Kundan (1955 film)

Kundan
Directed by	Sohrab Modi
Produced by	Sohrab Modi
Written by	Pandit Sudarshan (screenplay)
Starring	Sohrab Modi Nimmi Sunil Dutt Ulhas Pran
Music by	Ghulam Mohammed Shakeel Badayuni (lyrics)
Cinematography	M. N. Malhotra Lateef Bhandare
Edited by	P. Bhalchandra
Production company	Minerva Movietone
Release date	1955
Running time	121 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Kundan is a 1955 Hindi social drama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi for Minerva Movietone. The Screenplay was by Pandit Sudarshan with dialogues by Munshi Abdul Baqui and Pandit Sudarshan. Music was composed by Ghulam Mohammed with lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni.Nimmi's dual role in the film as mother and daughter was acclaimed critically, while Ulhas won a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category. The film co-starred Sohrab Modi, Sunil Dutt, Pran, Murad, Baby Naaz, Kumkum, Om Prakash and Manorama.

Based on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, the film had Modi playing the role of a poverty-stricken young man who gets into trouble with the police for stealing a loaf of bread. Over the years he avoids a policeman who is on his trail even as he is trying to live an honest life.

The film starts with Kundan (Sohrab Modi) stealing a loaf of bread from a kitchen and running home with it to feed his young niece Radha, and ailing mother. He is arrested and in court he says he had tried to find work, begged, and in the end was forced to steal. The judge sentences him to two years in prison. His niece visits him in jail telling him of his mother’s death. Kundan bends the iron rods and escapes but is caught. He is imprisoned for a further five years for trying to escape. The second time he tries to do so he gets an additional seven years. Kundan spends a total of fourteen years in prison doing hard labour. Radha (Nimmi) is married to Gopal (Pran) and they have a baby girl Uma. Gopal, who is in bad company and a crook gets her to part with all her jewellery and disappears with it. Radha and her baby find refuge with a tea-stall owner (Om Prakash) and his wife (Manorama)) who employ her to work for them for minimal wages. Kundan on release from jail sets out to find Radha. He has been told by the jail authorities including Inspector Sher Singh (Ulhas), a devout policeman, to keep them informed about his whereabouts and to present himself regularly at the police station. When he returns to his locality he is unable to find Radha and the neighbours drive him away, calling him a dacoit.