Produced for a little Rs 95,000, this blockbuster film ruined the career of the main actress and caused controversy due to its daring sequences

Assuming that “boldness” in substance is a relatively new tendency in Hindi film would be a mistake. Indian films began to toy with the social mores of the era in the 1930s by including kissing sequences. This came at a time in the 1970s when new wave filmmakers disregarded social norms to exhibit films that were sexually free. The main driver of it all was this one low-budget movie that turned one person into a celebrity while destroying another.

The movie, which only cost Rs 95,000, was an enormous smash.

Chetna, a 1970 film by BR Ishara, explores the predicament of India’s sex workers. In the film, Rehana Sultan, a recent talent, played the major part with Anil Dhawan, another actor in trouble. The film’s budget was modest as everything was done on a little scale. Chetna was created for only Rs 95,000 at the time, according to an IMDb article (around Rs 60–70 million in today’s currency). It was therefore among the least expensive Indian movies ever produced. When well-known actor Shatrughan Sinha consented to make a free cameo appearance in the movie, it gained significant momentum. Despite having an A-rating and several sexual sequences, Chetna was a box office triumph when it first came out, earning many times above its budget.

The primary actress of the movie, Rehana Sultan, attended the FTII and was regarded as one of the most talented actors of her time. She had debuted in 1970 with Dastak, another movie with audacious themes, at the age of 19. It was her second film, Chetna. Due to their fame, Dastak and Chetna were pigeonholed into performing dramatic moments and were never given major parts. She worked during the whole 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, but with little success. Like Khote Sikkay, Rehana had the occasional hit song, but her career never quite took off as planned.