Kalapani

(1958)

Karan Mehra (Dev Anand) lives with his widowed mother (Mumtaz Begum) in a city in India. One day his mother tells him that she is not really a widow, that her husband, Shankerlal, is still alive, serving a life sentence in prison in Hyderabad for killing a prostitute by the name of Mala. She had decided to not have anything to do with him when she found out that he was having an affair with Mala. Karan wants to see his father, and accordingly travels to Hyderabad, meets his father, who convinces him of his innocence. Karan decides to do some research of his own and delves into old newspapers dating back to 1943 when the British ruled India. It is here that he meets and falls in love with Asha (Madhubala), a Reporter, who also happens to be the niece of his landlord. Then one day Asha finds out that Karan has been secretly visiting a prostitute by the name of Kishori (Nalini Jaywant), and decides not to have to do anything with him. It looks like Karan is following in his father's foot-steps, which may well lead to history repeating itself, with Karan alienating his mother, ending up in prison or even facing the death sentence. Based on A.J.Cronin's 'Beyond This Place'.