Reel Archive

Country

Indian Classics

8 films · 1935–1962

Hindi cinema from the 1930s to the 1960s, from the Bombay Talkies studio to the golden age of Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt. Under India’s Copyright Act, the copyright in a film ends 60 years after its release, so these films are out of copyright in India. Their songs and music may still be protected separately.

Devdas

1935 · 141 min · Romance · India

Directed by P.C. Barua

Starring P.C. Barua, Chandrabati Devi, Jamuna Barua

Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a prostitute. All Indian prints of this Bengali version were destroyed in a fire that ravaged New Theatre’s studios. Today, only…

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Achhut Kanya

1936 · 142 min · Drama · India

Directed by Franz Osten

Starring Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Monorama

An "untouchable" girl and a Brahmin boy fall in love, but the strict caste system and the gossip of the villagers threaten to keep them apart.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Kismet

1943 · 143 min · Crime · India

Directed by Gyan Mukherjee

Starring Ashok Kumar, Shah Nawaz, Mumtaz Shanti

A former theater owner and his crippled daughter live in poverty until a chance encounter with a young pickpocket brings romance for the petty criminal and daughter as well as a chance by the father to get back at the villainous new theater owner who ousted him from the business years before.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Neecha Nagar

1946 · 102 min · Drama · India

Directed by Chetan Anand

Starring Rafiq Anwar, Uma Anand, Kamini Kaushal

Wealthy landlord Sarkar decides to direct all waste into the village to make space for his real estate project. However, the poor villagers agitate against his plan and the protest is led by Balraj.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Mahal

1949 · 165 min · Horror · India

Directed by Kamal Amrohi

Starring Madhubala, Ashok Kumar, Vijayalakshmi

A young lawyer is involved with a ghostly woman in his new house, where the builder and his fiancée died shortly after it was built.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Shree 420

1955 · 168 min · Comedy · India

Directed by Raj Kapoor

Starring Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Nemo

The story of a small-town man who comes to make it big in the city, where he is almost instantly relieved of all his possessions. Homeless and penniless, he is taken in by a woman who looks after him.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam

1962 · 152 min · Drama · India

Directed by Abrar Alvi, Guru Dutt

Starring Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman

A debauchee Zamindar greatly neglects his wife. The decadence of the Bengali Zamindar milieu in the late 19th century, seen through the eyes of a young upward mobile rustic seeking fortune in Calcutta, fascinated by the lonely lady of the house.

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.