Pinjre Ke Panchhi

Pinjre Ke Panchhi
Pinjre Ke Panchhi
Directed by	Salil Chowdhury
Written by	Story & Screenplay:; Salil Chowdhury; Dialogues:; Gulzar
Produced by	M. C. Ananthraj
Starring	Meena Kumari; Balraj Sahni; Mehmood Ali
Edited by	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Music by	Salil Chowdhury
Release date	1966;
Running time	135 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Pinjre Ke Panchhi (transl. The caged birds) is a 1966 Indian Hindi-language film starring Meena Kumari, Balraj Sahni and Mehmood in lead roles. The film marks the directorial debut of ace music director Salil Chowdhury who also gave its music. It was a commercial failure at the box office.^[1]

Plot

Sonu (Abhi Bhattacharya), a patient suffering from a rare heart condition falls in love with Heena (Meena Kumari), a young nurse who treats him at the hospital. Soon after they get married, Sonu asks Heena to relocate to a small town where he has rented a house and promises to join her in few days. On reaching the house, Heena meets Sonu's brother Lalu (Mehmood Ali), and his paternal uncle Yasin (Balraj Sahni). Days turn into weeks but Sonu never returns. However, in due course Heena develops an understanding with both Lalu and Yasin. Soon, Heena comes across a letter in which Sonu tells her to marry someone else as he may not live long enough. She also realises that the two men are actually convicts hiding in her house. When Yasin reads the letter, he brings Sonu to the house but somehow Sonu escapes and informs the police. In the climax of the film, Yasin and Lalu manage to take Heena, whose condition has by now worsened, to the hospital. By the time they reach hospital, Yasin is shot dead by the police and the others unite with Sonu.

Background

On 5 March 1964, during the mahurat of this film, Meena Kumari was allegedly hit by Baqar Ali, Kamal Amrohi's assistant for allowing Gulzar to enter her make-up room. When Meena Kumari asked Kamal Amrohi to intervene and come to the studio, he refused and asked her to come back. Enraged, Meena Kumari left Kamal Amrohi's house and never returned.^[2]