Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam: A Cinematic Milestone in Indian Film History

Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (The Master, The Wife, and The Slave) is a 1962 film in Hindi produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Abrar Alvi. The stars are Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Rehman, and Waheeda Rehman. This film is based on the novel of the same name by Bimal Mitra (1953). An earlier film was also there in Bengali in 1956. The film focuses on the downfall of the 19th-century Bengal Zamindars. The film follows Chhoti Bahu’s effort to keep her husband, who was going to a prostitute’s house. Later on, Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) also became addicted to alcohol, and the nemesis came for the family.

The film was released on 29 July 1962. It commercially failed. But critics praised the performance of Meena Kumari, Murthy’s cinematography, Best Film, and Best Director. The film received the Best Film award.

Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam became a milestone in Guru Dutt’s career. In 2012, the film became a book. The story of the film is like this: In Calcutta, a group of laborers, while demolishing an old haveli, found the skeleton of a lady, who was recognized by the overseer (Guru Dutt). He flashes back to the old days of 19th-century Bengal with respect to this house.

Bhootnath (Guru Dutt) arrives in Calcutta and finds a job in Mohini Sindur factory. The owner of the Sindur factory was Subinay. Subinay’s daughter Jaba (Waheeda Rehman) became fascinated with Bhootnath (Guru Dutt). Bhootnath became interested in the goings-on of the Zamindar Haveli, and every night he observed the Choudhury Brothers’ decadent lifestyle.

One night, another servant of the family takes Bhootnath to meet Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari). Chhoti Bahu asks him to bring sindoor. Bhootnath was struck by her sadness and became her secret confidante. When Chhoti Bahu’s repeated attempts failed, she became her husband’s drinking partner.

Bhootnath becomes a trainee architect and goes on a training project. When Bhootnath returns, he sees the haveli has been partially ruined. Chhoti Bahu is now a desperate alcoholic, and her husband is paralyzed. One night, Chhoti Bahu asks Bhootnath to accompany her to a nearby shrine to pray for her husband. The elder Zamindar, Majhle Babu, overhears their conversation and suspects Chhoti Bahu is having an affair with Bhootnath and orders his henchmen to chase them. Bhootnath and Chhoti Bahu travel in a carriage, but the henchmen stop it. Bhootnath is knocked unconscious, and Chhoti Bahu is abducted. When he wakes up in the hospital, Bansi tells Bhootnath Chhoti Bahu has disappeared and her husband is dead. The flashback ends. Bhootnath’s workers inform him a skeleton is found in the ruins of the haveli. From the jewelry on the corpse, Bhootnath recognizes it is the remains of Chhoti Bahu. In the last scene, a nostalgic Bhootnath rides away in a carriage with Jaba, who is now his wife.

Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam is a tragedy in the true sense of the term. The film attained a cult status. Meena Kumari’s performance was outstanding. No one else could have done better. Meena Kumari took the audience on an unforgettable odyssey into the inner recesses of the mind of an emotionally and physically cloistered woman.

Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam will remain as a lasting memory in the minds of Indian filmgoers.

(The views expressed are the writer’s own.)

Radhakanta Seth is an Income tax officer in Sambalpur.  He is a Freelance writer and his articles have been published in some Oriya dailies like Sambad, Samaj, Dharitri and English dailies like The Telegraph and in a sociological journal ‘Folklore’ published from Kolkata.