S.B. Nayampalli

A man regrets his decision of refusing to marry the woman he loves. In a nation crippled with poverty and crime, young Saraswatichandra is brought up by his rather cruel step-mother, and eventually decides to shun materialistic life. Hoping to get him to change his mind, his father arranges his marriage with Kumud Sundari, but he remains adamant. When Kumud comes to know, she writes to him, they exchange letters, he comes to meet her and both fall deeply in love with each other. He returns home, makes preparation for the wedding but his step-mother instigates his father against him, compelling him to forsake everything, and writes to Kumud's family accordingly. He changes his mind and goes to meet with Kumud but finds she is now married to Pramadh. A tearful Kumud re-locates to live with her husband and her family, but finds her husband unsophisticated, uneducated, alcoholic and womanizer who frequents brothels. Then Saraswatichandra re-enters her life when he gets employed by her in-laws under the name of Navinchandra. He notices her silent anguish but is unable to do anything while she decides to destroy all evidence of her involvement with him. Things change drastically for her when a maid, Padma, who is having an affair with her husband, comes across evidence of her involvement with Saraswatichandra. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

In Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Raj Kapoor plays Raju, an innocent and kind-hearted wanderer who unwittingly becomes part of a gang of dacoits. Raju falls in love with Kammo (Padmini), the daughter of the leader of the gang. Raju is persuaded by Kammo and her father that the gang looks out for the interests of the poor. But Raju witnesses a murder on one of the looting sprees and he leaves the gang. Conflict arises when a gang member Raka (Pran) kills the leader and attempts to forcibly marry Kammo. Raju approaches the police for help and finally convinces the gang of dacoits to surrender to the police so that they can reform themselves as respectable members of society.

The only son of the Royal Astrologer, Narsin (Om Prakash) namely Gopal (Bharat Bhushan) is not interested in astrology but in music and songs, much to the dismay of Narsin. Gopal's talents are well-known and he could become the Emperor's Chief Musician if he wins in the contest. His rivals live next door, and in order to win the approval of the emperor (Chandrashekhar), they poison Gopal's drink, and Gopal loses his voice completely. His mom (Leela Chitnis) is sorry at the loss of his voice. A young dancing girl, Gopi (Nimmi) takes interest in Gopal, and through her help and a hard knock on the head, he recovers his voice. But Gopal's challenges are far from over, and he will be called upon to prove his worth, as well as his association with Gopi. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Rajguru (Sohrab Modi) decides that Jhansi should get its proper recognition in history. He comes across a young girl Manu (the young Rani Lakshmibai) played by Baby Shikha. Her father has been hit by a carriage driven by an English driver. She gathers a few children to confront the driver. This and her confrontation with an elephant impresses the Rajguru who takes her in hand, shaping her into becoming a determined leader. He arranges for her, at the age of nine, to marry the much-older ruler of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao (Mubarak), who is about fifty years, and become Queen. Manu grows up under the expert tutelage of the Rajguru, learning physical combat and political administration. The older Manu now called Lakshmibai gives birth to a boy who dies. She adopts another boy Damodar Rao who the English refuse to accept as the rightful heir. This further sets her against the British. During the uprising of 1857 (1857 Mutiny) she fights against them succumbing to her injuries in the end. —Cinephile

A vengeful princess waits for the right moment to kill her foster-father - the emperor. Claiming to be a homeless orphan, young Amber gets adopted by the Maharaja and grows up in the palace. 10 years later, she dramatically meets a bandit, Raj, and both are attracted to each other. Raj's father fears for the life of the Maharaja and asks his son to act as a bodyguard. The former dons the guise of a tutor and arrives at the palace. While the Maharaja is pleased, the Diwan and his son, Johar, are not too thrilled. Then the latter comes to know of a conspiracy to kill the Maharaja - and the person he suspects is none other than Amber. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)