Meena Kumari, who was to later become famous for her tragedy roles meriting the sobriquet "The Tragedy Queen", acted in a few light-hearted roles in the 1950s in films such as Azaad (1955), Mem Sahib (1956), Shararat, Kohinoor (1960) and Miss Mary.[3]Miss Mary was one of the biggest hits of that year.[4] The film was dubbed in Sinhala as Ahinsaka Prayogaya.[5]
Plot
The story is about Arun (Ganesh), an unemployed teacher who comes across an advertisement offering a job at the Laxmi School with the proviso that only married couples need apply. He meets Miss Mary (Meena Kumari), a Christian girl who is badly in need of a job to pay off her parents' debt. Arun suggests that she pose as his wife after he witnesses her getting harassed by John (Randhir), her potential suitor to which her father owes money. They hire Nakdau (Om Prakash), a beggar-cum-conman as a servant to keep up the pretense. The school owners (Rai Saheb and his wife), are looking for their long lost daughter Laxmi (hence the Laxmi School), who went missing sixteen years ago and the only thing tying her to them is a locket and an identification mark in the form of a mole on her left foot. They employ a detective Raju (Kishore Kumar) and his sidekick Chandragupta (Maruti) to find her. Raju is an orphan brought up as a nephew by the Rai Saheb. The old couple find a resemblance in Mary to their daughter and show her a photo of Laxmi that looks like her. Mary tells them that she can't be their daughter as she was brought up in a Christian environment by Christian parents.
Mary feels bad for lying about her married status to the Rai Saheb and his wife. She and Arun start liking each other in spite of their constant bickering. The owner's other daughter and Mary's biological sister Sita (Jamuna) has a fondness for Arun which upsets Mary. There are several comic sequences involving Raju and Chandragupta. The truth is revealed about Mary being the Rai Saheb's daughter Laxmi when her foster parents arrive.[6]
Shivraj as a Christian priest and Laxmi's foster father[9]
Kesari as Vaidji
Production
B. Nagi Reddi, the producer of the original, was insistent on having L. V. Prasad direct the Hindi remake.[10]Gemini Ganesan (credited as Ganesh) reprised his role from the Tamil original Missiamma (1955) since Prasad felt that "there was no one who could do a dignified comedy in Hindi".[11]Jamuna, who was a part of both the Telugu original Missamma (1955) and Missiamma, reprised her role for the Hindi remake.[8]Kishore Kumar after spending five days idling in a hotel room, got fed up and starting cutting his hair on one side. He started cutting on the other side, and since he overdid it, he continuously cut his hair until he was called to come on set when he did not have much hair anymore.[12]
Themes and influences
Arun teaches Sita music using a piano, which was common in Hindi films of that time to signify wealth.[6]
Gemini Ganesan was credited with introducing a fresh touch of a well-groomed, sophisticated South Indian youth into the Hindi film hero persona.[13]
Soundtrack
The music and background score was composed by Hemant Kumar and the lyrics were penned by Rajendra Krishan.[14] All of the songs are different from the original soundtrack except for the song "Brindavan Ka Krishna Kanhaiya", which was reused from the song titled "Brindaavanamadi Andaridi" in Telugu and "Brindavanamum Nandakumaranu" in Tamil.[15]
The songs were popular, especially "Gaana Na Aaya, Bajaana Na Aaya" sung by Kishore Kumar, "Yeh Mard Bade Dilsard, Bade Bedard", "O Raat Ke Musafir Chanda Zara Bata De", "Brindavan Ka Krishna Kanhaiya" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.[16]Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, who first sang together in Ladli (1949), had a duet in the film: "Sakhi Ri Sun Bole Papiha Us Paar". Asha, despite her lack of training from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar and other Ustads, was able to follow Lata ably in her sargam-taan, keeping "perfect timing".[17]
Sukhpreet Kahlon of Cinestaan wrote that "Although Kishore Kumar isn't the hero of this film, he displays his musical talent in the song "Gaana Na Aaya". With lyrics like "O My Sita" and "Paplu Papita", the song is a nutty medley of various music forms and styles, which includes the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice".[8]
Meher Baba and his disciple Mehera saw the film in Pune after being recommended the film by Baba's brother Jal, who said that the film was enjoyable.[18] Despite the film's box office success, Gemini Ganesan failed to establish a career in Hindi cinema.[6]
In 2012, a critic from The Hindu wrote that "If Prasad's direction is deft, camerawork by Muthuswami, aided by set designing of Shantaram, gives you alluring pictorial moments. A large credit for the film's appeal is also because of the slick editing by K. Shankar which never allows any scene to drag. So despite a fluffy story, watch Miss Mary for all the above reasons".[7] In 2015, Deepa Gahlot in her book Take-2: 50 Films That Deserve a New Audience, wrote that "Miss Mary had a rather bold plot for 1957 – an unmarried young woman pretending to be the wife of a stranger, for the sake of a job!" and concluded that "It must have been refreshing for audiences to watch a light hearted romance. It still is".[6] In 2022, a writer from IANS wrote that "Though typecast as a tragedienne, she [Meena Kumari] could do comic roles with aplomb too as seen in films such as Miss Mary (1957), Shararat (1959) and Kohinoor (1960) but she never got much of a chance. This was perhaps her biggest tragedy".[19]
^Raj, Ashok (2009). Hero Vol.1 - Volume 1. Hay House. ISBN978-93-81398-02-9. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024. Gemini Ganesan [...] introduced in the Hindi film hero's persona a refreshing touch of a well-groomed sophisticated South Indian youth as seen in [...] Miss Mary (1957)
^"Miss Mary". hindigeetmala.net. Hindi Geetmala. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
^Ranchan, Vijay (2 January 2014). Story of a Bollywood Song. Abhinav Publications. pp. 100–. GGKEY:9E306RZQTQ7. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
^Fenster, David (2021). Mehera-Meher: A Divine Romance. Meher Nazar Publications. p. 178. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
