Guess This 1965 Superhit Murder Mystery; Hint: It Starred Manoj Kumar

One particular genre that everyone loves to watch is thriller. It keeps the viewers hooked to the screens. Many filmmakers experiment with this genre to make movie-watching experience memorable. From a tight plot, suspenseful background score and strong performances by cast – all these can create an engaging watch that can push viewers to the edge of their seats and leave them biting their nails. One such experimental thriller film was made in 1965 in Bollywood, which minted a lot of money at the box office and left the audience shocked. In 1965, a day before Christmas, Raja Nawathe released his hit movie titled Gumnaam, a thriller-mystery movie that left the audience glued to the screens. The movie is said to be loosely inspired by popular writer Agatha Christie’s mystery novel from 1939, titled And Then There Were None. This movie was also remade in Tamil as Naalai Unathu Naal in 1984.

During the mid-60s, this murder mystery movie enthralled the viewers and emerged to be a huge hit at the box office. The song Gumnaam Hai Koi by Lata Mangeshkar left people with goosebumps. Even today, the song has the same chilling impact. The movie starred Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen, Mehmood, Tarun Bose and Manmohan in key roles. The movie set the cash registers ringing and became the 8th highest-grossing movie of that year. Its gross collection was Rs 2.6 crore.

Gumnaam was based on eight people – six men and two women, who find themselves stranded on a remote island after they win a contest. They settle in an eerie mansion with a strange butler. While things are all well in the beginning, soon, things take a drastic turn as guests begin to get murdered one after another which leaves the others fearing for their lives.

In the movie, Manoj Kumar essayed the role of an inspector named Anand, while Nanda played the role of Asha. The movie garnered much attention not just for its script, star cast and songs, but also for one particular scene, in which a woman roamed in a white saree, which became a topic of hot discussion.