Dushman (1971 film)

Surjit Singh (Rajesh Khanna) earns livelihood by driving truck. He is a rash driver often driving after drinking. One night he stops at the prostitute Chamelibai's (Bindu), spends the night with her, and gets up late the next morning. He rushes out and drives at breakneck speed in thick fog to make up for the lost time while again drinking. He ends up running over and killing a farmer named Ram Din. But despite the opportunity to run, he decides to stay and face the consequences. He is arrested by the police, charged, and brought before the court.

Surjit acknowledges his guilt to the Judge (Rehman), who in turn knows that he should send Surjit to prison for two years. But moved by the plight of Ram Din's family (which include his widow Malti (Meena Kumari); his sister Kamla (Naaz); two young sons; a crippled father Ganga Din (Nana Palsikar), and his blind mother (Leela Mishra), and his inherent belief that imprisonment does not serve the good for victim or the perpetrator, the Judge resolves to try a novel experiment of forcing Surjit to live with Ram Din's family and look after their financial needs. A horrified Surjit attempts in vain to convince the Judge to change his ruling. He is transported to his new "prison" under police protection, where he is met by hostile villagers. Ram Din's family detest his presence, and call him "Dushman" (The enemy). Surjit attempts to escape on the first night, but is apprehended and brought back to serve his time.

He gradually comes to terms with the twist of the fate that has forced him to become a farmer for subsistence and live under the ever unforgiving eyes of Ram Din's family. Over time, he starts sincerely working for the family and its interests. He meets Phoolmati (Mumtaz), a happy-go-lucky girl who operates a small bioscope machine to entertain the village kids. They take an instant liking to each other, which blossoms into love. He also finds friends amongst the previously hostile villagers. He works hard on the family plot while also protecting it from the clutches of a local landlord, who has ill-intentioned designs on the land and also on Kamla.

Surmounting many obstacles, Surjit is able to arrange the marriage of Kamla with her childhood sweetheart. With the help of a benevolent police force and the Judge, he is also able to thwart the many attempts of the landlord to seize the family's land, and that of other villagers who have mortgaged their land with the same landlord. Malti however, is unable to forgive Surjit for having killed her husband.

Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when Surjit is framed and arrested for the accidental death of Phoolmati's drunk grandfather. At the same time, the landlord covertly gets the harvest produced by Surjit and other villagers, on fire, and has Phoolmati kidnapped, primarily to punish Surjit. Malti, who has been working in one of the landlord's saw mills thinking he is an honourable man, witnesses his misdeeds, and finally realises her mistake. She is able to rescue Phoolmati, but gets trapped by the landlord instead, who attempts to rape her. Meanwhile, Surjit stages an escape from his holding cell and with the help of Phoolmati, is able to come to Malti's rescue in the nick of time. He confronts the landlord and violently assaults him as payback. The police show up and arrest the landlord for his role in defrauding the villagers and destroying their harvest.

Ram Din's family finally accept Surjit as one of their own, and arrange his marriage to Phoolmati. In a final twist though, his two years' imprisonment is complete, and the Police arrive to escort him back to town. He pleads with the Judge to let him serve a life sentence, and the Judge smiles, vindicated that his experiment has been successful.[9]

• Rajesh Khanna as Surjit Singh / Dushman
• Meena Kumari as Malti Ram Din
• Mumtaz as Phoolmati
• Naaz as Kamala
• Abhi Bhattacharya as Police Inspector
• Asit Sen as Head Constable Harishankar Chaurasiya
• Rehman as Judge
• Anwar Hussain as Timber Merchant
• Sajjan as Nain Sukh
• Kanhaiyalal as Durga Prasad
• Nana Palsikar as Ganga Din
• Leela Mishra as Mrs. Ganga Din
• K. N. Singh as Public Prosecutor Saxena
• Ramayan Tiwari as Nana, Drunkard Grand Father of Phoolmati
• Murad as Supreme Court Judge
• Johnny Walker as Palmist (Special Appearance)
• Bindu as Chamelibai (In Song "Vaada Tera Vaada")
• Marutirao Parab as Barber
• Narbada Shankar as Panditji

• Dushmun on IMDb