Girls' School (1949)

Rural drama about Meena (Bali) who leaves home rather than submit to an arranged marriage and starts a girls’ school in a village, although opposed by the local zamindar. The zamindar’s brother-in-law Bipin (Sajjan), who lusts after Meena, is the villain. The hero (Sohan) appears in answer to an advertisement for a schoolteacher and is appointed only because Meena mistakes his name - Shanti Kumar Majumdar - for that of a woman. The zamindar’s widowed sister Sumitradevi, a supporter of the school, objects because he is not married. Meena and Shanti Kumar fall in love but he realises the damage he may cause to her school and leaves. Bipin then spreads rumours about Shanti Kumar’s morals, which cause a further difficulty that has to be resolved before both the future of the school and of the loving couple may be assured. Guru Dutt assisted Chakravarty on this film shot at Bombay Talkies.