Dir.: Goutam Ghose; Script: Goutam Ghose; Phot.: Goutam Ghose; Ed.: Moloy Banerjee; Mus.: Goutam Ghose, Arthur Gracious; Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Nandana Dev Sen, Avtaar Gill, Pran, Mohan Agashe, Masood Akhtar; Prod. & Sales: Amit Khanna, Mahesi Bhatt, Plus Films, Ajanta Complex, 8 Juhu Tara Road, Bombay 400 049 (Inde), tél.: (22) 617 82 70, fax: (22) 610 04 88.

Johnny, a musician with an itinerant troupe of performers led by Hameed the ventriloquist, assists Hameed in his act with the female dummy, Urvashi (the name signifies seductress and eternal child-woman). When Hameed's voice begins to fail because of throat cancer, he trains Johnny to take his place and leaves him Urvashi. Johnny returns to Bombay, modernizes Hameed's act and soon becomes a hit on the vaudeville circuit. But Urvashi seems to be taking on a life of her own and Johnny spends increasingly long hours "rehearsing" with her. Johnny's childhood sweetheart, Rosemary, adores him but she is frustrated by Johnny's apparent obsession with the doll. Urvashi, she bluntly reminds him, is "just a prop". Johnny's popularity also attracts political attention and a corrupt local official pressures Johnny to promote him in the show. The attempt fails when Johnny realizes that he cannot turn his muse into a mouthpiece for propaganda; on the night of the performance, the talking doll falls silent. Johnny begins to denounce political corruption in his shows. The crowds love it but there are risks. When communal riots break out in Bombay, Johnny turns to Urvashi to learn who has instigated the unrest. Johnny's inquisitiveness is resented; he is viciously attacked and the doll is destroyed. Johnny is devastated. Rosemary attempts to comfort him but without a doll his show is ruined. Where will he find a new muse?