She thought it was love. He sold her for cash. 1973 Bollywood does NOT play nice.
Village belle Sarita falls in love with young and dashing Ramesh, gets married to him, and re-locates to the city. Once in the city, Ramesh takes her to a brothel, and asks her to wait for him for a few days. Unknown to her, Ramesh has sold her to brothel madame, Champabai, for a hefty fee.
Acting
Zaheeda's devastating transformation from village innocence to trapped desperation.
Direction
Khanna's unflinching lens on systemic cruelty masked as domestic drama.
Director
Sikandar Khanna
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Prabhat arrived during Bollywood's 'parallel cinema' wave, when mainstream films began confronting social issues previously deemed too grim for commercial audiences.
Zaheeda, niece of legendary filmmaker Kamal Amrohi, took this role against type after softer romantic leads—her career never recovered commercially, but critics cite this as her bravest work.
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