An upper-caste Hindu Brahmin struggles to make ends meet forcing his daughter, Shalini, to take the burden of maintaining the family upon her shoulders
Acting
Mumtaz carries the entire film on her exhausted, luminous shoulders.
Direction
Balachander refuses easy redemption — every frame stings.
Director
K. Balachander
Mumtaz Askari
Shalini R. Shastri
Nirupa Roy
Savitri R. Shastri
A.K. Hangal
Ram Shastri
Rajesh Khanna
Special Appearance
Lalita Pawar
Janki
Rita Bhaduri
Poorna R. Shastri
Jayasudha
Usha G. Shastri
Manmohan Krishna
Jagannath Rao
Jagdish Raj
Madan Puri
Jagdeep
Suresh Chatwal
Kamal Haasan
Prem Kapoor
Dharmendra
Himself
Neetu Singh
Herself
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
K. Balachander, a Tamil Brahmin himself, consistently dissected caste hypocrisy in Hindi cinema — Aaina is his quietest grenade.
Mumtaz reportedly took this role against advice — commercial stars avoided 'de-glam' poverty narratives. She was nominated for Filmfare, they were wrong.
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