Gateway of India

<p>Anju ( ) overhears her uncle Shyamlal, plotting to kill her, in order to her father’s property. Before he does so, he must find the all important documents, which she and her loyal servant have hidden. The uncle kills the poor servant, and tells his minions to put the corpse in a box and deliver it the next morning to the . He intends to imprison Anju too till she hands over the papers and then kill her, but she escapes. Her uncle sends two goons after her and she has to stay a few steps ahead of them. The adventure takes place over one night, as Anju flees from one tight spot after another, outwitting dangerous thugs and men, who are, to put it mildly, not gentlemen. And before she runs out again, she tells them all to meet her at the Gateway of India the next morning. The suave bloke Kishore ( ), who gives a ride in his car is a drug dealer and pimp. The next guy, Chandan ( ), whose car she slips into, takes her to a brothel run by his sister (Manorama). She gets out of there, and runs right into the home of a bootlegger ( ) and his brother Tony. She pretends to get drunk, does a song, dance number and skips out again, tripping the guards. This time she climbs over the gate into the window of a Bluebeard type ( ), who has married half a dozen women and then killed them to collect insurance. Now he wants to marry for good, settle down and have kids. Anju bats her eyelids at him too, promises to marry him (he gets to dance to a dream sequence dressed as a Chinaman), tells him to meet her at the Gateway of India and walks off only to run into a street don ( ) who takes a fancy to her. With him she switches to Bambaiya jargon and smooth talks him into a Gateway rendezvous. The two goons are still snapping at her heels, when she encounters a poet Prakash ( ). She goes to the Gateway of India where the rogue’s gallery has congregated, taking the precaution of calling the police. Her uncle tells the cops that she is mad, but the box with the corpse arrives to prove she was telling the truth, and Prakash comes by to help. The criminals all end up in jail and in a move very bold for the time, she runs after Prakash and proposes him, giving him no chance to turn her down. Omprakash had written the story of keeping only one name in his mind: Madhubala. After finishing the story he approached Ataullah Khan, Madhubala’s dominating father who used to handle her contracts. Since the film needed night shootings, Khan, who never allowed Madhubala to shoot in nights, refused and asked Omprakash to approach any other actress. However, Omprakash was adamant and ultimately Khan had to give in. Upon listening the story, Khan was so much impressed that he decided to charge lesser than Madhubala’s usual high market price. A large part of was shot in the streets of . Omprakash had booked a suite at the for Madhubala to relax between midnight shoots. Since he was a respectable name in the industry, several top actors like Bharat Bhushan and Pradeep Kumar agreed to appear in few minutes’ roles. The soundtrack of the film, specially the song “Do Ghadi Voh Jo” became popular. The music was by and lyrics by 1. “Hum Abhi Aata Tum Abhi Jata” – 2. “Jalwa Jo Tera Dekha” – , , and 3. “Dekhta Chala Gaya” – , Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi 4. “Na Hanso Hampe” – 5. “Chal Mere Dil Ke Udan Khatole” – Mohammed Rafi 6. “Ye Raat Badi Mushkil Hai” – 7. “Sapne Mein Sajan Se” – Lata Mangeshkar 8. “Do Ghadi Voh Jo” – Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi received favourable reviews by critics. A retrospective review by found the film’s story and themes to be offbeat, as most of the leading actresses in those days were “damsels in distress”, while Madhubala played a runner who “survives on her own, without the help of a man.” She praised Madhubala highly for her performance: “The chameleon-like character Madhubala played in was one of her best performances and she was a fine comedienne.” grossed 0.45 crore (equivalent to 91 crore in 2018) at the box office to emerge as the nineteenth highest-grossing film of 1957. As per magazine, the film was a moderate commercial success.</p>