Balika Badhu (translation: Child Bride) is a 1976 Hindi romantic comedy-drama film produced by Shakti Samanta and directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film is based on the Bengali novel of the same name by Bimal Kar, about a young girl who is married before she is old enough to understand what marriage is all about, against the backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle. Gradually she and her school-going husband grow as a couple and begin to love one another. The novel was previously made into a Bengali film, Balika Badhu (1967), which was also directed by Majumdar.
This romantic comedy drama stars Sachin with Rajni Sharma, Asrani, A. K. Hangal, Asit Sen, Paintal and Om Shivpuri. Initially Debashree Roy was offered to play the title role but Majumdar later considered her to be imperfect to play the role and she got replaced by Rajni Sharma. The music is by R. D. Burman and lyrics by Anand Bakshi, who penned several hits in the film including "Bade Achchhe Lagte Hain...", which was singer Amit Kumar's first hit, and featured on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1977 at # 26. It was the second film of Mrityunjay Sil.
Contents
Cast
Rajni Sharma as Rajni
Sachin as Amal
Mrityunjay Sil as Rahul
Asrani as Sharat
A. K. Hangal as master
Prema Narayan as Radhiya
Om Shivpuri as Amal's father
Urmila Bhatt as Amal's mother
Kajri as Chandra, Amal's sister
Paintal as Shambhu
Asit Sen as Udasu
Preeti Ganguli as Nandini
S. N. Banerjee as Pandit
Birbal as an imported bangle seller
Polson as School teacher
Ashok Kumar as aged Amal's voice
Amitabh Bachchan as adult Amal's voice
Zeenat Aman as adult Rajni's voice
Leela Mishra as granny
Music
Song "Bade Achhe Lagte Hain" was Amit Kumar's first hit song and listed at #26 on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1977.
Awards
24th Filmfare Awards:
Won
Best Supporting Actress – Kajari
Best Comedian – Asrani
Best Editing – Bijoy Chowdhury