baDhee huee tulsii dikhtee hai. bahen nahee.n dikhtii

Film : City of Gold - Mumbai 1982 : Ek Ankahee Kahaani

Year of release : 2010

Spoken by : Manju Dhuri (Veena Jamkar)

Spoken to : Mohan Dhuri (Vineet Kumar)

Dialogue writer : Abhijit Deshpande

A story of the mill workers who suffered while Mumbai prospered. One of the suffering families has the twenty-something girl Manju giving into the wiles of the neighbourhood baniya's son. Everyday in the morning she goes out into the balcony, and  on the pretext of watering the tulsi (basil) plant, also feeds her romance with the baniya's son in the store across the street. In return she gets a waiver on the family's food bill and a gold chain too. When her mother Lakshmi (Seema Biswas) notices this chain, she asks Manju about its provenance. Manju says that it is artificial jewellery. Her cricket crazy elder brother Mohan comments (after Lakshmi has left)

'naqlii nahee.n lagtee ye chain'

Manju says

'aslee laane ke liye paise kahaa.n se laaoo.n'

Mohan quips (with a none-too veiled reference to her daily morning dalliance)

'baahar kee tulsii apne aap nahee.n baDh rahee hai'

Hindi films do not give too many great lines to women characters. This will rank among them even after ten years. Make that 20 (India is not going to change in a hurry)

Manju says

"baDhee huee tulsee dikhtee hai. bahen nahee.n dikhtee. besharam'

"बढी हुई तुलसी दिखती है. बहन नहीं दिखती. बेशरम." 

in an obvious reference to the elder brother having failed in his duty of marrying off his sister and hence having lost the right to make such wisecracks.