Sazaa (transl. Punishment) is a 1951 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Fali Mistry. The film stars Dev Anand, Nimmi and Shyama. This was the first film of G. P. Sippy as a producer, under the banner G. P. Productions, which he renamed Sippy Films a few years later with the film Marine Drive (1955).
Contents
Plot
A lady's loud shreik is heard from the first floor of a bungalow. Ashok (Dev Anand) hurriedly descends the staircase, apparently running away from the source of shreik, runs into a street where he meets with an accident with Kamini's (Shyama) car. Kamini rushes him to a hospital. Kamini visits Ashok daily at the hospital without fail unless he recovers. Upon knowing Ashok is jobless and homeless, Kamini offers him a manager's job at her father Muthumal's (Gope) company and arranges for him to meet Mothumal over dinner. At Kamini's house, Ashok meets and falls in love with the maidservant Asha (Nimmi) who also happens to be his childhood mate. In due course, Asha reciprocates his feelings.
In reality, Ashok is the only son of a wealthy widower, Major Durjan (K. N. Singh), who gets him locked in a room with the instruction “to cremate him if he died of suffocation” after a chance discovery of another character, Rani Maa (Durga Khote), a look-alike of his deceased wife. Rani Maa is angry at Ashok, as her only daughter was abandoned by him on the night of their marriage, leading to her going mad. Durjan defies Rani Maa and decides to get Ashok married to Asha. The couple unite.
Cast
Dev Anand as Ashok
Nimmi as Asha
Shyama as Kamini
K. N. Singh as Major Durjan
Durga Khote as Rani Maa
Lalita Pawar as Asha's Mother
Mukri as Batwa
Gope as Muthumal
Soundtrack
The music was composed by S. D. Burman, while Rajendra Krishan wrote the lyrics for the songs except the song "Tum Na Jaane Kis Jahan Mein Kho Gaye" which was written by Sahir Ludhianvi who, in turn, was initially assigned to write all the songs but left the project after writing this song. On the album, film critic Suresh Kohli of The Hindu noted that all the songs "have thoughtful lyrics that provide a sense of permanency through S. D. Burman's immortal compositions."
Reception
Kohli wrote, "Given the limited scope of the script, the cast performs well with the dreamy-eyed Nimmi particularly excelling".