Two Adivasi tribes are in conflict for the local economic rights. The daughter of the Nagi tribe's chief, Mala (Vyjayanthimala) vows to kill the son of the Ragi tribe's chief, Sanatan (Pradeep Kumar) as revenge. Trespassing the enemy territory, she is mesmerized by music of a flute (played by the musician Kalyanji Virji Shah). Coming closer, she finds out that the singer is Sanatan. They fall in love, but find it difficult to appease the enmity between the two tribes and to resist the attempts of the villain Prabir (Jeevan) to marry Mala.
Acting
Vyjayanthimala's snake-dance mastery and death-glare-to-desire pipeline.
Score
Kalyanji Virji Shah's flute motifs that literally stop a murder plot.
Costume
Technicolor tribal glam that makes conflict look like a fashion show.
Director
Nandwal Jaswantlal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of Bollywood's first major Technicolor productions, and they absolutely used every color available.
Vyjayanthimala became synonymous with the 'nagin' archetype, reprising snake-woman roles throughout her career — this film basically invented a genre.
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