Baiju Bawra (film)

Baiju Bawra
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vijay Bhatt
Produced by	Prakash Pictures
Written by	Zia Sarhadi (dialogues)
Screenplay by	R. S. Choudhury
Story by	Ramchandra Thakur
Starring	Meena Kumari Bharat Bhushan
Music by	Naushad Shakeel Badayuni (lyrics)
Cinematography	V. N. Reddy
Edited by	Pratap Dave
Release date	5 October 1952
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Baiju Bawra is a 1952 Hindi film directed by Vijay Bhatt. Produced by Prakash Pictures, with story by Ramchandra Thakur and dialogues by Zia Sarhadi, Baiju Bawra was a musical "megahit" which had a mighty run of 100 weeks in the theatres. Bhatt's decision to make a film based on classical music was met with scepticism by the Indian film industry due to its "lack of mass appeal", but the film and music turned out be an "overwhelming success". The film's music director was Naushad, who had become popular giving folk-based music in films like Rattan, Anmol Ghadi, Shahjehan (1946) and Deedar (1951). With Bhatt's Baiju Bawra, Naushad introduced classical component in Hindi film songs. The soundtrack based on light classical ragas, made use of folk, thumri or dadra, with a stronger raga used in the last contest song between Tansen and Baiju. The lyricist was Shakeel Badayuni, a Naushad discovery. For Baiju Bawra, he had to forgo Urdu, and write lyrics in pure Hindi, with songs like the bhajan, "Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj", becoming popular.

The film starred Bharat Bhushan as Baiju, with Meena Kumari playing his love interest Gauri. Meena made her acting debut in Bhatt's Leatherface (1939) as a seven-year-old. Surendra portrayed Tansen, one of the Navratans (music) in Akbar's court. Kuldip Kaur played the role of the dacoit queen Roopmati. The rest of the cast included Bipin Gupta, Manmohan Krishna, B. V. Vyas and Baby Tabassum.