Boot Polish

A tear-jerking neo-realist tale in the mould of Vittorio De Sica's Shoeshine, this follows an orphaned brother and sister who are forced by their horrid aunt to beg on the streets, until their lives are torn apart by the monsoons. Although credited to Prakash Arora, most sources insist Kapoor largely directed Boot Polish himself, and the film clearly bears his authorial stamp; though it's also writer KA Abbas' most explicit articulation of the beliefs underlying Nehru's campaign for social reforms, especially the contention that the poor must be helped to find work in order to further their self-respect.