Gauri lives with her paternal uncle and his wife. Her life is quite miserable there, and she also works as a servant in another household. When Gauri is accused by her employer of stealing a necklace for no fault of her own, she almost finds herself jailed. But when she is released, she is thrown out of her home, and for several days wanders in the streets, without food and without any chance to find a new job as she is stigmatised. Soon she is forcibly taken to an orphanage, but she is no longer the innocent girl she was as circumstances have already turned her into a wicked rebel. She is unstoppable, and the people there cannot deal with her constantly hot temper. But time will change everything.
This is the basic story of this highly enjoyable picture, and it is also one of its main strengths. I'm always interested to watch Hindi movies from this era, and this film is quite an interesting watch. The first half actually surprised me because at many points it was a sort of a mini-thriller and had some successfully gripping moments of suspense. The second half brings a lighter mood to the film, as the main protagonist finds friendship and everything is more positive. Towards the end, the film does get a bit annoyingly preachy and melodramatic, and it is this part where the film loses its focus and direction. Having said that, I liked the ending itself which is a good conclusion to the story.
The film stars a fiery Nutan in an author-backed role and this natural actress gives a convincing performance as the viewer clearly feels she is involved in the proceedings even if sometimes the script lets her down. Also one of my favourite actors, Balraj Sahni is as fine and restrained as ever in the role of the kind manager. Shubha Khote looked very pretty in her young days, and she is very good here in a significant supporting role. Shankar-Jaikishen compose a nice soundtrack, although the songs were too frequent, and for some reason I often used the FF button when they started (something I don't usually do). Anyway, Seema is a very nice film which is a good watch for lovers of Hindi cinema and its golden days.
