Lakhon Me Ek

"Lakhon Me Ek" is a story that suited Mehmood’s persona. He is cast as Bhola, who fights for survival literally by doing various errands in a Bombay chawl, on his feet the whole day yet struggling to make ends meet. “Bhola Aa Gaya” as he pleads at the door of various chawl residents in anticipation of some food for his work but sometimes disdain and insults are what comes his way.

Sher Singh, who has a soft spot for Bhola, who also finds support from Dindayal. Leela is the typical demanding senior citizen and here she plays the mother of Gauri (Radha Saluja), who comes to the chawl and finds solace in the company of Bhola.

Bhola is the central part of the story. He must attend to various chores and find time to study. His education is sponsored by a kind-hearted professor (David) but life is tough for Bhola. He seeks care and affection which comes his way from Gauri, who is smitten by the simple living of Bhola. “Chanda O Chanda”, one of R.D. Burman’s finest compositions, is sung by Lata and Kishore in solos, but sadly wasted in the contrived circumstances created in “Lakhon Mein Ek”.

Never mind if the story fails to engage the audience. What strikes most is the huge assembly of character actors that producer and director S.S. Balan packs in this movie. From David, Kanhaiyyalal, Madan Puri, Ramesh Deo, Shobha Khote, Aruna Irani to Jalal Agha, Mukri, Mohan Choti in cameos there is an impressive array. Mukri’s is a superb character immersed in his own world, the newspaper an inseparable part of his life. Nothing is acceptable to him unless it finds mention in the newspaper. A dream sequence duet – “Jogi O Jogi Arre Pyaar Mein Kya Hoga” – did figure in the popularity charts but there were a couple of forgettable numbers too, a raunchy Padma Khanna dance finding an avoidable presence in the story.

But watch what happens when a man (Madan Puri) who is also a millionaire arrives from Singapore and tells the chawl residents that Bhola is his son and he has come to give him his name and wealth.

• Mehmood as Bhola
• Radha Saluja as Gauri
• Pran as Sher Singh
• Aruna Irani as Renu
• Madan Puri as Jaggu
• Nazir Hussain as Dindayal
• Mukri as Makhanlal
• Kanhaiyalal as Manoharlal
• Lalita Pawar as Leela
• Ramesh Deo as Keshavlal
• Shubha Khote as Jayshree
• Keshto Mukherjee as Mr. Chatterjee
• Sulochana Chatterjee as Sumitra Chatterjee
• Jalal Agha as Jeevan
• David as Professor

• Lakhon Me Ek at IMDb