Achhut Kannya: Difference between revisions

Achhut Kannya
Poster
Directed by	Franz Osten
Written by	Niranjan Pal
Produced by	Himanshu Rai
Starring	Ashok Kumar Devika Rani
Cinematography	Josef Wirsching
Music by	Saraswati Devi
Release date	1936 (1936)
Running time	136 Minutes[1]
Country	British India
Language	Hindustani

Achhut Kannya (English: Untouchable Maiden) is a 1936 Indian Hindustani film. Among the early super-hits in the Bombay film industry, the film deals with the social position of Dalit girls and is considered a reformist period-piece.

The film was one of several successful Bombay Talkies collaborations between Franz Osten, Niranjan Pal, Himanshu Rai, and their leading lady, Devika Rani. Music is by Saraswati Devi and lyrics by J.S. Kashyap.

The movie stars Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani in the lead roles.

The movie is set in the 1900s. Pratap (Ashok Kumar) and Kasturi (Devika Rani) are childhood friends, deeply in love with each other. Unfortunately, Pratap is a Brahmin and Kasturi is an untouchable (achhut). Social conventions of the time preclude any possibility of the two ever uniting.

Pratap marries Meera (Manorama), while Kasturi marries Manu (Anwar). Both of them are unable to forget their first love, but try hard to make their respective marriages work. Unfortunately, the situation gets compounded by the fact that Manu has a first wife, Kajri, with whom he is estranged due to excessive interference from his in-laws. The hitherto smug Kajri suddenly feels threatened by the arrival of a new woman in her husband's life.

Meera is resigned to destiny until Kajri poisons her mind. The two of them hatch a diabolical conspiracy to discredit Kasturi in the eyes of Manu. They take Kasturi along to a mela in the neighbouring village, and then abandon her there. All alone in the unknown place, Kasturi has no choice but to hitch a ride with Pratap, who has a food stall there. Meera and Kajari then tell Manu that Kasturi is with Pratap.

The enraged Manu attacks Pratap when they arrive at the railroad crossing where he is working as the attendant. There ensues a fisticuffs between the two, even as a train rushes towards them. Desperate to save them, Kasturi rushes towards the train imploring the driver to stop and in the process gets herself killed. That act of selflessness makes her a martyr in the eyes of the villagers, despite her lowly origins.

• Devika Rani as Kasturi
• Ashok Kumar as Pratap
• Manorama as Meera
• Anwar as Mannu
• Pramila as Kajari
• Kamta Prasad as Dukhia
• Kusum Kumari as Kalyani
• P. F. Pithawala as Mohan
• Kishori Lal as Babulal
• N. M. Joshi as Inspector of Police
• Ishrat as Sukhlal
• Khosla as Patient

Principal Dancers

• Mumtaz Ali
• Sunita Devi

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Achhut Kannya.

• Achhut Kannya at IMDb
• Full movie on YouTube, also [1] and [2]
• Achhut Kannya at National Film Archives Pune
• Watch Achhut Kanya entirely annotated with archival material at Indiancine.ma