Ek Hi Raasta (1939 film)

{{About|the 1939 film|other uses|Ek Hi Raasta (disambiguation){{!}}Ek Hi Raasta}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Ek Hi Raasta

| image =

| caption =

| director = Mehboob Khan

| producer = Sagar Movietone

| writer = Babubhai A. Mehta
Wajahat Mirza

| narrator =

| starring = Sheikh Mukhtar
Arun Kumar Ahuja
Anuradha
Kanhaiyalal

| music = Anil Biswas

| cinematography = Faredoon Irani

| editing =

| distributor =

| studio = Sagar Movietone

| released = {{Film date|1939}}

| runtime = 149 minutes

| country = India

| language = Hindi

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Ek Hi Raasta (Hindi: एक ही रास्ता, The Only Way) is a 1939 Hindi social film directed by Mehboob Khan.{{cite book|last1=Gulazāra, Nihalani, Chatterjee|first1=Govind, Saibal|title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema|date=2003|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=India|isbn=9788179910665}} The director of photography was Faredoon Irani with story by Babubhai A. Mehta and Wajahat Mirza.{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha, Willemen|first1=Ashish, Paul|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135943189|edition=2, revised}} The film was produced by Sagar Movietone. The cast included Arun Kumar Ahuja, Sheikh Mukhtar, Anuradha, Kanhaiyalal and Harish.{{cite web|title=Ek Hi Raasta 1939|url=http://www.citwf.com/film99812.htm|website=citwf.com|publisher=Alan Goble|accessdate=7 Sep 2014}} This was the debut film of Sheikh Mukhtar, who went on to act in and direct several successful films,{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Rauf|title=Mehboob Khan The Legends of Indian Cinema Series|date=2008|publisher=Wisdom Tree|location=Delhi, India|isbn=9788183281065|pages=34}} and Arun Kumar Ahuja, a prominent actor in the 1940s. Ek Hi Raasta is a film about wrongs of society and its laws. It was one of the early Hindi films to make a noticeable application of WW II.{{cite book|last1=Rangoonwalla|first1=Firoze|title=75 years of Indian cinema|date=1975|publisher=Indian Book Co|location=India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swQwAAAAMAAJ&q=Ek+Hi+Raasta+1939|accessdate=7 Sep 2014}}

Plot

Raja (Arun Kumar Ahuja) an orphan, Mangoo (Sheikh Mukhtar), a pickpocket, and Vithal (Harish), a hansom cab driver are friends. They live in the city where Mala (Anuradha) and her father (Gani) arrive from the village. Mangoo gets into an altercation with Mala’s father and kills him. Banke (Kanhaiyalal) kidnaps Mala and sells her to a wealthy man. Mala manages to escape and stays with Raja who helps her, both falling in love in the process. World War II intervenes and the three friends enlist. The film then revolves around the return from war and the killing of a rapist by one of them. He’s tried in court and convicted for killing the rapist.

Cast

Arun Kumar Ahuja as Raja
Sheikh Mukhtar as Mangoo
Anuradha as Mala
Jyoti
Harish
Kanhaiyalal as Banke
Jagdish Raj
A. Banbasi as Madan
Devi as Mala’s stepmother
Gani as Mala’s father
Dewaskar
Mohan as Vithal

Music

The music director was Anil Biswas with lyrics written by Kidar Sharma and Pandit Indra Chandra.{{cite web|title=Ek Hi Raasta 1939|url=http://muvyz.com/moviepage/td429952/songs/#tabs|website=muvyz.com|publisher=Muvyz, Inc|accessdate=7 Sep 2014}}