Boot Polish
Film poster
Directed by	Prakash Arora
Produced by	Raj Kapoor
Written by	Bhanu Pratap
Starring	Naaz Ratan Kumar David
Music by	Shankar Jaikishan
Cinematography	Tara Dutt
Editing by	G. G. Mayekar
Release date(s)	1954
Running time	149 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi
IMDb profile

Boot Polish is a 1954 Hindi film directed by Prakash Arora and produced by Raj Kapoor. It won the Filmfare Award for the Best Movie.

Plot

Belu (Baby Naaz) and Bhola (Ratan Kumar) are left to the care of their wicked aunt Kamla (Chand Burque) when their mother dies. She forces them to beg in the streets and grabs all the money they get.

A bootlegger John Chacha (David) teaches them to lead a life of self-respect and work for a living instead of begging. They scrimp and save to buy a shoe-polish kit and start shining shoes. Kamla finds out about what they have been doing behind her back, beats them and throws them out of the house.

John Chacha gives them shelter, but then he is arrested and the kids are left to fend for themselves. When it rains and people don't get their shoes polished any more, the children are in danger of starving. A rich family adopts Belu and treats her well, but she keeps moping for her brother.

Awards

Film poster with photograph

Cannes film festival

• Special Mention to a child actress - Naaz
• Prakash Arora was nominated for the Golden Palm

Filmfare Awards

• Best Cinematographer - Tara Dutt
• Best Film - Raj Kapoor
• Best Supporting Actor - David

Trivia

• Movielore has it that Raj Kapoor did not like what Prakash Arora had made and re-shot the film himself. This is the only film credited to Arora. ^{[citation needed]}
• The writer of the film Bhanu Pratap is also credited with just one film.
• Raj Kapoor made a tiny appearance in the film as a man asleep in a train.
• It was Baby Naaz's first film, she received a special mention at the Cannes Film Festival, but as a grown up her career did not reach great heights.
• Ratan Kumar acted as a child star in great films like Do Bigha Zameen and Jagriti but never made it as hero later in life.
• Raj Kapoor produced one more children's film Ab Dilli Dur Nahin in 1957.

External links

Boot Polish at the Internet Movie Database

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