Baghi Sipahi (1958 film)

Baghi Sipahi (transl. Rebel Soldier) is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Bhagwan Das Varma and starring Madhubala, Chandrashekhar and Ranjan. It is loosely based on the 1951 American film Quo Vadis, which in turn was adapted from the 1896 book with the same title by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The film was distributed and produced by V.P. Productions, an affiliate of Varma Films. Baghi Sipahi was released on 1 January 1958.

Baghi Sipahi’s narrative centers around the Roman Empire’s clash with Christianity and the harassment of Christians in its empire. Prominent among the persecuted Christians was the character played by Baghi Sipahi’s lead actress Madhubala, who in the early 1950s had been called “the biggest star in the world” by David Cort of Theatre Arts Magazine. Baghi Sipahi was the third collaboration between its filmmakers and Madhubala. Previously Madhubala and the filmmakers had collaborated in Neki Aur Badi (1949), for which Varma Films was the distributor, and Badal (1951), for which Varma Films was both the producer and the distributor. Baghi Sipahi was, however, the first time that Bhagwan Das Varma, one of the founders of Varma Films, had directed Madhubala.