The film portrays the decline of human values and relationships and contrasts it by presenting an illustrious example of a boy's innocent love for a neighbourhood tawaif (courtesan).

[3] The film stars Sharmila Tagore playing a hooker with a heart of gold, with Rajesh Khanna in the role of a lonely businessman and Vinod Mehra as adult Nandu, the young child, who they both come to care for.

The songs and soundtrack written by Anand Bakshi and sung by Kishore Kumar were well-received, with Chingaari Koi Bhadke topping at 5th position on the year-end chart Binaca Geetmala annual list 1972.

Then Nandu's father discovers that it was Pushpa who saved her son's life and he thanks her and gives her the sari that he had bought for his wife, telling her that it was a gift from a brother to a sister.

[6] Nishi Padma (Night Flower, 1970), for night-flowering-jasmine, was made by Arabinda Mukherjee with Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee as leads.

The title derives its name from a typical Bengali late afternoon snack, kachori, made with of fried dough stuffed with lentils, and hing (asafoetida).

Once the script was ready, Samanta approached Sharmila Tagore, with whom he had done a string of films, like Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), An Evening in Paris (1967) and most recently Aradhana (1969), with Rajesh Khanna.

Tagore found her character "Pushpa", "a very strong role in the iconic mould of Mother India" and instantly agreed, thus it was one of the first films she signed on after the birth of her son Saif Ali Khan.

For the role Anand, actor Raaj Kumar was Samanta's first choice, as he believed Khanna who had become a super star after the hit Aradhana, wouldn't be interested in doing a film that focussed on the female lead.

[3] The film was shot in Eastmancolor, entirely at Natraj Studios in Mumbai, including the famous song, Chingari koi bhadke, which was set on a boat on the Hooghly River, with Howrah Bridge of Kolkata in the background.

When her husband marries the second time, due to her apparent infertility, she is kicked out of her home, her mother and community both abandon her, subsequently she is tricked into prostitution.

[14][15][16] However, things were changing rapidly, only a few years later, Sharmila Tagore herself portrayed a far more realistic and feisty prostitute in Gulzar, directed, Mausam (1975),[15] meanwhile, B.R.

[17][18] As the film evolves, Pushpa is no longer the fallen woman; she is not just redeemed — Anand Babu tells her, Tumne is kamre ko mandir bana diya (You have turned this room into a temple) – but in the end is deified, as she chooses to relinquish her profession and makes a living washing utensils, quietly suffering societal and psychological abuses all through the film, instead of fighting back or standing up for herself.

Further towards the end of the film, her purity is compared with that of the Ganges itself by Anand Babu, when she finally visits the banks of Hooghly river, a distributary of the sacred Ganges River to break her bangles after her ill-treating husband dies; and in the very end, the juxtaposition of the home-coming of Durga idols used in Durga Puja festival just as Nandu is taking Pushpa home.

[14] This genre was in direct contrast with similar maternal melodrama of 1930s Hollywood, where the abandoned mother often disappeared into oblivion and destitution; it continued in Hindi cinema for another decade, before the "avenging heroine" marked her entry and the women narratives began to change.

[12][13] The film also deals with the theme of urban melancholy, of the bhadralok, the gentlefolk, through Anand Babu, a businessman trapped in a bad marriage, whose wife is constantly busy in beauty-parlours and parties, and seeks company in Pushpa and alcohol.

The soundtrack was melody based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye, set in an unusual blend of two Ragas, Todi in mukhara or the opening verse and Khamaj in the antara.

Burman made a tune in Raga Khamaj, which Lata Mangeshkar too sang with marked emotional clarity and abandon, who is usually prone let her technical dexterity outshine.

[25] Prior to the release of the film, a special show was organised in Delhi, where Gen Sam Manekshaw invited the cast, however the next day a blackout was declared, as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 had begun.

[29] The music by R. D. Burman proved one of the best scores of his career,[29] with hits like "Chingaari Koi Bhadke", "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge", "Yeh Kya Hua" sung by Kishore Kumar and "Raina beeti jaaye" by Lata Mangheskar.

[32] Apart from her work with Satyajit Ray, lead actress Tagore's films with Samanta including Amar Prem, defined her screen image for her career.