General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20263 min read

Ghulam Begum Badshah

Ghulam Begum Badshah (गुलाम बेगम बादशाह) is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Jambu (credited elsewhere as Jambulingam), starring Shatrughan Sinha, Moushumi Chatterjee, and Anil Dhawan in the lead roles, with music by the composer duo Kalyanji–Anandji.¹^•² It was an adaptation of filmmaker Madurai Thirumaran's Tamil film Soodhattam (1971).¹

Key fact	Detail
Title (Hindi)	गुलाम बेगम बादशाह²
Director	Jambu / Jambulingam¹
Lead cast	Shatrughan Sinha (Thakur Pratap), Anil Dhawan (Thakur Gopal), Moushumi Chatterjee (Laxmi), Kumud Chuggani (Kesar)¹
Music	Kalyanji–Anandji; lyrics Rajinder Krishan; label HMV Records²
Release	1973 (India); Moviebuff gives 17 October 1973, Indian Film History and Bollywood Hungama give 1 January 1973²^•³
Runtime	2h 3m (123 min) per IMDb; 2 hrs 11 mins per Moviebuff¹^•²
Source	Adaptation of the Tamil film Soodhattam (1971) by Madurai Thirumaran¹

Spoilers

Plot and cast

The story follows Thakur Pratap (Shatrughan Sinha) and Thakur Gopal (Anil Dhawan), two close friends who live lavishly but share a gambling habit. Gopal falls in love with Laxmi (Moushumi Chatterjee), whose father opposes gamblers, and marries her despite the objection; Pratap loves Gopal's sister Kesar (Kumud Chuggani), who loves someone else. As the gambling habit grows, the friendship fractures and family ties are tested, with the film weighing whether love and friendship can survive pride and ego.¹^•⁴

The supporting cast includes Sudesh Kumar as Shyam, David Abraham as Thakur Balwant, Sunder as Hanuman, Randhir as Munimji, Pinchoo Kapoor as Ranjeet, and Meena Talpade as Harbhajan's wife.¹ Indian Film History also lists Jagdish Raj, Anjana Mumtaz, and Chaman Puri among the cast.³

Production and music

The film was produced by Sudesh Kumar and Govindram Ahuja.⁴ IMDb lists the production company as Vijayashree Pictures.¹ Moviebuff records the audiographer as Thakersey Bhai, the sound re-recording mixer as Mangesh Desai, the art director as Sudhendu Roy, the editor as CP Jambulingam, and the stunt director as KS Madhavan, with special effects by Prasad Film Labs.²

Kalyanji–Anandji composed the songs, all with lyrics by Rajinder Krishan, released on HMV Records. The tracklist includes "Ghodi Pe Ho Ke Savaar Chalaa Hai Dulhaa Yaar" (Mohammad Rafi), "Chor Chori Se Jaaye Hera Pheri Se Na Jaye" (Lata Mangeshkar), "Kahe Ko Kali Se Main Phulwa Ho Gayi" (Asha Bhosle), and "Raste Raste Jane Wali Lahra Ke Lat Kali Kali" (Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle).²

Technical details and reception

Moviebuff lists the film as a color feature shot at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and 24 fps, with a censor rating of U in India.² On IMDb the film holds a rating of 5.9/10 based on 22 user votes.¹ Bollywood Hungama lists no critic reviews for the film.⁵

Other works of the same name

The title has been reused several times. A 1956 Hindi film Gulam Begum Badshah, starring Sheila Ramani, appears on IMDb with a 6.6/10 rating from 7 votes.⁶ A 2013 Marathi mystery thriller Gulam Begum Badshah, directed by Raaj Firke and starring Bharat Jadhav, Sanjay Narvekar, and Neha Pendse, tells of a couple whose fate is entwined with a game of cards.⁷ Unrelated stage works include the Hindi romantic comedy play Gulam, Begum, Badshah written by Ajay Khamosh and directed by Dinyar Contractor, and a Gujarati comedy suspense thriller play of the same name directed by Umesh Shukla.⁸^•⁹

Availability

The 1973 film is distributed by Ultra Media & Entertainment and streams on platforms including Airtel Xstream Play and Apple TV; a 4K-restored version was uploaded to YouTube by Ultra Movie Parlour in 2025.¹⁰^•¹¹^•⁴

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026