Last year I had written about Mahal (1949). In a true sense it was a haunting classic movie that set the tone for similar movies in Hindi cinema. A faraway mansion, a wandering woman (soul?) singing a lovely song, with the hero following & trying to make sense of it became a template for many such movies. Some of them like Bees Saal Baad (1962), Woh Kaun Thi (1964) and Gumnaam (1965) became hits and have stayed in the minds of the audience.

In 1965, Kishore Sahu made Poonam Ki Raat under his banner perhaps inspired by this genre. He is credited with the story, screenplay, dialogues, and also plays an important role in the movie. The intention was good but unfortunately the film falls short of expectations. It is remembered today for the evergreen song Saathi re..tujh bin jiya udaas re.

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The Plot

The film begins with a death scene. We see a young woman (named Rani) falling down the stairs. It is not clear if she got pushed or lost her balance. At the top of the stairs is Lala Baijnath (Sapru). At the bottom is his sister (Leela Mishra). She is shocked to see the body and looks at her brother questioningly. There is no dialogue and the credits appear.

After the credits, we are treated to a college outing scene. A group of students have arrived at an archeological site. Lunch preparations are in full swing accompanied by singing and dancing. A girl Rekha (Bela Bose) sings a romantic song Ta deem tana deem addressed to Prakash Gupta (Manoj Kumar). His friend Chandan (Shiv Kumar) watches in amusement as Prakash has no interest in Rekha.

The celebration is broken by the arrival of a jeep. Meet Sumer Singh (Rajendranath). He has a message for Chandan. Chandan’s father Lala Baijnath has taken ill and Sumer has come to take him home to the estate. (Sumer Singh is the son of the estate’s munim and close to the family). Chandan takes the professor’s permission and leaves with Prakash for company. He invites the professor to bring the students to visit his house as its on the way to Mumbai (where their college is situated). On the way, Prakash takes over the driving as Sumer Singh rests (or sleeps!).

It is a long drive. They stop near a paan shop for cigarettes. Prakash hears some men talking when they see Chandan. Lala Baijnath’s mansion (kothi) is supposed to be haunted. A woman called Rani had died there some 10-12 years back, since then her soul is said to be wandering around the mansion. This is apparently a reference to the woman who had fallen down the stairs. There is a rumour that Lala Baijnath was responsible for her death.

The trio reach the mansion. Chandan’s mother (Sarita) tells him that his father has become bedridden. And many of the family members are hoping for his death to get a share of his immense wealth. We are slowly introduced to the family.

First is Prakash’s sister Jyoti (Kumud Chhugani in her debut film). A chirpy girl, she meets Chandan and gets introduced to Prakash. She mistakes him to be a driver and treats him condescendingly before Chandan clears the matter.

Apparently, the servants of the house are not very reliable and not available when needed. Jyoti brings two glasses of milk for her brother and Prakash. Jyoti and Prakash have a playful conversation. After she leaves, he finds that the glass of milk has shifted its position. Is it possible? There was no one else in the room. He tastes the milk and drinks it fully.

He lies down smoking when he hears a woman singing Saathi re…tujh bin jiya udaas re. It is an intense song full of longing. He tries to find the source of the singing and comes across a locked door. He pushes the door open by force. The singing stops abruptly. But all that he finds is a black cat glaring at him through the darkness. The cat scampers away. He lies down again confused and is disturbed by some fluttering birds and the sound of a train passing. The train track is next to the mansion. The train’s high decibel whistle adds to the spookiness of the occasion.

Next day he has an argument with Chandan and Jyoti when he tells them about the weird happenings during the night. Later, Chandan takes him to meet his elder brother Naren and his wife. They overhear the couple speaking about Chandan’s father. Naren is in dire need of money but it is difficult to get a dime out of his miser of a father. His wife openly wishes to get rid of his father and solve the problem forever.

After that they meet Lala Baijnath. The old man seems to be in pain and is being looked after by a nurse. He talks about many topics in one go. He admonishes the nurse Thelma for touching the keys to the safe where he holds a lot of money and jewellery. He then hears someone climbing down the stairs. Apparently the stairs are faulty and he requests Chandan to get them repaired to avoid another accident (again, this is a reference to the woman Rani falling down the stairs).

The doctor (Kishore Sahu) in charge of Lala Baijnath arrives. The nurse requests him to grant leave for a week. He says she can leave only when her replacement is arranged. For some reason, the doctor has a sinister look as if he knows about something and is trying to hide it from the others.

Another important character comes in with Lalaji’s breakfast. She is Nandini who is a step daughter of Lala Baijnath. She has a stiff and lifeless manner.

And finally, there is Lala Baijnath’s sister (played by Leela Mishra) who stays with her son Ramesh in the same house. She claims to have a right in the property and will not rest until she gets it.

For this, she is close to a family friend come lawyer (Bharadwaj). The lawyer has a daughter Mukta (Parveen Chowdhury). He is hoping to get Mukta married to either Chandan or Ramesh once its clear who is entitled to a share of the property.

Its been only a day and Jyoti and Prakash sing a romantic duet (Tum kahan le chale ho). Matters get complicated when Nandini too falls for him. The love triangle is depicted through the song Sapno mein mere koi aaye jaaye sung by the 3 characters. As Prakash settles down for the night, he hears the haunting song again.

The next day, he asks Chandan about Rani. Chandan tells him that Rani was daughter of a tawaif from Lucknow. Rani used to stay with them. Prakash tells him what he had heard about Rani’s death. Chandan denies that his father had any hand in her death. Prakash requests him to show her room. They go upstairs and do a bit of exploring in the room. The room seems to be quite clean as if someone is using it regularly. Jyoti, who is downstairs sees the window opening and assumes there is a ghost in Rani’s room. Prakash convinces her that it was Chandan who had opened the window.

It’s the night of the full moon (poonam ki raat). Nandini sees a ghostly figure and screams. The doctor is convinced that something is bound to happen. The nurse Thelma asks the doctor to spare her for that night. (She wants to go for a dance with her boyfriend Peter (Prem Chopra in a small role). But the doctor tells her it’s poonam ki raat and to stay with her patient throughout the night. In spite of this, Thelma goes to meet Peter and later disappears.

On the same night, tragedy strikes. Someone tries to attack Lala Baijnath and he is found lying on the floor. Thankfully he is alive but paralysed and unable to speak. He is unable to tell what happened during the night leaving the family puzzled.

The story continues. Chandan and Prakash’s college friends arrive. There is another song by Rekha who realizes there are 2 more girls vying for Prakash’s attention! She sings Bhole piya jaane tumne kya kiya. If the attention of the girls was not enough for Prakash, he is troubled by the singing at night and unable to find a solution. Is it Rani’s soul who is singing? He sings a sad song in frustration “Dil tadpe tadpaaye.”

Things become twisted when Thelma’s body is discovered in the garden well. The police are unable to solve the murder. And the next poonam ki raat arrives. Will something happen again? Will Lala Baijnath be killed? Who is really behind all this?

The Music

The lyrics are written by Shailendra and music by Salil Chowdhury. Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, Mukesh and Mohammed Rafi have sung the songs. Unfortunately, only one song Saathi re stays with you. The lyrics, music and singing blend effortlessly to bring out the expected impact. If you hear carefully, you will find the tune of Baag Mein Kali Khili (another Salil Chowdhury song) used in the second stanza.

My Thoughts

The plot of the movie is not bad but the execution is not convincing. There are suspenseful moments that jolt you in between. The best thing is perhaps the haunting song which comes in bits and pieces and the full version towards the end.

There could be a long list of flaws. The poonam ki raat phenomenon is interesting but the revelation at the end does not answer all questions. There is a serious patient in the house but everyone seems to be casual about it. People carry on their activities like arranging parties, sing romantic songs, dancing and going for hunting. This dilutes the seriousness of the plot when you are expecting it to be compact and suspenseful. Then there is the unnecessary love triangle which hardly contributes to the plot. The Prakash character was supposed to give company to Chandan. But no reason is provided on why he extends his stay in the mansion. All he does is sing songs during the day or listen to the haunting song during the night! And its only him who can hear the haunting song which is ridiculous. There are lesser known faces in the cast including Nandini, Chandan, Ramesh, Naren etc whose acting skills seem limited. Better casting would have definitely helped to keep the proceedings tight.