Mera Ladka 1938

Mera Ladka is a 1938 Indian Bollywood social film released on Jan 01, 1938. The film is directed by K. Narayan Kale.
Radical journalist Diwakar (Modak) runs a printing press and edits a newspaper, much to the disapproval of his authortarian middleclass father who believes that all respectable youths should get a job and settle down. Diwakars scheming politican friend Vithalrao (Thengadi) incites a strike and acquires the press and the paper with the help of Diwakars father, causing Diwakar to leave home in disgust. His rich girlfriend Nalini (Hublikar) also enters politics, first on the side of the corrupt Vithalrao, then compaigning for Diwakar who represents the slum-dwellers for the municipal elections. Although Diwakars father campaigns on behalf of Nalini, she tells peopel not to vote for her but to elect Diwakar instead. Although Nalini wins, the film presents Diwakars loss as a moral victory. Director Kale, himself a former radical journalist, made his first contemporary story as a critique of Maharashtrian middle-class materialism. He also published a long essay on the film, Mazha Mulgachya Nimmttane, (1939). Launching the star combination of Modak and Hublikar, repeated in Shantarams hit Manoos (1939), the film essayed a realist idiom new to the Prabhat Studio (esp. in the scenes at the printing press). Hit songs included Pahu re ritti vaat (Hublikar) and Ya sagle jan laukar ya (Modak). [Source: Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema] Check out this page for more updates on Mera Ladka.