Ek Hi Raasta (1956 film)

Plot

The film starts with the portrayal of happily married couple Amar (Sunil Dutt) and Malti (Meena Kumari) who have a son named Raja (Daisy Irani). Amar and Malti are both orphans and hence are sympathetic towards orphans generally. Prakash (Ashok Kumar) is a rich bachelor businessman for whom Amar works. While working in Prakash's factory, Amar catches another worker Munshi (Jeevan) stealing money from the factory locker.

To take revenge for his humiliation at the hands of Amar, Munshi murders him. To escape his depression over the loss, Prakash begins helping Malti and her child. Munshi tries to humiliate the family by spreading rumours of an affair between Prakash and Malti in public. To save the honour of Malti, Prakash marries her. Raja meanwhile refuses to accept Prakash as his father. Munshi provokes Raja against Prakash and claims that Prakesh was the real murderer of Amar. Out of anger, Raja tries to shoot Prakash but fails. Raja is jailed for the attempt to kill Prakash. After a few years, Raja is released from jail only to find that his mother is hospitalised from the mental shock she received following Raja's imprisonment. Fearing Malti has died, Raja does not return home. After a few years, Raja understands and returns home then accepts Prakash as his father.

Soundtrack

The music for the songs was composed by Hemanta Mukherjee. He also sang few of the songs himself, of which "Chali Gori Pi Se Milan Ko Chali" was based on Bhairavi raga.

Source

Production and reception

The film was directed and produced by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner B. R. Chopra under the B. R. films banner. Founded in 1955, the production house's first creation was this film.

The music was directed by well known singer Hemanta Mukherjee with the lyrics written by one of the dominating musical forces in Indian Cinema, Majrooh Sultanpuri. The story along with the screenplay and dialogue were written by Mukhram Sharma. Assistant directors included Balbir Kumar, O. P. Bedi and B. R. Chopras' brother, Yash Chopra.

The film proved to be successful at the box office and was screened for more than 25 weeks; which was called "Jubilee Hit". The banner went to produce many more successful films like Naya Daur (1957), Sadhana (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Waqt (1965) and more. Child actress Daisy Irani's role as Raja was also well appreciated. She was also seen in Chopra's next film Naya Daur.