Mela (1948)

Mohan and Manju have loved each other since they were children in the same village, and their families have agreed to the match. But on the eve of the wedding a chain of misfortune tears the couple apart, and Manju is pushed into a marriage she never wanted. The film follows both of them as they try to live with what has been taken from them. Mela was one of the biggest hits of 1948 and confirmed Dilip Kumar's image as the great tragic hero of Hindi cinema, with Nargis as his luminous co-star. Naushad's songs, with lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni, were enormously popular, especially Rafi's "Yeh Zindagi Ke Mele" and Mukesh's "Gaaye Ja Geet Milan Ke".