Anita is a wealthy heiress. But her father’s will states that she will only inherit if she marries within a month. Anita’s aunt finds a young draughtsman, Preetam, to whom she offers to marry Anita on condition that she then divorces him. Sita Devi, Anita’s aunt, is a hard, dry woman who campaigns for women’s rights and in particular for the adoption of a divorce law. Guru Dutt contrasts outrageous, caricatured Western-style modernism with the healthy traditions of India.
“Mr & Mrs ’55 is a lively, fast-paced American comedy. But it is not an imitation of an American film: it uses a familiar framework, a basic structure to project an accurate image of certain aspects of Indian reality. The film is a great success ahead of the great mature films that will follow.” H. Mucciollo
