Sharafat (1970 film)

Infobox Film
name = Shrarfat


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director = Nazar-ul-Islam
producer = Abdul Waheed Abdul Shakoor
writer = Jaffar Arsh
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lyrics = Ahmad Rahi
starring = Shabnum Nadeem Iliyas Kashmiri
music = Robin Ghosh
cinematography = Afzal Chaudry
editing =
released = June 19th, 1970
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country = Pakistan
language = Punjabi
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Made at the peak of their popularity, Shabnum and Nadeem came together once again, for this funny and acrid commentary on bourgeoisie hypocrisy. Within the confines of romantic genre, director Nazar-ul-Islam creates a biting indictment of conventional morality and the society's obsession with respectability. The story's ironic bend pierces through the hypocrisy of conventional respectably even as its two leads covet it desperately.

Plot

Ten minutes into the starting the marriage begins. The marriage is an accident and this twist sustains the rest of the film. The key is that neither the bride nor the groom gets to see what the other one looks like. Sajen (Nadeem) is a petty thief trying to make a getaway. He walks right into a wedding with a missing groom. Sajen hides behind the "sahera" and ends up marrying the orphaned girl, Neelam (Shabnum), only to tell her minutes later that it was all a mistake. He climbs out the window of their wedding suite leaving a devastated bride. It is subsequently revealed that the real groom died in a car accident the same night. Neelam is kicked out for bringing bad luck to the family. The police find Sajen and he lands in jail.

Then the second act begins with Sajen's release from the jail. Meanwhile, despite having made it to a khota, Neelam clings to her "Izzat". The film is vague on the extent of her involvement in the trade, but the way Iliays Kashmir (as a "sharif/badmaash") leers at her throughout the proceedings, it seems he is expecting more than her "thumkas." Sajen and Neelam's paths cross again. This time he is running from the police and takes refuge in her Khota. They end up falling in love, unaware that they are already married to each other. In their post-nuptial courtship Neelam convinces Sajen that abject poverty is not too high a price to pay for respectability ("sharafat"). She leaves the business and he the life of crime to become "Sharif Loag". In an artsy shack they begin their new respectable life. Unfortunately the society refuses to forgive or to forget thus dampening their formidable enthusiasm. The more they try, the more "sharafat" eludes them. In trying to clear their names and avoid further degradation they end up committing a murder. The irony of this conundrum is the heart of this film.