Amar

<p>Amarnath ( ), a well-known lawyer, is known for his sense of justice. One day, he meets Soniya ( ), a milkwoman. She is awed by him and he finds her interesting. Amar’s father wants him to get married and sends him Anju’s ( ) photograph. Anju has graduated from a foreign university and believes in justice and aiding the poor. Both she and Amar take a liking to each other and they are soon engaged. One night, after attending a local fair, Soniya is attacked by the local ruffian Shankar ( ) who wants to possess her at any cost. In a bid to escape him, Soniya runs heedlessly into Amar’s house as a thunderstorm begins. In the lonely house, Amar ends up raping Soniya. Amar’s conscience torments him as he tries to hide his misdeed and proceed with his engagement to Anju. Anju senses something is amiss, but cannot fathom what it is. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Soniya is pregnant. She refuses to name the father of her child and is cast out by the villagers as a fallen woman. Shankar manages to figure out who the father of Soniya’s child is and wants to avenge her. He ends up dying by his own hands. Amar is accused of murdering him and the truth regarding him and Soniya comes out. The villagers eventually want to lynch Soniya. Anju supports and protects her. In the end, she ensures that Amar officially marries Soniya and leaves the village once her duty is done. For the role of Anju Roy, Mehboob Khan had initially cast the actress . However, due to some reasons, Kumari could not continue shooting and left the film. Following Kumari’s departure, the shooting came to a halt and several actresses made unsuccessful tries to achieve the high-profile role. In late 1952, phoned Mehboob Khan requesting him to cast (whom Kapoor was dating then) in the role. However, at this time, there was a considerable amount of lobbying from Dilip Kumar’s side also, to take Madhubala in the film. Finally, Khan had to refuse Kapoor and choose Madhubala on Kumar’s insistence. The music was composed by with lyrics by . was released on 10 September 1954 to positive reviews. , the editor of , called it “a brilliant picture with a gripping human story superbly directed and acted with flawless perfection. A masterpiece of film craft.” magazine was highly impressed by Khan’s direction and commented that “Mehboob can really be proud of this achievement.” The magazine also defended Kumar’s anti-hero role, quoting as “films must amuse and at the same time educate.” Deepak Mahaan of lauded the film for its characterization of strong female protagonists and photography of rape scenes without any nudity. Mahaan added: “The black and white canvas lent the story a quiet dignity, appropriate to the ethical tussle between truth and desire, moral turpitude and justice.” In a retrospective review, noted that the protagonists were not portrayed as “snow-white paragons of virtue” but are instead shown with “human weaknesses”, which is a rarity in . Also, is stated to be the most favourite film of . In 2019, Rachit Gupta of mentioned Madhubala’s portrayal of Anju among her finest performances. Actor called Dilip Kumar’s performance in as one of his favourites. Trade website reported that grossed (US$83,000) at the box office and was a below-average earner at box-office. Mahaan and Karan Bali subsequently attributed the film’s controversial subject matter to its poor box office earnings.</p>