Kathputli
Directed by	Amiya Chakrabarty Nitin Bose
Written by	Chandrakant Gaur
Screenplay by	Amiya Chakrabarty
Story by	Amiya Chakrabarty
Produced by	Amiya Chakrabarty Ajit Chakraborty
Starring	Vyjayanthimala Balraj Sahni Jawahar Kaul Agha
Cinematography	V. Babasaheb
Edited by	C. Ramarao
Music by	Shankar Jaikishan
Production company	Sreerangam Production
Distributed by	Sreerangam Production
Release date	1 January 1957 (1957-01-01)
Country	India
Language	Hindi/Urdu

Kathputli (transl. Puppet) is a 1957 Pygmalion Black-and-white Hindi-language film produced by Ajit Chakraborty and Amiya Chakrabarty with their Sreerangam Productions. The film was the last film of director Amiya Chakrabarty, who had earlier directed Basant, Daag and Seema.^[1][2] He died during the filming and Nitin Bose took up the mantle of director in the film.^[3] The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Balraj Sahni in the lead with Jawahar Kaul, Agha, Kumari Kamala, C. S. Dubey, Sheela Kashmiri, Poonam and Laxman Rao, forming an ensemble cast.^[4] The film's music was composed by the Shankar Jaikishan duo, with the lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.

Plot

The film's story is about young Pushpa, an accomplished dancer and singer, who assists puppeteer Shivraj in his puppet show. Pushpa comes from a poor family, and is a good dancer and singer. She would like to assist a puppeteer with his makeshift dolls and puppet act. Unfortunately, he meets with an accident, and is hospitalized. Some of his puppets were also damaged during this accident. Pushpa approaches Loknath for work, and he gets her to work on stage, and would like her to become a movie star. Will Pushpa give up her simple life, and take on the glamorous route? It dealt with the theme of a godfather trying to control his protégé.^[5]

Cast

• Vyjayanthimala as Pushpa
• Balraj Sahni as Loknath
• Kamala Laxman as Kamala
• Jawahar Kaul as Shivraj
• Sheela Kashmiri as Chandni, Pushpa's younger sister
• C. S. Dube
• Laxman Rao
• Jharna
• Punam
• Jagat Pal
• Shyam Kumar
• Robert
• Vijay
• Agha as Manohar

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by the Shankar Jaikishan duo, with the lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.^[6] The soundtrack was a hit among the audience.^[7]