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On This Day

21 Jul, 1912

Cinemaazi remembers Avinash Vyas on his birth anniversary

21 Jul, 1930

Cinemaazi remembers Anand Bakshi on his birth anniversary

21 Jul, 1992

Cinemaazi remembers Ravindra Dave on his death anniversary

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Ankh Michowli (1942)

R S Choudhury

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Release Date1942
FormatB-W
LanguageHindi
Run Time128 minutes

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LIFE is game of "Hide and Seek." Some hide their feelings, some their faces and some their very id entity. Sins of the parents descend on the children, and in the eternal order of things someone suffers for another's folly.

Life was very rosy for Sir Chunni Lall Sinha. He came from a respectable family, bad plenty of money and was himself respected and revered for his good character. Rad ha, his dutiful wife, was not highly educated but was quite gentle and cultured. But their home was not destined to be happy till the end. There entered into the life of Sir Chunni Lall, Sona, a beautiful glamorous woman. Chunni Lall fell in love with her, head over heels. The tranquillity of their home was disturbed. Radha's good nature could not tolerate her husband's ways. Disgusted with her wretched ness brought about by the presence of Sona, and her husband's affections for her, Radha, one day, left the home with her baby Ekadasi. Thakur, a faithful servant of the household, also left with her.

Radha came to her mother's village only to learn that her mother was no more. Sona in the meantime assumed full charge of Sir Chunni Lall's household. She even wrote a letter to Rad ha in her husband's name, accusing her of infidelity and as she had eloped with a servant she could never step into his home again. Innocent Radha decided to face life's struggle all alone, took quarter in a poor locality and made a living by stitching clothes. Her only ray of hope was Ekadashi, her beloved daughter.

Sir Chunni Lall is buried in the beauty and charm of Sona. Thus years roll on and with years, Sona's beauty also fades. And with age Chunni Lali's fascination for Sona dwindles and he once again remembers his beloved wife and darling daughter. He craves for peace, and clever Sona knows that he was shedding secret tears for his Radha and Ekadasi. She did not want that Radha should come back to his life. So she dins into his ears that Rad ha was a bad character woman and had eloped with a servant and to hide her shame she had fallen into the Jamna River and was no more. Chunni Lall's heart would not accept this story.

Ekadasi has now bloomed into youth. She dances in joy and ecstasy and with worldly knowledge dawning on her; she wants her mother to tell her who her father was. Radha only evades the question, but Ekadasi tells everybody in the village that she is the daughter of a great man. All people cut jokes at this. All except one Madan the son of a rich man who loves Ekadasi with all his heart. Madan's mother does not like this love to develop as Ekadasi and her mother are poor. After some time under strange circumstances, Sir Chunni Lall and Ekadasi meet. But each could not recognise the other! Chunni Lall now falls ill and Doctors express no hope. Sona's self-realisation that she was the cause of Chunni Lall misery in his last days reaches a height.

What happens then?
Did the dying man meet his loving wife and daughter?

See it yourself on the screen.

[From the official press booklet]