Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi.

[2] Madhumati was filmed in various Indian locations, including Ranikhet, Ghorakhal, Vaitarna Dam and Aarey Milk Colony.

Madhumati was one of the earliest films to deal with reincarnation, and was described by analysts as a potboiler that has a gothic and noir feel to it.

On a stormy night, engineer Devendra drives down a hill road with his friend to fetch his wife and child from a railway station.

An artist in his spare time, he travels to the hills and falls in love with Madhumati, a Kumaoni tribal woman whose songs have haunted him from a distance.

After telling the story of Anand and Madhumati, Devendra receives news that the train on which his wife was traveling has met with an accident.

Devendra walks through the station fearing the worst but is relieved to see his wife Radha, emerging from the train unharmed.

He shared the story with Roy, who immediately liked it and started developing the film with Debu Sen as the assistant director.

[5][11] The art direction team, led by Sudhendu Roy, created fake pine trees, which were planted to match the location in Nainital.

[5] The costumes of the film were designed by Yadugiri Devi, Vyjayanthimala's grandmother; these were later approved by the art director Sudhendu Roy.

Roy told them about the company's financial problems and that he had decided to forego ₹70,000 of his director's fee to make up for the loss.

In the book The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was: Myths of Self-Imitation, Indologist Wendy Doniger said reviewers of the late 1950s had described the film's theme as "a conventional plot, a typical Hindi [f]ilm [p]otboiler, in which the hero experiences a sense of déjà vu leading to his flashback of a former life".

[15] In the book Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire, Vijay Mishra states that the film has a "gothic noir" feel.

[16] Analysts from the University of Iowa compare the initial meeting of the main characters, stating that it resembles the meeting in Raj Kapoor's film Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1984), where the woman "stands in for nature and unspoiled folk tradition and the villain for exploitative (capitalist) culture, with the hero as an intermediary".

[7] They also write, "Anand's own egalitarian progressivism, coupled with his sympathy for Madhumati and her family, soon sets him on a collision course with the Raja, who takes revenge through a malevolent scheme".

[7] According to Jayson Beaster-Jones and Natalie Sarrazin, Madhumati was one of the first Hindi films to use the now-common "narrative of the plain-based hero entering the mountains and being seduced by a tribal girl.

[18] Film critic Bharati Pradhan said Madhumati stepped away from "the standard Roy themes of social realism as seen in his Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Biraj Bahu (1954) and Devdas (1955)".

[26] Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Haseen is one of the most popular songs by recording artist Mukesh and is regularly played at dandiya functions.

All lyrics are written by Shailendra; all music is composed by Salil ChowdhuryMadhumati premiered at the Roxy Cinema near Opera House, Mumbai on 12 September 1958; the film was a huge blockbuster and helped Bimal Roy Productions recover its losses.

[36] Writing for Upperstall.com, Karan Bali commended Roy's ability to "recreate just the right mood and ambiance", especially praising few scenes as "luscious romantic interludes outdoors or the swinging chandeliers", "dark shadows within the haveli" and "several documentary like establishing shots".

[37] Bali's view is shared by Manisha Lakhe of Daily News and Analysis, who wrote, "Bimal Roy's masterstrokes are evident when you watch the long shadows of trees falling on that stone with fascination".

[40][41][42][43] The film got music director Salil Choudhary and playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, their career-first Filmfare awards respectively.

Madhumati was selected as India's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 31st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

[44] Madhumati's intricate web of reincarnation, suspense and thrill against a traditional romantic setup between Dilip Saab and Vyjayanthimala, treated with gorgeous cinematography and exquisite songs, continues to inspire Bollywood to this date.Madhumati became a source of inspiration for many later works dealing with reincarnation in Indian cinema, Indian television, and perhaps world cinema.

He was quoted by Akshay Manwani of Daily News and Analysis as saying, "Even after Bimal Roy's death, Madhumati's success provided for his family.

[53][54] Subsequently, Bhattacharya published a book about the making of the film, titled Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes.