Sita Devi Verma (Lalita Pawar), established in Darjeeling[5] is the guardian to two young women (Nina and Rita) and two school children (Bunty and Munnu) in her care. She is a strict guardian and the four often disobey her and create mischief behind her back. She is looking for a professor as a tutor, her only condition being that he should be above 50 years of age. Pritam Khanna (Shammi Kapoor), a young college graduate in dire need of work, applies for the job and get dejected after being rejected due to his age. The same day, he discovers his mother (Pratima Devi) has an advanced stage of tuberculosis and needs hospitalization. Due to financial difficulties, he disguises himself as an older professor and takes the job.
The women do not want a professor and try every trick in the book to defame the professor in the eyes of Sita Devi. Pritam soon catches on and defeats them at their own game. He falls in love with Nina and woos her as a young man in the city. Chaos ensues when Sita Devi develops feelings towards old Prof. Khanna and Pritam has to romance the two ladies in different disguises at the same time.
Cast
Initially Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor were approached for the lead role of Pritam but they did not accept.
^Alvi's fees (Rs 17,500) were less than half his market rate at that time, due to producer Mehra's hiring of Lekh Tandon as director. Abrar Alvi with Sathya Saran, Ten Years with Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi's Journey (New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2008), 82-84. ISBN067008221X
^According to writers such as Deepa Gahlot, director Lekh Tandon's casting of Shah Rukh Khan in his serial Dil Dariya (1988-89) constituted the discovery of SRK. Deepa Gahlot, Take-2: 50 Films That Deserve a New Audience (Carlsbad CA: Hay House, Inc, 2015), 139. ISBN938454485X
^Chatterji, Shoma A (19 October 2017). "Lekh Tandon". Upperstall.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
^While filming in Darjeeling, the Professor crew and cast's work came slowly, due to the regular appearance of mist, which would make the shots less clear than the shiny cinematography of this kind of masala film demanded. Dwarka Divecha, who was also the director of photography for such greats as Sholay (1975), was the cameraman for Professor. Shoma A. Chatterji, Filming Reality: The Independent Documentary Movement in India (New Delhi: SAGE India, 2015), 42. ISBN9351502880
