Kitaab
Encyclopedia
Kitaab is a 1977
Hindi movie. Produced by Pranlal Mehta and Gulzar
the film is directed by Gulzar. The film stars Uttam Kumar
, Vidya Sinha
, Shreeram Lagoo, Keshto Mukherjee
and Asit Sen. Musical score is by R. D. Burman.
sends him to his sister's (played by Vidya Sinha
) place (in a city) so that he can go to a good school. Initially, Babla likes
both school as well as sister's home very much and becomes a good friend with Pappu (played by Master Tito), his classmate. They roam around in streets, watch street magic show and wish they could do such tricks, look inquisitively at how sweets are made, make fun of teacher etc. They enjoy, as any kid will, all these things thoroughly. But Babla gets reminded of the harsh reality of life when his sister and brother-in-law starts scolding him for his disinterest in studies and complaints from the school regarding his so-called irresponsible behavior (like making fun of teachers, singing in the classroom etc.). He gets to realize that nobody understands kids, their innocence, their view of life and he will have to grow up to enjoy life fully.
One thing leads to another and one day Babla decides that he will be better off living with his mother in village. He runs off and get on a train. Since he does not have any ticket, ticket-master catches him and makes him get off on the next station. In the night he feels cold and look around for some shelter. He finds an old woman sleeping in a blanket and lie down besides her sharing the blanket. In the morning, finding the old beggar woman still sleeping, he picks up a coin from her container and goes off to drink water. While drinking water he sees that lot of people have gathered around the old lady. He goes there and finds out that the lady he had been sleeping with was dead. He gets scared to his core and realizes that life is, in fact, not that simple for those who are poor. He puts back the coin he had taken and run off to his mother's place. There he finds his mother, sister and brother-in-law worrying about him. They are overjoyed to see Babla back and Babla promises to everyone that he will study sincerely and never create troubles for anyone.
Crew
Bollywood films of 1977
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1977:-Highest grossing:The top forty grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1977:-1977:-External links:* - A look back at 1977 with a focus on the Hindi film song...
Hindi movie. Produced by Pranlal Mehta and Gulzar
Gulzar (lyricist)
Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
the film is directed by Gulzar. The film stars Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime...
, Vidya Sinha
Vidya Sinha
Vidya Sinha is an Indian actress who has acted in Bollywood films.-Movie career:She began modelling and acting at the age of 18. Her first movie was Raja Kaka opposite Kiran Kumar. However, fame came to her through a low-budget, alternative cinema break-away hit Rajnigandha, directed by her mentor...
, Shreeram Lagoo, Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee was an Indian actor. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in the Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he used to share a very good relation with the iconic Ritwik Ghatak and had very tiny but important roles in the maestro's films...
and Asit Sen. Musical score is by R. D. Burman.
Plot
Babla (played by Master Raju) is a kid who lives in a village with his mother (played by Dina Pathak). His mothersends him to his sister's (played by Vidya Sinha
Vidya Sinha
Vidya Sinha is an Indian actress who has acted in Bollywood films.-Movie career:She began modelling and acting at the age of 18. Her first movie was Raja Kaka opposite Kiran Kumar. However, fame came to her through a low-budget, alternative cinema break-away hit Rajnigandha, directed by her mentor...
) place (in a city) so that he can go to a good school. Initially, Babla likes
both school as well as sister's home very much and becomes a good friend with Pappu (played by Master Tito), his classmate. They roam around in streets, watch street magic show and wish they could do such tricks, look inquisitively at how sweets are made, make fun of teacher etc. They enjoy, as any kid will, all these things thoroughly. But Babla gets reminded of the harsh reality of life when his sister and brother-in-law starts scolding him for his disinterest in studies and complaints from the school regarding his so-called irresponsible behavior (like making fun of teachers, singing in the classroom etc.). He gets to realize that nobody understands kids, their innocence, their view of life and he will have to grow up to enjoy life fully.
One thing leads to another and one day Babla decides that he will be better off living with his mother in village. He runs off and get on a train. Since he does not have any ticket, ticket-master catches him and makes him get off on the next station. In the night he feels cold and look around for some shelter. He finds an old woman sleeping in a blanket and lie down besides her sharing the blanket. In the morning, finding the old beggar woman still sleeping, he picks up a coin from her container and goes off to drink water. While drinking water he sees that lot of people have gathered around the old lady. He goes there and finds out that the lady he had been sleeping with was dead. He gets scared to his core and realizes that life is, in fact, not that simple for those who are poor. He puts back the coin he had taken and run off to his mother's place. There he finds his mother, sister and brother-in-law worrying about him. They are overjoyed to see Babla back and Babla promises to everyone that he will study sincerely and never create troubles for anyone.
Credits
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Babla | Master Raju |
| Pappu | Master Tito |
| Babla's brother-in-law | Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime... |
| Babla's sister | Vidya Sinha Vidya Sinha Vidya Sinha is an Indian actress who has acted in Bollywood films.-Movie career:She began modelling and acting at the age of 18. Her first movie was Raja Kaka opposite Kiran Kumar. However, fame came to her through a low-budget, alternative cinema break-away hit Rajnigandha, directed by her mentor... |
| Old Beggar | Dr Shreeram Lagoo |
| Babla's mother | Dina Pathak Dina Pathak Dina Pathak or Deena Pathak was a veteran actor and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was also a woman activist and remained the President of the 'National Federation of Indian Women'... |
Crew
| Director | Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in... |
| Producer | Pranlal Mehta & Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in... |
| Script | Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in... |
| Music | R. D. Burman |
| Lyrics | Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in... |
Trivia
- Though a box office debacle, Kitaab remains one of the favourite movies of GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
. - For the music in song "Aa aa ee Aa aa ee...." picturised on students in a class, R. D. Burman used an actual table to create a realistic effect.