Anarkali's mother
A 16th century prince falls in love with a court dancer and battles with his emperor father.
Shamu's mother
A poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, always sticks to her own moral code.
Jayant Desai directs this melodrama centering on Kanhaiyalal (K. L. Saigal) who, according to a fortuneteller at his birth, will consort with a prostitute, grow skillful with a knife, and be sentenced to the gallows. As the film progresses, this unpromising prediction comes true, but in an unexpected manner. After a family tragedy, Kanhaiyalal and his mother find shelter in the home of a kindly whore named Saguna (Suraiya) who eventually sacrifices her life for that of the protagonist. Later, he becomes handy with a knife when he goes to med school and becomes a surgeon. As Kanhaiyalal matures, he and his mother battle against crime and poverty.
Jilloobai
A disgraced widow is forced to work as a maid for her fatherless child.
In between his more ambitious Najma (1943) and Humayun (1945), Mehboob made this lightweight comedy about Justice Gangaprasad (Chandramohan) and theatre-owner Seth Badriprasad (Charlie) who lose their daughter and son respectively in the Kumbh Mela.
Sarita Rani
The film begins after Alexander the Great (Sikander in Hindi/Urdu) conquers Persia and the Kabul valley and approaches the Indian border at Jhelum. Sohrab Modi plays the Indian king Puru (Porus to the Greeks). The story goes that when Sikander defeated Porus and imprisoned him, he asked Porus how would he like to be treated. Porus replied the same way a defeated king is treated by the winner (meaning killed).
A love affair and two feuding families who play out a Romeo and Juliet type drama in 17th century India, under the Emperor Jehangir.
A period fantasy that told of the ageing king of Kamarpur, and his two rival queens, Navbahar and Dilbahar, and their rivalry when a fakir predicts that Navbahar will bear the king's heir. Dilbahar unsuccessfully tries to seduce the army chief Adil (Vithal) and vengefully destroys his family, leaving his daughter Alam Ara (Zubeida) to be raised by nomads. Eventually, Alam Ara's nomad friends invade the palace, expose Dilbahar's schemes, release Adil from the dungeon and she marries the prince of the realm.
