Samaj Ko Badal Dalo is a 1970 Bollywood drama film directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao. The film stars Parikshit Sahni, Sharada (reprising the latter's role from the original version and making this picture as her Hindi film debut), Prem Chopra, Pran, Mehmood, Aruna Irani, Kanchana in pivotal roles. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Thulabharam (1968).

Plot

The film opens with a courtroom scene where a woman stands trial for a heinous crime. She is prosecuted by a female public prosecutor, who recommends the death penalty. When the judge invites her final statement, the woman reveals her motive for committing the crime. Chhaya is the only daughter of Satyanarayan, who owns a mill in partnership with Daulatram. Chhaya is friends with Shyam, a fellow college student. Kundanlal serves as the company’s private attorney. One day, Prakash, a young mill worker, and several labor union representatives approach Satyanarayan to request an advance bonus payment for Diwali. Satyanarayan forwards the request to his partner Daulatram, but Daulatram dismisses it, prioritizing profit over the workers' demands. This decision deeply troubles Satyanarayan. An heated argument between them results in the break-up of their partnership. Feeling slighted by the argument, Daulatram deceives Satyanarayan with the help of Kundanlal and claims all of Satyanarayan's property and control of the Mill. Satyanarayan, unable to sustain the shock, dies of a heart attack, leaving Chhaya alone in the world. Initially, Chhaya seeks shelter with Vimla, who is unable to help because Kundanlal is her father. Shyam also rejects her request to take shelter with him; he asks her to forget their friendships of their college days. Then Prakash offers Chhaya his cottage as shelter and ask her to stay with him and his old, poor mother, Gomti. Though hesitant initially, the Gomti welcomes both under such critical condition. Puran and Churan are roadside lifters. Prakash enlightens both and then Puran joins the mill as a worker. Prakash and Chhaya continue happily in the cottage and gradually become parents of three children. Gomti takes care of the children. One day, Daulatram brings a modern machine to the Mill and announces the sacking of 400 of the 1,500 mill workers, which Prakash opposes. During negotiations Shyam, who has become the Manager, slaps Prakash, but the matter is halted by police intervention. All the labourers, under the leadership of Prakash, decide to go on hunger strike and wins by interception by government to run the mill. However, Daulatram quickly approaches court and brings a Stay Order. The Mill workers on strike start starving. When Daulatram finds the Mill workers unmanageable at the Mill gate, he calls the police for protection and, at the same time, pays his goons to finish off Prakash. Prakash falls prey to the goons on a dark evening in a narrow lane and dies. Chhaya, now in search of a job, fails to get any work. Her situation worsens when Gomti is taken away by her brother Kalicharan to his house and confines her, with a malicious intention of grabbing the cottage in future. Prakash and Chhaya's children then start suffering for want of food & go to the road to beg desperately. When Chhaya learns that her children are begging on streets, she tries to stop them, but they continue. Vendors cheat children for just a fistful of food in exchange of goods, the value of which they are unaware. Next, a snack shop owner mistreats the children, under the pretext of theft of snacks, by burning the hand of the elder girl with a hot rod taken from boiling oil. The film goes back to the court scene with Chhaya in the witness box, depicting the whole story and reasons of committing the heinous crime. She says that, she has received only deceit in her life, nothing else, as she is going to die, she takes poison and also gives it to her kids, but the poison also deceives her, and the children die in front of her eyes. None of the other villainous characters are visible in the court. After the narration of her life story, Chhaya collapses in the witness box due to the effect of the poison and later dies in custody. After seeing the injustice with Chhaya, the Public Prosecutor, Vimla, who had been a close witness to the entire life of Chhaya, becomes disgusted over the trial and becomes very uncomfortable and restless. She then demands to the court to re-run the case, stating just Chhaya but the people involved in this case in fact should be held guilty and punished. At the same time she holds all of society responsible for such incidents and asks that it too should be held guilty. Vimla demands to the Court to bring a change in the attitude of society by shouting the slogan, which is the title of the film Samaj Ko Badal Dalo.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ravi.