- Babu and Malik are two inseparable friends who live in a small town in India. One day they decide to play a prank and steal something. They get caught, while Malik's dad come to bail out and stand surety for him, Babu has no one to do so and ends up in the juvenile center. When the two grow up, Malik becomes a Police Inspector, while Babu takes to crime and ends up being sentenced in jail. When he gets discharged, he goes to meet with his partner-in-crime, Bali, and together they start planning the next heist. Malik meets with Babu and tells him to go straight, but Babu had already tried that and ended up being falsely accused of stealing a necklace belonging to his employer's wife. Nevertheless, Babu does inform Bali that he will not be taking part in any crime. Thereafter, Bali and his men are arrested, and blame Babu for ratting on them. Bali is released on bail, Babu meets with him, an argument ensues, leading to a physical fight, with Bali getting killed. A fearful Babu flees from Bombay straight to Jogendranagar in Northern India, where he meets with a man named Bhagat who asks him to masquerade as Kundan, the sole heir of a wealthy man named Shahji. When Babu refuses, Bhagat threatens to notify the Police. Babu becomes Kundan, makes his way into the hearts of Shahji, his wife, Rukmani, and daughter, Maya. Babu gets enough cash to pay off Bhagat in small installments, but Bhagat becomes more and more demanding and wants Babu to steal all the cash and jewelry and abscond. Babu is reluctant to steal from these kind people, and to make matters worse has fallen in love with Maya - his 'sister'. Caught between a rock and a hard place - no matter what move Babu makes - he will surely end up trapping himself - not only with Bhagat, his newfound family, as well as the police - who are now hot on his trail.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
- I consider Bombai Ka Babu as Raj Khosla Ji's best work. It didn't bring home the bacon in terms of the box office receipts but if you view it from an art lover's prism, it stands out as a fine piece of cinematic experience. Babu (Dev Anand) is a petty criminal in Mumbai who accidentally kills Bali ( Jagdish Raj). As Babu runs away from the law, he is blackmailed by an unscrupulous person Bhagat who sends him to Shahji( Nazir Hussain) to impersonate as his lost in the childhood son Kundan. Nazir Hussain and his wife Achla Sachdev get a fresh lease of life when they unite with their son ( though he is an impostor). Their daughter Maya (Suchitra Sen) is also very happy. As the hero knows that heroine is not his sister, he falls in love with her. Towards the end of the movie, the heroine also comes to know that hero is not her brother. She has feelings for him which are expressed in a very subtle way when the hero loses a game of chess, his parents say- ye haar gaya, but the heroine says- ye hara nahi ye jeet gaya.The hero and heroine know that they are not siblings , and they have feelings for each other too, but they cannot unite. The heroine cannot afford to disillusion her parents who are under the impression that the hero is their son. The hero also accepts the responsibility particularly when he comes to know the one whom he killed( Jagdish Raj) was the real son of the family.' Ye Mera Ghar Hai', the hero tells the villain when he threatens to expose him. In spite of the hero and heroine loving each other, it is a very mature ending with the heroine marrying the man her parents have chosen for her and the hero continuing as the family's son, and the climax song-chal ri sajni ab kya soche- reflect that they have decided to move on. A very bold theme for 1960 when the norm was that the hero and heroine should get married in the last reel no matter what. Superb treatment by the director Raj Khosla which places him in the top bracket of Hindi film directors. Great music by Sachin Da, and the beautiful locations of Himachal Pradesh add the icing to the cake.Such was the charm of Dev Anand and Suchitra Sen that the then Chief Minister of Punjab Shri Pratap Singh Kairon came to watch the shooting (Himachal was part of Punjab at that time). Initially, Madhubala was the heroine but because of her failing health she was replaced by Suchitra Sen who looks breathtakingly beautiful and has also given an outstanding performance as an actor. We should also admire Rashid Khan's performance- I think it is his best, next only to Teesri Manzil. The lovers of Bollywood classics can watch this movie again and again.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
More from this title
More to explore
Most anticipated Indian movies and shows
Percentage shows amount of top page views.