Bhabhi (1938)

Original title

भाभी

Directed by

Franz Osten

Genre

drama film

Country

British Raj

Runtime

2h 24m

Rating

9.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1930s Indian film focuses on the struggles of a young widow and how society treats her. It examines prejudiced views on relationships between men and women.

socially consciousdramaticthoughtfulserioushistorical

What happens

Bhabhi (Sister-in-Law) is a 1938 social family drama Hindi film directed by Franz Osten. The film was based on a Bengali novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay called "Bisher Dhoan" ("বিষের ধোঁয়া"). Bandyopadhyay was a famous Bengali novelist and short story writer also known as the creator of the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi. The cinematographers were Wirsching and Pareenja. Dialogues and lyrics by J. S. Casshyap. V. H. Desai, the comedian, got his "big break" in Bhabhi when he joined Bombay Talkies. He became popular as the nervous father of the heroine Renuka Devi. S. N. Tripathi started his acting with a small role in the film. The film had the new found Renuka Devi in the lead. The cast included P. Jairaj, Maya Devi as the young widow, with V. H. Desai, Rama Shukal, Meera, M. Nazir, P. F. Pithawala. The film is family social drama, which deals with the issue of young widows. It put a special focus on the Indian society's attitude towards them, and society's bigoted approach to "man- woman relationships". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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