Mr. & Mrs. ’55 is a 1955 Indian romantic comedy  film directed and produced by Guru Dutt, from a screenplay written by Abrar Alvi. A young woman must be married to claim her inheritance; her misandrist aunt uses the newly-passed 1955 divorce bill to find her a temporary husband. A socially critical film set in urban Mumbai, Anita Verma, a naive heiress who is forced into a marriage with an unemployed cartoonist to save her millions.

Preetam (Guru Dutt), a struggling cartoonist, meets Anita (Madhubala) at a tennis match, where she is watching her favourite tennis star. Anita, a wealthy and westernised heiress, is controlled by her aunt, Seeta Devi (Lalita Pawar). Seeta is suspicious of men and cultivates her attitudes in Anita. However, to receive her fortune, her father’s will decrees that Anita must marry within one month of turning 21. Seeta Devi doesn’t agree with this and tries to set Anita up with a sham marriage which will soon lead to divorce, thereby giving her both freedom and a fortune. Seeta hires Preetam to marry Anita, but she doesn’t know that the pair have already met. Preetam is kept from Anita after their marriage, but he kidnaps her and takes her to the traditional house of his brother.

While at the house, Anita befriends Preetam’s sister-in-law, and she begins to see the merit in becoming a wife. Preetam is worried that he has lost Anita and expedites their divorce by providing false, incriminating evidence to the court. Preetam then leaves Mumbai, heartbroken. Anita now recognises her feelings for Preetam and rushes to meet him at the airport.

The film opens with feminist firebrand Sita Devi (Lalita Pawar) presiding over a meeting in support of a proposed divorce bill that will give women more scope to terminate marriages. Though parliamentary passage of the bill appears imminent, Sita’s cadre of upper-class housewives seem more interested in debating the relative merits of skin-softening facials, and her unmarried niece and charge, Anita.

The film opposes the corrupting influence of Westernization on India’s urban rich by reaffirming traditional Indian values. In fact, the poster of the film was divided into two parts. The first part showed the hero buckling the heroine’s shoe who is in western attire and the second part shows her in a sari touching the hero’s feet.

This film promotes oppression on women through certain dialogues. In conversation between Anita and Pritam’s bhabhi- Anita statement that “it’s all right to have 3 children within 4 years of marriage” is countered by ” the real happiness of a women, a woman who think of her children as a burden isn’t a real woman” or when Anita asks “Does your husband beat you too?” , the woman replies “Yes, but he loves me too and it’s okay if that happens sometimes. Only a married women know the pleasure of it”. The entire film around the idea that divorce is unbecoming of an indian women and the only happiness she must find in her life should come nothing through marriage. Infact, there’s one dialogue that says, ‘settling in household, for a woman is like fulfilling the purpose of life’.

Film is shot beautifully. The film is full of fluid camera movements, long tracking shots, brilliant use of light and shade and close-ups, fine performances and editing is crisp and on point placements of songs are done beautifully. Film gender stereotyping and an implicit appeal to male fears that women’s rights will threaten family values—fears that have not yet been laid to rest in the ensuing half century—there’s plenty of good fun and good music, including notable vocal performances by Geeta Dutt, the director’s wife. Simple yet highly inventive song picturizations are enhanced by fine use of outdoor locations—Bombay teashops, bus stops, and a swimming pool. Madhubala looks radiant in Murthy’s chiaroscuro framing, and Guru Dutt himself appears lovably wistful but not yet tragically doomed.

Filmfare,  in its May 1955 issue quoted : “A thoroughly delightful, honey and cream social comedy. Mr. & Mrs. ’55 is a model of film craft and has gripping interest for every class of cinegoer. Its satire of characters we know and its incidents taken from life are spiced with humour… the dialogue, well-written, tense and witty, enhances the appeal of this true-to-life and thought-provoking entertainer.”

Harneet Singh of  The Indian  wrote, “The film rides on Madhubala’s impish charm and breezy comic timing, Johnny Walker’s one-liners, O. P. Nayyar’s evergreen music and Dutt’s lyrical direction, replete with long tracking shots, close-ups and cinematographer V. K. Murthy’s exquisite shadow-and-light framing  Mr. and Mrs. 55 is a great ride till the time the film doesn’t go all sanskari. Alvi’s dialogues are the star of the narrative. The banter is funny, lifelike and refreshingly non-filmi.”

Malavika Rajkitia  writes that the film “reflects the social anxiety the Bill from its very onset”, and that “sixty years later the film is still charming”, despite the “unkind portrayal of the feminist represented by Lalita Pawar”.

The film, based loosely on a play written by Abrar Alvi called Modern Marriage, sparkles with wit and imagination. Abrar Alvi’s dialogues diffuse highly charged situations with down-to-earth and matter-of-fact repartee. A splendid example of this was the scene where Preetam draws a cartoon of Sita Devi wearing a Roman toga, standing in a Roman chariot with a whip in hand. Anita and Preetam are the horses that pull the chariot. Incidentally, the cartoon was drawn by India’s top most cartoonist, R K Laxman. On seeing the cartoon, Sita Devi is furious and confronts Preetam. He answers every question with ‘Ji Haan’ (Yes) but the scene is brilliantly constructed in a manner such that each reply gives it a different shade, a different meaning. And of course, not forgetting the unforgettable exchange between Sita Devi and Preetam when they first meet and after listening to his views, she asks him if he is a communist. No, a cartoonist he replies!

While Guru Dutt is fine in the role of Preetam, it is Madhubala who lifts the film several notches with her natural and spontaneous flair for comedy. Johnny Walker as Preetam’s friend who supports him in days of struggle, Yasmin (real name Vinita Bhatt), who plays Johhny’s girlfriend, and Lalita Pawar as Sita Devi lend able support even though the last named is seriously handicapped by a strictly two-dimensional role that borders on absolute caricature.

The music score by OP Nayyar is outstanding. Particularly  Preetam Aan Milo. Anita is listening to the song in her room. Her aunt switches off the song. The next shot cuts to the same song playing simultaneously on the radio in Preetam’s room as he is packing his bags. It is to Geeta Dutt’s credit that she is able to give her own touch to the song. Guru Dutt film special mention must be made of the song picturizations particularly Thandi Hawa Kaali Ghata shot at the Mahatma Gandhi swimming pool in Bombay’s Shivaji Park performed with a smiling chorus of girls twirling umbrellas led by Madhubala. Or Jaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Ji as Johhny Walker and Yasmin romance under office desks during lunch break. The argumentative duet Chal Diye Banda Navaz imaginatively picturized among women drying and shaking out saris. And last but not least, the qawali Karavan Dil ka Loota after Preetam walks away from Sita Devi’s house having provided false evidence of his debauchery. He stands in half-light and smiles in ironic complicity as the qawal sings on the roadside. The scene has a new intensity not seen earlier in the film and brings a significant shift of mood to the film, looking ahead to the dark and sombre mood.

Mr. & Mrs. ’55 was among the early works of Dutt, and was also one of the few comedies made by him. Upon its theatrical release, the film emerged as a major critical and commercial success. Its box-office victory marked a reversal of fortunes for Madhubala, who was one of the film stars deemed “box office poison” in 1954. Her portrayal of Anita Verma has been generally considered one of her most memorable and identifiable performances.

Photos courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google.