Ek Gunah Aur Sahi (1975)
Cast: Rani, Sabiha, Mohammad Ali, Shahid, Talish, Darpan, Nayyar Sultana, Aslam Parvez
Director: Hassan Tariq
Synopsis: Superb melodrama with a strong feminist tilt and brilliant performances!
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

This film was another storming success for the husband-wife team of Hassan Tariq and Rani, scoring a Platinum Jubilee at the Box Office following the massive success of Anjuman and Umrao Jan Ada.

This film was inspired by a short story titled “Mummy,” which was reworked by Tariq and his team and turned into Ek Gunah aur Sahi. The central role is played by Sabiha Khanum, who turns in a simply bombastic performance as Mummy – a modern-day Mother Theresa cum Mafia Don – a most unlikely albeit deadly combination.

The film begins with a high-class call-girl, Afshan (Rani), hounded by a blackmailing creep (the uncle who sold her into the sordid flesh trade). She manages to fend him off momentarily but goes to the chainsmoking Mummy for advice on coping with the lowlife.

Mummy, a supplier of girls to the wealthy and powerful yet, also provides her girls with food, shelter, and love and tries her best to sort them out with marriage and get them off the racket. She is a Madame with a heart of gold and is constantly helping needy women who are down on their luck. She adores Afshan as she would her daughter but, at the same time, has no qualms about fixing her up with clients regularly – all part of the trade.

Afshan has to endure constant abuse from her sleazy clients and the “respectable” elite who reek of the worst double standards. One night, while fleeing a particularly sleazy gathering in a mad frenzy, she dashes across the street only to be mowed down by a startled Mohammad Ali. He takes her to the hospital and has her treated, and he is intrigued by her aura of mystery. When she recovers, he approaches Mummy, who reveals all about Afshan’s murky past and how she has had to sell herself to make ends meet, having been jumped on by an evil uncle who then forced her into the trade. Mohammad Ali decides to rescue Afshan from her constant humiliation by marrying her and changing her name to Masooma.

Though the newlyweds are blissful when they are together – cut off from the rest of the world, whenever they come into contact with the outside community, problems arise because Masooma cannot get rid of Afshan’s shadow that tails her wherever she goes. At every corner, an old client of hers awaits.

Later, her father-in-law keels over in shock when he sees that his son is about to wed a girl he has used the services of. Then it transpires that her brother-in-law is also an old client, and this beastly creep pounces on poor Masooma the moment Mohammad Ali leaves town on business for a few days. Her rape at the hands of the brother-inlaw (Darpan) forces Masooma to return to Mummy, and when Mohammad Ali returns, he is fed a pack of lies and turns on his innocent wife for being the cause of all her troubles. When Mummy explains to Mohammad Ali that he is making a terrible mistake by casting Masooma aside, he insults her and throws her out of the house.

Eventually, Masooma gives birth to a young daughter but dies in the process, and it is left to Mummy to provide for the baby and bring her up as best she can. Meanwhile, Mohammad Ali crashes down the

Ek Gunah Aur Sahi stairs due to stress and loses his eyesight – just as well because years and years later, his nephew falls madly in love with Masooma’s (and his own) daughter, who is the spitting image of her mother.

But matters are set to come to a head when Mohammad Ali decides to get his eyes operated upon. He will then see for his own eyes that the daughter he threw out of his house as being the unclean spawn of a lowly sex worker is now set to return to his home as the bride of his nephew.

Such twists of fate, miracles, co-incidents, and near misses are endemic to Lollywood drama. The film is dominated by Sabiha’s character, Mummy, who she plays with tremendously busy energy. Sabiha was given a special Nigar Award for her dazzling performance. She was even honoured at a film festival in Tashkent where Ek Gunah aur Sahi was accorded a warm reception.

Rani is her usual excellent self as Afshan/Masooma, but when she resurfaces as the teenage daughter, she behaves in a deranged manner and cannot carry off playing the part of a college girl. Shahid doesn’t have much to do, nor does Nayyar Sultana, who plays Mohammad Ali’s sister. Ali does well for at least one-third of the movie. His voice appears to have been dubbed by his brother, as he had throat trouble then. Another unsung hero is the scriptwriter, who has done a splendid job writing Sabiha’s role.

The film is the best advertisement for Lollywood imaginable, as it is a film that is alive to the genuine issues that women are confronted with within the society. It presents sex workers as part of the labour force who partake in their profession not out of choice but out of necessity and hunger. There is a refreshing lack of moralizing against sex work, and their cause is presented in human terms for a change. The predatory men hiding behind their veils of “decency” are targeted by director Hassan Tariq as the real villains, not the victimized women.

Despite its occasional flabbiness, this film is as good as Lollywood gets – a triumph.