Pathlaag (1964)

Hit suspense thriller introducing the future Marathi stage and film stars Bhavana and Ghanekar. When the noted lawyer Balasaheb Panse (Ghanekar) goes abroad, he receives a telegram informing him of the sudden death of his wife Asha (Bhavana). After she has been cremated and he is still in mourning, a woman arrested as a member of a criminal gang by the police claims to be Asha, whom she resembles absolutely (Bhavana again). She keeps telling Panse intimate details about their lives, expresses surprise that anyone could have thought her dead and implores him to have her released, causing a major emotional dilemma for the hero. Eventually, in an unconvincing end that deflates the suspense, the second woman is revealed as indeed his wife, while the woman who died was her hitherto unmentioned twin sister. An early success by composer Davjekar, the film also included the hit song Ya dolyachi don pakhare. The film was remade as Mera Saaya (1966) by Raj Khosla.