General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Khushboo

Khushboo (खुशबू; transl. Aroma) is a 1975 Hindi-language drama film directed by Gulzar, starring Jeetendra as Dr. Brindaban and Hema Malini as Kusum, with music composed by Rahul Dev Burman (R.D. Burman)¹^•². It was produced by Prasan Kapoor under the Tirupati Pictures banner and presented by Jeetendra³. The film is based on the Bengali novel Panditmashai by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, which had earlier been filmed in Bengali in 1951 by Naresh Mitra².

Key fact	Detail
Director / writers	Gulzar (his sixth film as director); screenplay by Gulzar, D.N. Mukherjee, and Bhushan Banmali; story by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay⁴^•⁵
Source	Bengali novel Panditmashai by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, earlier filmed in Bengali in 1951 by Naresh Mitra²
Lead cast	Jeetendra (Dr. Brindaban), Hema Malini (Kusum), Sharmila Tagore (Lakhi), Asrani (Kunj)¹
Music	R.D. Burman; songs include "O Majhi Re" (Kishore Kumar), "Do Nainon Mein Aansoo Bhare Hain", "Bechara Dil Kya Kare" (Asha Bhosle), and "Ghar Jayegi"¹^•⁶
Production	Tirupati Pictures; producer Prasan Kapoor; cinematography by K. Vaikunth³^•⁵
Runtime / rating	2 hours 12 minutes; IMDb 7.3/10⁷
Release	Listed as 1 January 1975 by Bollywood Hungama and Nowrunning; FMDb lists 8 May 1975⁸^•⁹

Spoilers

Plot

Kusum and Brindavan are married off to each other as children, but unfortunate circumstances separate them¹⁰. Kusum has Brindavan's name tattooed on her arm; believing he has betrayed her, she burns her arm to erase the tattoo⁷. As an adult, Kusum refuses to remarry and looks after a wealthy ailing woman in her village, while Brindavan, now a doctor with a young son named Charan, is called in to treat the woman¹⁰^•⁴. Kusum's antagonism toward Brindaban fades when the circumstances of his marriage to Lakhi (Sharmila Tagore), a woman he saved from suicide, are explained¹¹. A bond develops between Kusum and Charan, and the film moves toward the couple's reconciliation¹².

Kusum as a character

Gulzar made Khushboo as his sixth film as director, and ThePrint's retrospective describes it as built around a strong woman with a capacity for love that does not come at the cost of her pride and dignity⁴. At a time when women had little say in relationships and matrimony, Kusum is shown exercising her choice freely⁴.

Hema Malini, then a mainstream star, said the film changed her image: "I was too young to realise what kind of a strong character I was playing in that film (Khushboo), but this changed my image — I didn't have to wear bell-bottoms and fancy wigs or run around trees." She appears in simple cotton sarees with minimal makeup⁴. The film was released in the same year as Sholay, in which her Basanti differs sharply from Kusum⁴.

Music

The Gulzar and R.D. Burman collaboration produced the film's songs, with Gulzar as lyricist and playback singing by Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle⁵. "O Majhi Re", sung by Kishore Kumar, became famous for both its lyrics and melody; "Do Nainon Mein Aansoo Bhare Hain" and "Bechara Dil Kya Kare" were also popular². A soundtrack release on 7-inch vinyl appeared on the His Master's Voice label in India in 1974¹³.

Style and reception

Rediff's retrospective notes that Gulzar enriched the story with a leisurely exposition centered on a lush Bengali riverside village, and added humor through Kusum's friend Manno, played by Farida Jalal¹¹. The A.V. Club's history of 1970s Hindi cinema groups Khushboo with Gulzar's naturalist works such as Parichay (1972) and Mausam (1975), and notes that its source novelist Sarat Chandra Chatterjee was also the author of Devdas¹⁴.

The film holds a 7.3/10 rating on IMDb and streams on Amazon Prime Video in India⁷. Rotten Tomatoes lists a Tomatometer of 75% from one review¹⁰.

Other films of the same name

The title Khushboo has been reused. A 2008 Hindi romance directed by Rajesh Ram Singh, starring Rishi Rehan and Avantikka with music by Adnan Sami, received a 1.5/5 review rating from Bollywood Hungama¹⁵. Khushboo is also the name of a Tamil film actress and politician, Khushboo Sundar, born 1970 in Bombay, who became a major star in Tamil cinema¹⁶^•¹⁷.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1970s › Released 1970 to 1975

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

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