Love Marriage (1959)

Sunil, the star cricketer of Jhansi and the beloved younger brother in Anil's happy household, goes to Bombay for a job interview and rents a room from Geeta. They start out on bad terms: Geeta, a keen cricket fan, mocks the "simpleton from Jhansi" until she watches him score a century at the Brabourne Stadium. Too shy to propose, Sunil pours out his heart to Geeta's "aunt", who turns out to be Geeta in disguise. They marry and settle in Jhansi, but Sunil seems to begin a secret affair with Neelam, a woman of easy virtue; his sister-in-law leaves in disgust, and Geeta files for divorce. Dev Anand is Sunil and Mala Sinha is Geeta, with Helen as a dancer. Subodh Mukherjee produced and directed it, with Nasir Hussain as writer, and it was the first film made under Mukherjee's own banner after he left Filmistan, his brother Sashadhar's company. It is set mostly in Jhansi, Mukherjee's home town, and Samir Ganguly, who later directed Sharmilee, worked as an assistant director. It may be the first Hindi film to give cricket a prominent place. Mala Sinha's flat is hung with pictures of the Test cricketers Vinoo Mankad and Khandu Rangnekar, and Dev Anand's flirtatious bargain is a kiss for a century.