Grahasti (1963 film)

Grahasti
Film Poster
Directed by	Kishore Sahu
Produced by	S. S. Vasan
Written by	Pandit Mukhram Sharma (dialogue)
Starring	Ashok Kumar Manoj Kumar Rajshree Mehmood
Music by	Ravi
Cinematography	P. Ellappa
Production company	Gemini Chitra
Release date	1963
Running time	94 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Grahasti, (Family Life) also called Grihasti, is a 1963 Hindi family drama film, directed by Kishore Sahu. Produced by S. S. Vasan for Gemini Studios (Gemini Chitra, Chennai), its music director was Ravi and the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayuni. Pandit Mukhram Sharma wrote the dialogues with cinematography by P. Ellappa. The film starred Ashok Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Rajshree, Nirupa Roy, Indrani Mukherjee, Bipin Gupta, Lalita Pawar, and Gajanan Jagirdar.

Grahasti was the first film to "start the trend" of family dramas being made in South India. The story revolves around Harish Khanna (Ashok Kumar) who leads a dual life, having two sets of families in different cities. The effect the exposure has on him and his family forms the basis of the story.

Harish Khanna (Ashok Kumar) lives in a happy household consisting of his wife Maya (Nirupa Roy) and his large family of seven daughters and one son. Also staying with them is his widowed sister (Lalita Pawar), and her son Jaggu (Mehmood). Harish spends four days of the week away from his family for work. Harish and Maya soon have a ninth child much to Maya's consternation, as her older daughter, Kamla (Bharati Malvankar) who is married to Gopal is also expecting a child. The fact that Kamla is pregnant is a cause of anxiety, as according to Gopal's parents, the couple have not been together since the wedding and her pregnancy is considered as a sign of her disreputable character. Gopal is not there to give an explanation and his parents decide to send Harish's older daughter back home. Harish finds out that two of his daughters, Kiran (Rajshree) and Kamini (Indrani Mukherjee) are in love with Mohan (Manoj Kumar), the son of the College principal, and Ravindra (Soodesh Kumar) respectively, and that Jaggu is in love with Rekha (Shobha Khote). Harish decides to get the three pairs married.