Azaad (1955 film)

This article is about 1955 film. For 1978 film, see Azaad (1978 film). For 2025 film, see Azaad (2025 film).

Azaad (transl. Free) is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film produced and directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. It was a remake of his own Tamil film Malaikkallan (1954), which had M. G. Ramachandran and P. Bhanumathi playing the lead roles.^[1]

Azaad
Poster
Directed by	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Screenplay by	Rajendra Krishan
Story by	Venkatarama Ramalingam Pillai
Produced by	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Starring	Dilip Kumar Meena Kumari
Cinematography	Sailen Bose
Edited by	Veluswamy
Music by	C. Ramchandra
Production company	Pakshiraja Studios
Distributed by	Pakshiraja Studios
Release date	1 July 1955 (1955-07-01)
Running time	151 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Plot

After her widower father, Kedarnath, passes away, Shobha goes to live with her father's friend Charandas and his wife Shanta, who had their son go missing as a child. Years later, Shobha is now matured and Charandas scouts for a suitable groom. A wealthy man, Sundar, would like to marry Shobha, but the family detests him. Then one night Shobha is abducted. The Police are informed but their search is in vain. A few days later, they get wind that Shobha may be in Sundar's custody, and a search proves to be in vain. Then Shobha returns home and tells them that she was rescued by a wealthy man named Azaad, housed in a mansion, looked after very well and brought back home all in one piece. They subsequently find out that the wealthy man is none other than a notorious bandit named Azaad. They are even more shocked when Shobha informs them that she wants to marry Azaad. Will Charandas and Shanta permit her to marry a bandit?

Cast

• Dilip Kumar as Kumar / Azaad / Abdul Rahim Khan
• Meena Kumari as Shobha
• Om Prakash as Head Constable Motilal
• Pran as Sundar
• Raj Mehra as Sub Inspector
• Randhir as Kedarnath
• Badri Prasad as Charandas
• Achala Sachdev as Shanta
• Shammi as Janki
• S. Nazir as Chandar
• Murad as Jagirdar
• Ramesh Sinha as Azaad's Man
• Balam as Azaad's Man
• Nissar as Azaad's Man
• Deepa as Paro
• Sayee as Chanda
• Subbulakshmi as Gopi

Soundtrack

The music was composed by C. Ramchandra and the songs were written by Rajendra Krishna. According to author, musicologist and film critic Rajesh Subramanian, Naushad was first offered to compose the songs. He refused when Naidu insisted that the songs had to be composed in a month. Hence, C. Ramchandra was signed on and the melodies were composed in record time. According to a book published by Raju Bharatan, Naidu requested Naushad to compose ten tunes within 30 days, for which he would get his "due payment". To this, Naushad purportedly said: "Naidusaab, yeh koi baniye ki dukaan samjha aapne? Ek gaana nahi milega aapko tees din main". (Naidusaab, do you think this is a baniya store? You will not get even one song in 30 days).^[2]

Song	Singer
"Na Bole, Na Bole Re"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Ja Ri O Kari Badariya"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Dekho Ji Bahaar Aayi"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Peeke Daras Ko Taras"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Kitni Jawan Hai Raat"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Kitna Haseen Hai Mausam, Kitna Haseen Safar Hai"	Lata Mangeshkar, C. Ramchandra
"Baliye O Baliye, Chal Chhaliye"	Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar
"Aplam Chaplam Chaplayi Re"	Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar
"Marna Bhi Mohabbat Mein"	Raghunath Jadhav

Reception

Like the original, Azaad opened to terrific response and emerged a blockbuster at the box office, especially given the lavish scale it was shot on and highly popular songs, such as "Aplam Chaplam" and "Baliye O Baliye, Chal Chhaliye".^[3] It was shown at Bombay's popular Minerva theatre for 36 weeks and in Kolkata's famous Paradise cinema for 40 weeks.^[4]

Dilip Kumar received praise from audience as well as critics for his excellent comic timing and earned his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.^[5][6]