Mangalfera (1949)

Ajit’s remake of the Ranjit Studio’s Shadi (1941). The physically handicapped Mangal (Desai) is seduced away from his loving wife Shobha (Roy) by Mena (Madhok). Shobha tries to commit suicide. When the well-meaning Chandrika (Dulari) tries to seduce the hero again, Mangal begins to believe that he was trapped into marrying a disabled woman and he returns to Shobha. The film was considered a reform social rather than a melodrama and was seen as a worthy successor of Punatar’s previous Gujarati hit, Gunsundari (1948), confirming him as the leading Gujarati director.