The naive Saroop (Nandrekar) romantically renounces earthly pleasures under the influence of a sadhu (Ashraf Khan). Arrested at a fairground and jailed, fellow convicts change his view of the world. Working in the prison’s garden, he meets the superintendent Sohanlal’s (Nazir) daughter Durga (Kumari), who was married as a child to a boy now believed dead. Ranjit (Singh) covets her and on her wedding day to the nasty Ranjit, it is discovered that Saroop was her child-husband.
Direction
Kardar crafts social critique through glossy studio-era spectacle.
Acting
Ashraf Khan's sadhu steals scenes with theatrical gravitas.
Production
Prison sets and fairground chaos—1938 studio craft on full display.
Director
Abdul Rashid Kardar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Baghban arrived as Indian cinema pivoted from mythologicals to social reform pictures, riding the wave of 1930s progressive nationalism.
Sitara Devi appears in an unspecified role—she'd soon become a legendary dancer, making this a blink-and-miss origin point.
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