Achhut (1940)

Original title

Acchut

Directed by

Chandulal Shah

Genre

social film

Country

British Raj

Runtime

2h 20m

Rating

10.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A social drama about the caste system and untouchability in India. It follows characters dealing with the prejudice and discrimination faced by untouchables.

socially conscioussentimentalseriousearnestdramaticemotionalreformistmoraltopical

What happens

Achhut (The Untouchable) is a 1940 social Indian Bollywood film based on untouchability. It was the third highest grossing Indian film of 1940. The film was produced by Chandulal Shah for his Ranjit Studios. He also wrote the story and screenplay, and directed it. Achhut's premiere was attended by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 23 December 1939, who stated: "If the picture helps India to remove this curse, it can be said to have helped India to win Swaraj as untouchability is one of the chief obstacles in the road to freedom". The film had Motilal and Gohar in the main lead with, Sitara Devi, Trilok Kapoor, Mazhar Khan, Noor Mohammed Charlie, Vasanti and Rajkumari playing important roles. The music was by Gyan Dutt, with lyrics by Raghunath Brahmabhatt. The cinematography was by Krishna Gopal. The film was made to "promote Gandhi's movement against untouchability". The film was initially released in the Gujarati version on 23 December 1939. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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