Aaina (1977 film)

Ram Shashtri, an upper Caste Hindu Brahmin, lives in a small village in India, but has a very large family, consisting of his wife, Savitri, five daughters and three sons. Ram performs prayers and last rites for the Hindu community, and it is through these meagre earnings that the entire household survives. The eldest is a daughter by name Shalini, who silently falls in love with Ashok J. Rao, the son of the Village Mukhiya, Jagannath. As the Raos are of a much lower caste than the Shastris, Ashok is told by his dad that he cannot marry Shalini. One day, after an argument with his dad, he leaves to join the army, and a few weeks later a telegram is received by Jagannath that Ashok is no more. As Ram is unable to get more assignments, Savitri attempts to poison the entire family, but Shalini stops her in time. She gets a job and is able to get the family to get back up on its feet. Her brother, Gautam, wants to be a doctor, so she arranges for his studies, while her sister, Poorna, wants to be a singer, and a music teacher is arranged. Then Shalini leaves her village to travel to Poona to get her brother's admission to Medical College, with considerable success, and from thence on there is no looking back for this family. Shalini gets a raise and an offer for a big pay-raise if she re-locates to the capital, Delhi, which she does. She sends plenty of money so her dad does not have to work, and her siblings can carry on with their respective studies. Then Shalini's sister, Girja, meets a young man, Raju, and both fall in love. Gautam, now a doctor, is in love with the Tehsildar's daughter, Usha, and wants to marry her. Shalini returns home to attend the two marriages. The marriages take place with great pomp and ceremony and everyone compliments Shalini, for without her efforts, the family would have been destitute. But after the weddings, her life will be changed forever, she will lose all respect from her family, she will be treated as an outcast and forced to leave the house. The question remains, why would Shalini be ill-treated by her very own family, and if so, what will become of her?

In the end, she was disowned by her family and nobody appreciated her efforts for whatever she did to provide for the financial support. And when everyone else discarded her, Ashok accepted her for what she is and married her with the blessings of his father and Shalini's mother.

• Rajesh Khanna
• Mumtaz – Shalini R. Shastri
• A. K. Hangal – Ram Shastri
• Nirupa Roy – Savitri R. Shastri
• Rita Bhaduri – Poorna R. Shastri
• Adil Amaan – Dr. Gautam R. Shastri
• Jayasudha – Usha G. Shastri
• Lalitha Pawar – Janki
• Manmohan Krishna – Jagannath Rao
• Jagdishraj – Managing Director
• Polson – Shastri's Client
• Brahmachari – Shastri's Client
• Madan Puri – M. B. Patil
• Jagdeep – Music Instructor
• Suresh Chatwal – Shyam Lal
• Kamal Haasan – Prem Kapoor (Uncredited as an actor, cameo role of a few seconds appearance, shown in a shooting of a movie of Dharmendra and Neetu Singh)
• Dharmendra – Himself (shooting of a movie)
• Neetu Singh – Herself (shooting of a movie)

• Director – K. Balachander
• Story – K. Balachander
• Screenplay – K. Balachander
• Dialogue – Inder Raj Anand
• Producer – L. Duraiswamy, N. Selvaraj
• Production Company – Kalakendra Films
• Cinematographer – B. S. Lokanath
• Editor – N. R. Kittu
• Art Director – T. K. Desai
• Costume and Wardrobe – Bhanu Athaiya, P. Samee
• Choreographer – Suresh Bhatt
• Dance – Kamal Haasan, Gopi Krishna, Manohar Naidu
• Music Director – Naushad
• Lyricist – Jan Nisar Akhtar
• Playback Singers – Asha Bhosle, Vani Jairam, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi

• Aaina on IMDb