with each other. Jugnu is orphaned when she was young and is taken care of by a friend of her father's who wishes for her to be married to his son Dilip. Sooraj's parents come to know about his love for jugnu and oppose the match as jugnu is poor. One day in conversation with his father sooraj comes to know that they are not rich as all the assets (bungalow, things etc.) owned by his father are mortgaged under heavy loan and so he plans to arrange marriage of Sooraj to a rich household so that the dowry received will help them pay off the loan and continue living a wealthy life. Sooraj is surprised to hear this but he nevertheless is happy as now he can marry Jugnu as both are poor. But Sooraj's mother goes to jugnu and pleads for her son's life explaining her predicament and jugnu promises her that she will get out of sooraj's life. What happens next is the central plot of the story. Will sooraj and jugnu meet again? Will the difference be sorted out between them? Will the lovers love be sacrificed for parents' happiness and money?

Shaheed

Shaheed is a 1948 Bollywood film directed by Ramesh Saigal. The film depicts India's struggle for independence. It starred Dilip Kumar, Kamini Kaushal, Chandra Mohan and Leela Chitnis. It had lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi and music by Ghulam Haider. Songs like "Watan ki Raah Men Watan Ke Naujawan Shaheed Ho" and "Badnaam Na Ho Jaaye Mohabbat Ka Fasana" have not lost their appeal even after 60 years of the film's release. This was actor Chandra Mohan's last screen appearance. He had earlier appeared in Pukar, directed by Sohrab Modi, Humayun and Roti, both directed by Mehboob Khan, and Stree, directed by V. Shantaram.

Barsaat

Barsaat is a 1949 Bollywood film directed by Raj Kapoor. The film stars the famous duo of Kapoor and Nargis as well as Prem Nath. It was also the introduction of actress Nimmi in her first film role. Barsaat was one of the first major hit films directed by Kapoor. This success allowed Kapoor to buy RK Studios in 1950.

The film revolves around two love stories. Pran (Raj Kapoor) and Reshma (Nargis) and Gopal (Prem Nath) and Neela (Nimmi). Two friends with opposite personalities, the rich but sensitive Pran and the womanizing Gopal both have affairs with two mountain girls while holidaying in the valley of Kashmir. While Pran and Reshma's love is true and reciprocated, Gopal is a womanizing villain, who disregards the faithful Neela (Nimmi) and condemns her to wait faithfully for his return with the barsaat (rainy season). Many plot intrigues follow through with Pran and Reshma facing many trials on the path to true love, including parental opposition, accidents and an attempted forced marriage of Reshma to an uncouth fisherman. The couple are finally reunited. Gopal on the other hand finally becomes a reformed character and rushes to claim the ever faithful Neela who has been pining away, only to arrive to find his true love dead. The film ends with Gopal lighting Neela's funeral pyre as the rains finally come.