Bandini

Bandini is a 1963 Hindi drama film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, the man who directed classics like Do Bigha Zameen and Devdas. Bandini stars Nutan giving one of the finest performances of her career, along with Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra as leads, and explores the human conflicts of love and hate intertwined in the mind of Kalyani.The lead female role was offered to one of Roy's favorite actress Vyjayanthimala who earlier worked with Roy in Devdas and Madhumati. However due to her busy schedule she refused the role which later went to Nutan, who had worked with Roy in Sujata. The movie tells the story of a woman prisoner serving life imprisonment for murder, Kalyani, the all suffering, selfless, sacrificing, and strong yet weak Indian woman. She must make a choice between two very different men, Devendra, the loving prison doctor, and Bikash, a man from her past. The film is based on a Bengali novel Tamasi by Jarasandha, a former jail superintendent who spent much of his career as a jailor in Northern Bengal, and wrote many fictional versions of his experiences.