A consumptive is told by his doctor that his days are numbered. An orphan who doesn’t even know what his parents looked like, finds himself unwanted. A man who loves a dancer/singer is forbidden by his stern father to marry the girl—and she acquiesces. The man sinks into despondency, alcoholism and debauchery, ending up being blackmailed by a gold-digger with an eye on his wealth.
Meena Kumari. Ashok Kumar. Nasir Hussain.
Tragedy? I’m glad to say no!
Bandish starts off so dismally, my heart sank. Mahendra (Nasir Hussain, an actor who’s especially good at portraying the pathetic old man) is severely consumptive. His doctor, on a visit, examines Mahendra and tells him the sad truth: Mahendra doesn’t have long to live. Mahendra says he’s not worried about himself, he’s worried about a little boy called Tomato (yes, really—that is his name! Daisy Irani), whom Mahendra has looked after, ever since Tomato’s parents died of cholera when he was a few months old. The doctor tells Mahendra that he’d better find another home for Tomato, since, in any case, his disease is so infectious, it could be dangerous for Tomato.
The next day, Mahendra takes Tomato to an orphanage. One look at the rowdy children, and a brief conversation with the man in charge—who’s going berserk, and vehemently insists that Mahendra not admit Tomato to the place—and Mahendra decides Tomato can’t stay at an orphanage. A foster home, with a loving family that will be able to provide for the child: that’s the solution.
So Mahendra takes Tomato to the park, and keeps an eye out for the wealthy people who frequent the place. After mentally rejecting the older, more decrepit, less generous lot, he notices Kamal Roy (Ashok Kumar), who’s just wandered in and sat down with a friend.
Kamal Roy’s past, and some of his present, emerges in his conversation with his friend. A woman called Rita Gupta has managed to produce some photos of Kamal which suggest he’s been rather intimate with her. These photos have been used by Rita and her father to blackmail Kamal’s father. As a result, Kamal’s father is mad at him and has cut off his allowance. Kamal’s in a very dire financial condition—but he is generous enough to give some money to a passing beggar.
This gesture is noticed by Mahendra, who hurriedly tells Tomato that that man (Kamal) is Tomato’s father, whom Tomato has been wanting to go to ever since he can remember. Tomato toddles off to sit beside Kamal (Kamal’s friend has left in the meantime), and Mahendra, after shedding a few silent tears, also leaves.
Kamal is a bit taken aback to find a strange child sitting placidly beside him; but they introduce themselves to each other and soon become friends. The trouble arises when Kamal gets up to go, because Tomato insists that Kamal is Papa.
Kamal tries to shake off the kid, but a crowd gathers, all of them taking Tomato’s side. They decide unanimously that Kamal’s the lowest of lowlife for trying to abandon his own flesh and blood—and when Kamal denies having ever even been married, they jeer at his lack of morals. Eventually, when one of them goes off to call the police, Kamal bundles Tomato into the car, pretends that he’d been pulling everyone’s leg, and goes off.
Kamal spends the rest of his evening trying to shake off the curly-headed limpet. He tries leaving Tomato at a restaurant where he takes the child for a snack. He then takes the kid to his lawyer’s office, with a view to getting some advice on what to do with Tomato. The lawyer suggests taking Tomato to a children’s home—but it’s pretty late by now and the children’s home office will have closed. Kamal now needs to find a place where Tomato can stay for the night. He daren’t take the kid to his own home, because his father will throw a fit.
And then Kamal has a brainwave: Usha Sen! Usha (Meena Kumari) is Kamal’s ex-girlfriend, with whom he’s still very much in love. Usha teaches dance and music, which is why Kamal’s father thinks her something of a pariah. Mr Roy (Bipin Gupta) has therefore forbidden Kamal from marrying Usha. And Usha, in an idiotically old-fashioned manner, has decided that she cannot marry Kamal against the wishes of his parents, so that’s been the end of their romance.
Kamal, ever since, has been going steadily downhill. He’s been drinking heavily and hanging out with the girls—one of whom is the evil Rita Gupta. In flashback, we get the inside story on that: she took advantage of a day when Kamal was very drunk, and positioned him with his head on her lap while an accomplice took photos. Tame, I think, but anyway: Kamal’s name has been mud ever since, and Usha now thinks she was a lucky girl to have been rid of this lecher.
Kamal’s parents have also now fixed up his marriage with Lata (Indira Bansal), the daughter of a wealthy man. Kamal’s his usual suave self, charming Lata till she believes he really wants to marry her.
Usha, too, has given in to parental pressure and is engaged to a moron called Govind (he’s insufferably dumb; nobody should be expected to marry someone like that).
But back to the present: Kamal thinks Usha will be the perfect hostess for poor, friendless, homeless Tomato. He takes the child off to Usha’s house, where she lives with an old aunt. Usha initially boots both Kamal and Tomato out, but when she sees how things really are, she agrees to let Tomato stay the night. What she doesn’t know is that Kamal has told Tomato that he (Tomato) will be staying the night with his ‘Mummy’. She gets a shock when Tomato calls her that, but Tomato’s so cute, she relents and does get a bit maternal.
The next morning, Kamal turns up and takes Tomato to the children’s home to get him admitted. He tells them that he (Kamal) is Tomato’s father, but since he’s a widower and is off to Delhi, he needs to leave Tomato at the children’s home. Also, since he won’t be home, he’d like all correspondence to be addressed to a relative of his, called Usha Sen.
Kamal is doing everything he can to ensure Tomato doesn’t come back into his life again.
Unfortunately for Kamal, he’s not destined to escape Tomato. Tomato raises hell when he discovers his ‘Papa’ has left him and gone away. In fact, he raises so much hell that the children’s home people, fed up, bring Tomato to Usha’s house (the only address they’ve been given).
And so it goes on, with Kamal desperately trying to shake off Tomato, Tomato clinging on tenaciously, and both Usha and Kamal finding their lives suddenly going haywire because of the presence of this little kid. How will it all work out? (Well, since Tomato’s parents are dead, there’s no way he can go to them in this life, but is there anyone out there who’ll take him under their wing?)
What I liked about this film:
Ashok Kumar, especially in his scenes with Daisy Irani. He is so, so good as a half-irritated, half-affectionate man who wants to shake off this pesky child, but can’t help but also look after the kid. So, even though he’d rather be rid of Tomato, Kamal Roy takes the kid to a restaurant, to the theatre, to the zoo… cuddles him when he’s sleepy, shows him how an aching head should be pressed, and carries him about, tucked under one arm. And, best of all, makes no bones about letting Tomato know how he feels (he invariably addresses Tomato as jonk (leech) or Nadir Shah (after the tyrannical invader who conquered Delhi and other parts of Northern India in 1739)!
The tone of the film. An orphan whom no-one wants is grim, but the film manages to turn it into an adventure in which you know that someone, eventually, will look after Tomato. It may be Usha, it may be Kamal, or it may be someone else: but Tomato will find a home. As it is, in a refreshing departure from the norm, people aren’t cruel to the child: almost everybody, in fact, is solicitous and concerned about Tomato’s welfare.
The cameos! Brahm Bhardwaj appears briefly as an opinionated bystander who chastises Kamal Roy for trying to leave Tomato in the park. Mehmood features in a song, as a boatman; and two of my favourite character actors, Sajjan and Shammi, do a couple of scenes in which they’re absolutely priceless.
And Meena Kumari. So very beautiful.
What I didn’t like:
Kamal Roy, though funny, and though mostly concerned about Tomato, made me a bit uncomfortable at times. You can’t just leave a kid in a restaurant while you sneak out the back—it would have made my conscience plague me for the rest of my days.
I guess this is actually a manifestation of the film’s biggest failing: its inability to develop character (except perhaps in the case of Usha Sen, and not much there either). In much of the film, characters do inexplicable about-turns for which no reason is ever offered. People who were at each other’s throats suddenly turn very cordial (and for no reason that I can see); people take decisions completely against their professed beliefs and principles; and many people take the most surprising and unlikely incidents completely in their stride—for example, seeing a strange child asleep in a grownup’s bed doesn’t seem to really surprise a close relative who happens to enter the bedroom.
Bandish, I think, could have done with better writing. The pace is good, the twists in the plot are amusing, the acting’s good, but there are holes in the story—sudden and unexplained changes in character, and, at the end of it all, a bunch of plot elements that never got resolved. (I found myself asking space: “But what happened to—? And to—?”)
Still, I can forgive that. This is a fun film, and certainly worth a watch.
Dustedoff 
I never know if story holes are the writer’s fault or the dvd manufacturer’s any more.
:)
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Wow, never heard of this movie before.
But it sounds to be quite a fun movie.
meena Kuamri looks so beautiful. And Ashok Kumar’s charachter sounds VERY interesting. He doesn’t seem to have much scruples, that guy!
Just imagine, sending a child to your ex-girlfriend and asking him to call her ‘mummy’.
going off to look up for songs on you tube!
a nice way to end the sunday!
thanks for the review.
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found none!
:-(
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Yes, what about the songs? I vaguely remember songs from Bandish.
The story is interesting, and unusual. It has Meena Kumari.
Daisy Irani was always cute.
So there seem to be many pluses here. :-)
Its an addition to my ‘long’ list.
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I love this film! Its so frothy and fun. Meena Kumari looks lovely, but the best part was Dada Mani playing a ladies’ man! I was so amazed at his Casanova turn that the plot-holes completely passed me by… :-)
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I remember watching this film a long time ago and liking it, now I want watch it again!
And they have deleted HQSupreme’s account at youtube: now there was someone trying to offer well sub-titled old films in english…
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memsaab: Yes, me too! But I have a feeling the holes in this plot are completely from the film… there were dialogues and scenes that sort of fitted together all right, but not everything got resolved – but the main story seemed complete. Whatever, it’s a fun film!
harvey: It’s lots of fun! And Ashok Kumar is fabulous. :-)
pacifist (and harvey): The songs in the film are as follows:
Le lo ji hamaare gubbaare pyaare-pyaare;
Raat hai suhaani o nindiya raani;
Tumhaari yaad mein o mere baalma;
Haiyya re haiyya… yeh duniya ek saagar hai;
The last one is the one filmed on Mehmood, and sung in Hemant’s voice (he composed the music for the film too).
bollyviewer: Yes! Ashok Kumar as Casanova is a little unusual! ;-)
bawa: I never saw anything posted by HQSupreme, but he/she sounds like someone who did good public service! Would have liked to see some of those films (even if without the subtitles)… some of them are just so hard to get hold of.
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Wow, looks like i’ll love this remeber all three of them Ashok, meena and daisy all starred in BR Chopra’s Ek Hi Raasta which I loved, was a year after this, incidentally both films also had Hemant Kumar as the music director. Induna have it on dvd without subs :0) but there’s a dvd in the pack at induna that i’m curious about Night club (1958) have you seen it by any chance
http://www.induna.com/1000002236-productdetails/
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Yes, in fact I do happen to have seen Night Club – a long time back, so I don’t remember much about it except that I didn’t care for Kamini Kaushal! A not-very-good suspense/crime film. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless someone’s planning to gift it to your for your birthday! ;-)
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I too had never of this movie. But it definitely sounds fun!!!!
Ashok Kumar as Casanova??? Well, I guess I’ll have to see it to believe it ;-)
I’m trying to convince myself not to buy any more dvds till I finish watching the ones that I already have (which is lots of them).
But will add this in my must-watch list and buy it next time I go dvd shopping.
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I liked “Bandish” too – it’s a very happy-go-lucky film, if a film can be characterized that way.:-) Though I suspect some of that carefree aura comes from carelessness of script and editing.:-D
It occurs to me that Ashok-Meena have done a good number of movies together – from Parineeta(53′) to Jawab(1970). AK spent the 50s wooing MK and the 60s losing her to other heroes.:-)
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sunheriyaadein: Yes, this one’s definitely one to be added to the must-watch list: it’s great fun! Well, Ashok Kumar isn’t quite Casanova – I think we were exaggerating, but he’s pretty cool anyway. ;-)
Shalini: Oh dear, I have to confess: I haven’t actually seen any of the earlier Ashok Kumar-Meena Kumari films, except possibly Ek Hi Raasta. But yes, if this one’s anything to go by, they were great together – much better than in Pakeezah, by which time both were most unconvincing as lovers…
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>It occurs to me that Ashok-Meena have done a good number of movies together – from Parineeta(53′) to Jawab(1970). AK spent the 50s wooing MK and the 60s losing her to other heroes.:-)
I like the description about this pair. :-D
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Hehe, me too! ;-)
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I NEED to see this film! If there’s anything I love, it’s AK as romantic hero! This is the kind of movie I’d sit and watch anytime it came on the TV. which of course, it never will. Off to haunt Induna!
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Good luck! I hope Induna has it (they’re bound to, they’re always so reliable!). Happy watching. :-)
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well,i have not seen this film,but i have seen chheley kaar-the original bangla film-the remake of which bandish is. chheley kaar won the national award prize in the year 1954.I think ,the character development in the bangla film was perfect ,can’t say about this one though.also, i think that a person who is in danger of thrown out of his house if caught with a son of his own[which he is himself sure is not his own],can leave a kid alone in a restaurant.the film shows the same too.by the way, don’t you think salman khan starrer jab pyaar kisise hota hai is inspired by this film.the story and screenplay of the salman khan was written by,guess what? honey irani, sister of daisy irani[tomato] in this film.just thinking
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I’d never heard about Chheley Kaar, but will certainly look out for it now, because I love watching films that either inspired remakes or are remakes themselves; it’s great fun to compare! Thank you for that bit of information.
Why I was a little put off by the lead character’s attempts to leave Tomato behind in a restaurant etc was that it seemed very out of character. This was a man who was shown as being very kind-hearted and generous, loving towards all (that was why Tomato’s foster-father chose him as Tomato’s next ‘guardian’, after all).
I haven’t seen the Salman Khan Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai – I’m very selective about which post-80s Hindi films I watch, and Salman Khan is one person I can’t bear! But if Daisy Irani was the one who wrote that script, I can well imagine where she found inspiration! I’m sure you’re right.
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well,thanks.well many hindi films were actually remakes of bengali films.you can check a list of such films at madmovie&musiclover blog’s-which is by the way my blog-which i restarted after a long time.also, i would also like you to add a list that mentions your favourite films so far, with separate lists for hindi and all other language movies,as i can see that you have fantastic choice of good movies.it would be very helpful.
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“i would also like you to add a list that mentions your favourite films so far, with separate lists for hindi and all other language movies”
That’s going to take a long time, and time is at a premium for me right now! But it’s a good suggestion, so maybe I will implement it sometime, whenever I have time to spare.
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I just saw this post of yours, and thought I would mention that this sounds like the Tamil movie that I saw eons ago, called Yaar Paiyan (whose son?). The little boy’s name was Puri in that movie, and since I saw that movie in ’57 or ’58, it must have been a remake of the Hindi version. Sounds delightful, so I am going to look for it on Youtube and see if I can find it there. I seem to remember my mom talking about it and Ashok Kumar’s acting in that movie. Thanks for all these reviews of movies that would otherwise be forgotten forever.
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Yes, Lalitha – this was an offbeat, and enjoyable film. Unfortunately, very few people seem to even know about it, despite the fact that it starred stalwarts like Ashok Kumar and Meena Kumari. I happened to come across it because I had subscribed to a DVD rental service which sometimes had really obscure movies too. This was one of the rare finds that really enchanted me. :-)
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Why haven’t I come across this review of yours before? :( If it hadn’t been for Lalitha’s comment on the sidebar, I wouldn’t have known about it at all. As it is, I haven’t even heard of this film! Now, it’s going on my longer-than-the-distance-to-India watchlist.
This is your revenge, Madhu! Where am I going to find the time to watch all these films?
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“This is your revenge, Madhu! Where am I going to find the time to watch all these films?”
Hehehe. (Thoroughly evil laughter) :-D :-D
This one’s a delightful little film, thankfully far removed from the usual tragedy-riddled plot one would expect from a story about a poor little orphan whom (ostensibly) no-one wants.
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Of all performances of Daisy Irani I’ve seen as a kid, I found this to be the most natural. Tomato’s innocence is portrayed very nicely; his firm belief that Kamal is his father who left him at childhood is quite amusing too.
I found Kamal’s fondness for Tomato to have grown somewhat abruptly however, evident both when he got home after leaving the child alone in the park and later when he initially questions Usha’s desire to take the child away with her. But I must say that all actors in the movie seemed very natural and comfortable in their roles, including Kamal’s parents, who feature somewhat significantly towards the end. Overall, I found this to be a very entertaining movie.
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I agree with you – this, by far, is my favourite role of Daisy Irani’s as a child. It’s a well-written child character, not the usual Hindi film type (which is mostly either horribly pampered and precocious, or just like a small adult – the one other exception which I loved was Sachin’s role in Majhli Didi).
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Hello Madhu,
Firstly, a very happy new year to you. I’ve been meaning to write this post since the last few weeks and only found time now, with my vacation almost ending :-P.
I recently watched a Bengali film titled “Chhele Kar” which’d translate as “Whose son is it?” starring Bikash Roy. I realised Bandish is a remake of this movie as the Bengali one was made in 1954, also winning the national film award. Although Bikash Roy is undoubtedly my favourite Bengali actor of all times with his suave persona, refined manners and his very urban look, I found Ashok Kumar’s (again my favourite actor of Hindi cinema!) portrayal of Kamal Roy’s character to be somewhat more natural than Bikash Roy’s portrayal of the same (the character is called Kunal Sen I think). I next plan to watch the Bengali movie “Uttara Falguni”, later remade into “Mamata” in 1966 and Ashok Kumar again playing the role played by Bikash Roy. Its so difficult for me to choose between these two men! :-)
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Interesting! While I knew that Bandish was based on a Bengali movie, I didn’t know which one. Uttara Falguni has been on my wishlist for several years now, more so since I discovered it was the original for Mamta. I should renew my efforts to find and watch that film. :-)
P.S. And a very happy New Year to you! Thank you.
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Yes AS ji is completely right about Bandish being a remake of Chhele Kaar. And while both the movies are good, Chhele Kaar scores more because it doesn’t suffer from the melodramatic and commercial compromises that often plague Hindi films. Plus Chhabi Biswas as the grandfather is just out of the world. Later, Chhele Kaar was also remade in Tamil as Yaar Paiyan, starring Gemini Ganesan and Savithri. I am not much fond of the Tamil version, because it has far too many songs, which hurt the narrative of the film big time.
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Please stop recommending Bengali movies! :-(
No, I’m joking. ;-) It’s just that I have a special fondness for old Bangla films – so many of them are so good. But sadly, finding them with subtitles is so difficult – and my Bangla is too shaky for me to be able to watch a film confidently without subs.
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Hehe, I understand. But it’s hard not to recommend Bong films (1950-75), Marathi films (1936-54) and Malayalam films (1980-94). These films constitute the crème de la crème of our Indian cinema, outshining most of what Hindi cinema has produced till date.
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