1. Saptapadi(1961)
Its a love story with a twist set in Bengal in pre independent India (early 1940); the time when young Indian students were competing equally with British 'goras' in all fields whether it be education or sports. This was the time when barefooted Bengali football team defeated the booted British team to win the national football shield; this was the time when the ambitious and educated Calcutta students were matching their prowess in different fields of education with the British - be it law or medicine. It is in this time of rising nationalistic sentiments (1942 was when Gandhiji started the non violent Quit India movement) that Krishnendu (Uttam Kumar), a bright, young, athletic and Hindu Bengali youth falls in love with an equally talented and attractive but Christian Rina Brown (Suchitra Sen). Both of them were students in the National Medical College and they come close during their interaction in multitude of sports and cultural events (there is an interesting rendition of Othello within the movie; that portion of the movie was directed by Utpal Dutt). However their marriage is not on the cards due to the differences in religion (particularly opposed by Krishnendu's dad, a staunch, conservative Hindu) and they move each other ways only to clash unexpectedly again, later in life. Most of the movie is shown in flashback mode; Krishnendu pondering over the past upon his sudden and unexpected interaction with a drunk and passed out Rina in a military hospital in rural Bengal.
Cast
• Chhabi Biswas ... Krishnendu's Father
• Chhaya Devi ... Rina's maid
• Utpal Dutt ... Othello (voice-over)
• Tarun Kumar ... Krishnendu's friend
• Uttam Kumar ... Krishnendu
• Padmadevi ... Krishnendu's mother
• Suchitra Sen ... Rina Brown
• Jeniffer Kapoor ... Desdemona (voice over)
2. Kabuliwala(1956)
Rehmat (Chhabi Biswas), a middle-aged fruit seller from Afghanistan, comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise and befriends a small Bengali girl called Mini (Tinku Thakur) who reminds him of his own daughter back in Afghanistan. He puts up at a boarding house along with his countrymen.
One day Rehmat receives news of his daughter’s illness through a letter from his country and he decides to leave for his country. Since he is short of money he decides to sell his goods on credit for increasing his business. Later, when he goes to collect on his money, one of his customers abuses him and in the fight that ensues Rehmat warns that he will not tolerate abuse and stabs the guy when he does not stop the abuse.
In the court Rehmat's lawyer tries to obfuscate the facts but in his characteristic and simple fashion Rehmat states the truth in a matter of fact way. The judge, pleased with Rehmat's honesty, gives him 10 years' rigorous imprisonment instead of the death sentence. On the day of his release he goes to meet Mini but discovers that she has grown up into a 14-year old girl and is about to get married. Mini does not recognize Rehmat, who realizes that his own daughter must have forgotten him too. Mini's father gives Rehmat the money for travel out of Mini's wedding budget to which Minnie agrees; she also sends a gift for Rehmat's daughter.
Cast
• Chhabi Biswas ... Rehmat
• Tinku ... Mini
• Radhamohan Bhattacharya ... Girl's Father
• Manju Dey ... Girl's Mother
• Jiben Bose ... Jailor
• Asha Devi ... Maid
• Kali Bannerjee
• Jahar Ray
• Nripati Chatterjee
3. Harano Sur(1957)
An amnesiac after a train accident, Alok Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar) is rescued on escaping from the asylum where he is admitted by doctor Roma Banerjee (Suchitra Sen) who takes him to her father's (Pahadi Sanyal) country house in a village called Palaspur. There, while treating him she falls for him and he for her. They marry but a second accident makes him recall his life as a rich businessman in Calcutta and forget the memories spent with Roma. Roma follows him to Calcutta and meets him there but he doesn't recognise her. He hires her as governess to his niece instead. Roma keeps trying to simulate Alok's memory but is looked at suspiciously by Lata, Alok's fiancee in Calcutta who thinks Roma is snatching Alok away from her and who complains to Alok's mother. The latter has Roma kicked out. Alok realizing she is from Palaspur and that is where he got back his memory goes there and regains his memory of times spent with Roma there. All's well that end well.
Cast
Chandrabati Devi ... Alok's mother
Utpal Dutt ... Dr. majumdar
Kajari Guha ... Lata
Uttam Kumar ... Alok Mukherjee
Dipak Mukherjee ... Mihir Bhattacharya
Shailen Mukherjee ... Manager
Khagen Pathak ... Station Master
Pahadi Sanyal ... Roma's Father
Suchitra Sen ... Dr. Roma Banerjee
4. Deep Jwele Jaai(1959)
Deep jwele jai or Deep Jweley Jai (Bengali: দীপ জ্বেলে যাই, To light a lamp) was a Bengali movie directed by Asit Sen. It tells the story of a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, played by Suchitra Sen.
Sen's character is a part of a team exploring new therapy for patients who have suffered emotional trauma. The approach taken by the team is to offer these individuals an emotional resort, which is where Sen's character plays her part. Her role is to act as a friend and a lover for the patient, but at the same time, refrain from any emotional involvement on her own part as her role is purely that of a nurse who is helping the patient recover. She has to repeatedly break the emotional attachments that she experiences because as a nurse, she is a part of therapy.
The movie looks at the neglected emotional trauma of this nurse who is used merely as a tool in the whole process of therapy. The movie ends by showing that the Sen is being admitted to the same ward where she used to be a nurse. The last words in the movie are uttered by Sen, who whispers out "I wasn't acting, I couldn't" indicating that she indeed fell in love with her patient! Also cast among others, were Pahari Sanyal, who plays a veteran doctor eager to explore new grounds, but hesitant of the human costs. Basanta Chowdhury plays as an artist and a lover-scorned.
The music was directed by Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee, and one of the songs, "Ei raat tomar amar" (This night's just for you and me)has come to be regarded as one of the greatest and sensuous love song ever sung in Bengali. The movie is regarded as one of the greatest movies exploring emotions of a relationship. The director would later remake the film in Hindi as Khamoshi (Silence) (1969), starring Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna, and in a guest role Dharmendra.
There was a Telugu remake, Chivaraku Migiledi (lit: What is left at the end) starring Savitri. Another remake of the film was made in 2005: Kyon Ki, directed by Priyadarshan and stars Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Jackie Shroff, Om Puri and Sunil Shetty.
Cast
• Suchitra Sen...Radha
• Basanta Choudhury..Tapash
• Pahadi Sanyal..Psychiatrist
• Tulsi Chakraborty
• Anil Chatterjee..Patient at mental asylum
• Namita Sinha
• Kajari Guha
• Chandrabati Devi..Matron
• Dilip Choudhury
• Shyam Laha
5. Paras Pathar(1958)
Paresh Chandra Dutt (Tulsi Chakrabarti), a middle-class bank clerk in Kolkata, attends a charity match on a rainy day rather reluctantly. At Curzon Park (modern-day Surendranath Park), where the match is apparently to be held, he finds a small, round stone. Thinking it is a marble, he gives it to his nephew. The child discovers that it turns metal into gold (i.e. it is the Philosopher's stone).
Dutt "buys" the stone from the child with sweets after witnessing the stone's power himself. He decides to take a few old cannonballs from the city dump, turn them into gold, and sell them. This scheme makes him rich; as a chauffeur drives him home from the dump, the car pulls into the driveway of a mansion (his new home). He now has a young secretary named Priyatosh Henry Biswas (Kali Banerjee) who, among other things, mentions that Dutt is invited to a cocktail party (his first).
At the party, Dutt acts slightly unnatural before engaging in drunken revelry. When another guest orders him to get out, he turns an iron figurine into gold (thus partially revealing how he became successful). It is not long before this incident is posted as a headline in the papers, causing a panic in Bengal. Paresh Dutt flees with his wife, Giribala (Ranibala Devi), leaving nearly everything (including the stone) with Priyatosh but cautioning him to hand it over if the police arrive.
Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Dutt are taken to a police station for interrogation, and the police discover that the desperate Priyatosh has swallowed the stone. Dr. Nandi (Moni Srimani), a medical specialist, informs the inspector (Haridhan Chatterjee) that Priyatosh is digesting the stone. Soon after Paresh and Giribala Dutt hear of this, they notice the golden objects turning back into iron. The Dutts happily rejoin their servant (Jahar Roy) and Priyatosh.
Cast
• Tulsi Chakraborty - Paresh Chandra Dutta
• Ranibala Devi - Giribala Dutt (Paresh's wife)
• Kali Banerjee - Priyotosh Henry Biswas (Paresh's personal Secretary)
• Jahar Roy - Brajahari, The servant
• Gangapada Basu - Businessman Kachalu
• Haridhan Chatterjee - Police Inspector Chatterjee
• Bireswar Sen - Police Officer
• Moni Srimani - Doctor Nandi
• Chhabi Biswas, Jahar Ganguli, Pahari Sanyal, Kamal Mitra, Nitish Mukherjee, Subodh Ganguli, Tulsi Lahiri, Amar Mullick, Chandrabati Devi, Renuka Roy, Bharati Devi as Cocktail party guests.
6. MahaNagar(1963)
Mahanagar is set in Calcutta during the 1950s. It explores the evolving independence of a middle-class woman, Arati Mazumdar (Madhabi Mukherjee), as she takes her first job because of increasing financial pressure due to her husband's income not being enough for the family to live on. This decision is purely a financial one and is made in spite of opposition from both families. Arati subsequently grows to delight in her newfound financial and psychological independence.Eventually, her husband loses his job and she becomes the sole breadwinner. Arati grows increasingly independent and befriends an English-speaking, Anglo-Indian colleague (representative of the legacy of the British Raj) Edith (Vicky Redwood), a move which raises suspicion and increases conflict.
Cast
• Anil Chatterjee - Subrata Mazumdar
• Madhabi Mukherjee - Arati Mazumder
• Jaya Bhaduri - Bani
• Haren Chatterjee - Priyogopal (Subrata's father)
• Sefalika Devi - Sarojini (Subrata's Mother)
• Prasenjit Sarkar - Pintu
• Haradhan Bannerjee - Himangshu Mukherjee
• Vicky Redwood - Edith
7. Paroma(1984)
The movie is about a 40-year-old married woman, Paroma (Rakhee Gulzar) who falls in love with Rahul (Mukul Sharma), an expatriate photo-journalist working for glossy magazines who photographs her making her look glamorous. Their affair, and the invasion of the glamour machine into her life, becomes a problem when some of the photographs, earlier admired by the family, are published in a journal. Paroma is rejected by her husband and has a mental breakdown. In the end, a doctor suggests prescribing psychiatric treatment and when Paroma adamantly refuses any sense of guilt, her young daughter comes and gives her mother moral support.
Cast
Rakhee Gulzar
Aparna Sen
Anil Chatterjee
Deepankar Dey
Mukul Sharma
8. Nayak(1966)
A famous star of Bengali films, Arindam (Uttam Kumar), has been invited to the capital to receive a prestigious award. As all the flights are booked, he is forced to travel by a train from Calcutta to New Delhi. He is in a foul mood as the morning's papers are filled with his being involved in an altercation and his latest film is slated to become his first flop.In the restaurant car, he meets Aditi (Sharmila Tagore), a young journalist who edits a serious women's magazines. Filled with contempt for the likes of him, she secretly plans to interview him because she thinks it would make a saleable 'copy'. It soon leads to him unwittingly pouring out his life history. The interraction also brings to surface the inner insecurities of Arindam's character and his consciousness of the limitations of his 'powers'. Aditi initially takes notes, surreptitiously, but later on, out of empathy almost bordering on pity, abandons it. However, critical of the star, she interrogates him and the star ends up re-examining his life. In a series of conversations with Aditi, he also reveals his past and guilts.
Arindam talks about Shankarda, his mentor, taking us back to his early youth. His selling out to films and giving up theatre against the wishes of his old teacher... His first day's shoot, and he being snubbed by a successful actor Mukunda Lahiri. A few years later Mukunda Lahiri, now a forgotten actor after a series of flops, comes to him to beg for a small part. He rejects the ageing actor in revenge. His taking refuge in alcohol. And his refusing to help a friend in politics.
Toward the end of the train journey, Arindam is drunk and contemplates suicide. He asks the conductor to fetch Aditi. He begins to confess an affair with a married woman. But Aditi stops him. It was an affair with the heartless and ambitious Promila, which ended in a brawl with her husband.
As the star re-lives and examines his life with Aditi, a bond develops between them. Aditi realises that in spite of his fame and success, Arindam is a lonely man, and needs her sympathy and understanding. Out of respect for his frank confession, she chooses to suppress the story and tears up the notes she has written. She lets the hero preserve his public image.
Cast
• Uttam Kumar - Arindam Mukherjee
• Sharmila Tagore - Aditi
• Bireswar Sen - Mukunda Lahiri
• Somen Bose - Sankar
• Nirmal Ghosh - Jyoti
• Premangshu Bose - Biresh
• Sumita Sanyal - Promila Chatterjee
• Ranjit Sen - Haren Bose
• Bharati Devi - Manorama (Mr. Bose's wife)
• Lali Chowdhury - Bulbul (Mr. Bose's daughter)
• Kamu Mukherjee - Pritish Sarkar
• Susmita Mukherjee - Molly (Mr. Sarkar's wife)
• Subrata Sensharma - Ajoy
• Jamuna Sinha - Sefalika (Ajoy's wife)
9. Pather Panchali(1955)
Set in rural Bengal of the 1920s, Pather Panchali focuses on the lives of Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his family members. Apu's father Harihar Ray (Kanu Banerjee) lives in his ancestral home in the village Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, and dreams of a better career writing scholarly plays and poetry. In reality, he is easily exploited — he cannot even muster the courage to ask his employer for overdue wages, although his family is in dire need of money. Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) takes care of their two children, Durga (Uma Dasgupta) and Apu, and her elderly aunt-in-law, Indir Thakrun (Chunibala Devi). With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and a hunchback cripple. Occasionally, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive. Durga often steals fruit from a neighbour’s orchard and shares it with Aunt Indir, with whom she feels some filial affinity. Sarbajaya bears the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity to steal. Once, Durga was blamed for stealing a bead necklace though it was just to humiliate Sharbajaya for not clearing her credits to her.
Apu and Durga share an affectionate brother-sister relationship. Durga, as the elder sister, cares for Apu with motherly affection, although she does not spare any opportunity to tease him. They share the simple joys of sitting quietly under a tree, running after the candy man who passes by ringing bells, viewing pictures in a bioscope shown by a travelling vendor, and watching a play by a travelling troupe of actors. In the evenings, they can hear the whistles of trains far away. One day they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train. The scene depicting Apu and Durga running through Kaash fields to see the train is one of the memorable sequences in the film.[11] While playing one day in the bushes, they discover their Aunt Indir lying dead there.
Harihar, unable to earn adequately in the village, decides to travel to nearby cities to search for a better job. He promises Sarbajaya that he will return with enough money to repair their derelict house. During his absence, the family sinks even deeper into poverty. Sarbajaya grows increasingly lonely and embittered. The monsoon season approaches and storm clouds gather. One day, Durga dances playfully in the downpour for a long time. Soon she catches cold, and develops a fever. With scarce medical care available, her fever continues and eventually on a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, she dies. Harihar finally returns home and starts to show Sarbajaya what he has brought from the city. But Sarbajaya, who remains silent at first, breaks down at the feet of her husband, and Harihar screams as he discovers that he has lost his only daughter. The family decides to leave the village and their ancestral home. As they start packing, Apu finds the necklace that Durga had earlier denied having stolen. He throws it into a pond. The film ends with Apu and his parents riding a slow ox-cart to their new destination.
Cast
• Kanu Banerjee - Harihar, Apu and Durga's father
• Karuna Banerjee - Sarbajaya, Apu and Durga's mother
• Subir Banerjee - Apu
• Runki Banerjee - Durga (Child)
• Uma Dasgupta - Durga (Young Girl)
• Chunibala Devi - Indir Thakrun, Old aunt
• Haren Banerjee - Candy seller
10. Aparajito(1956)
The film begins with Apu's family getting settled in an apartment close to a ghat in Benares. Here Apu (Pinaki Sengupta) makes new friends. While his mother Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) stays at home, his father Harihar (Kanu Banerjee) works as a priest. On a Diwali day, Harihar develops a fever and rests, as Apu comforts him. The next day, he leaves for his work as usual towards the ghat, ignoring his wife's advice to rest. While coming back to home, he collapses on the stairs of the ghat, and dies soon afterwards.
In Harihar's absence, it becomes Sarbajaya's responsibility to earn money for the family. She starts working as a maid. A relative invites them to return to their ancestral village in Dewanpur (in Rajshahi Division, modern-day Bangladesh). They settle in a village called Mansapota. Apu asks his mother to send him to a school. Apu studies diligently and receives a scholarship to go to Calcutta (now Kolkata). Sarbajaya does not want to let her son leave. She gives in and helps him prepare to leave.
Apu (Smaran Ghosal) starts working at a printing press after school. Sarbajaya expects visits from him, but Apu manages to visit only a few times and feels out of place in Mansapota. Sarbajaya becomes seriously ill, but does not disclose her illness to Apu. One day while waiting for him, she hears his voice at the doorstep and goes to see him, but finds only the noise of monkeys in the trees and a pond of fireflies as she begins fainting. When Apu finally comes to know about her poor health, he leaves for the village and finds that she has already died. A relative requests him to stay back there and to work as a priest. Apu rejects the idea. He returns to Calcutta and performs the last rites for his mother there.
Cast
• Pinaki Sen Gupta - Apu (Boy)
• Smaran Ghosal - Apu (Adolescent)
• Kanu Banerjee - Harihar, Apu's father
• Karuna Banerjee - Sarbajaya, Apu's mother
• Ramani Sen Gupta - Bhabataran, old uncle
• Charaprakash Ghosh - Nanda Babu
• Subodh Ganguly – Headmaster
11. Apur Sansar(1959)
A large part of the story unfolds in Calcutta. Apu Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) is an unemployed graduate living in a rented room in Calcutta. Despite his teacher's advice to go to University, he is unable to do so because he can't afford it. He tries to find a job, while barely getting by providing private tuition. His main passion is writing a novel, partially based on his own life, hoping to get it published some day. One day he meets his old friend Pulu, who coaxes him to join him on a trip to his village in Khulna to attend the marriage of a cousin named Aparna (Sharmila Tagore).
On the day of the marriage it turns out that the bridegroom has a serious mental disorder. The bride's mother cancels the marriage, despite the father's protests. He and the other villagers believe, according to prevalent Hindu tradition, that the young bride must be wedded off during the previously appointed auspicious hour, otherwise, she will have to remain unmarried all her life. Apu, after initially refusing when requested by a few villagers, ultimately decides to take Pulu's advice and come to the rescue of the bride by agreeing to marry her. He returns with Aparna to his apartment in Calcutta after the wedding. He takes up a clerical job, and a loving relationship begins to bloom between them. Yet the young couple's blissful days are cut short when Aparna dies while giving birth to their son, Kajal. Apu is overcome with grief and holds the child responsible for his wife's death.
He shuns his worldly responsibilities and becomes a recluse - travelling to different corners of India, while the child is left with his maternal grandparents. Meanwhile, Apu throws away his manuscript for the novel he had been writing over the years. A few years later, Pulu finds Kajal growing wild and uncared for. He then seeks out Apu, who is working at a mining quarry and advises Apu one last time to take up his fatherly responsibility. At last, Apu decides to come back to reality and reunite with his son. When he reaches his in-laws' place, Kajal, having seen him for the first time in his life, at first does not accept him as a father. Eventually he accepts Apu as a friend and they return to Calcutta together to start life afresh.
Cast
• Soumitra Chatterjee as Apu
• Sharmila Tagore as Aparna, Apu's wife
• Alok Chakravarty as Kajal
• Swapan Mukherjee as Pulu
12. Charulata(1964)
The film tells the story of a lonely housewife, known as Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), who lives a wealthy, secluded and idle life in 1870's Calcutta. Her husband, Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee), runs a newspaper, The Sentinel, and spends more time at work than with his wife. However, he notices that Charu is lonely, and asks his cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), to keep her company. Amal is a writer and is asked to help Charu with her own writing. However, after some time, Charu and Amal's feelings for each other move beyond those of a mentoring relationship as Charu begins a latent sexual attraction towards Amal. Amal is unwilling to betray his cousin's trust that has already suffered at the hands of Charu's swindling brother, Umapada. He abruptly leaves, and after Charu hysterically submits to her disappointment in the presence of Bhupati, there is nothing left but for the forsaken woman and her humiliated husband to forge a contrived reconciliation.
Cast
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Amal
• Madhabi Mukherjee - Charulata
• Shailen Mukherjee - Bhupati Dutta
• Shyamal Ghoshal - Umapada
• Gitali Roy - Manda
• Bholanath Koyal - Braja
• Suku Mukherjee - Nishikanta
• Dilip Bose - Shashanka
• Joydeb - Nilotpal Dey
• Bankim Ghosh - Jagannath
13. Shadows of Time(2004)
The film opens with the elderly Ravi (Soumitra Chatterjee) driving to an abandoned carpet factory in West Bengal. As he explores the remains of the factory, he finds his bed and other memoirs. The story flashbacks to the early 1940s in pre-independent India, with Ravi Gupta (Sikandar Agarwal) a child laborer in the factory, saving up his earnings so that he can leave the factory one day. Ravi befriends a girl of his own age, Masha (Tumpa Das), who's been sold to the factory by her father. When the obstinate factory manager (Biplab Dasgupta) tries to sell Masha to a rich man, Ravi unsuccessfully tries to match the bid. He subsequently gives her the money to escape, and as they part Masha promises to wait for Ravi at every full moon at Calcutta's great Shiva temple.
Years later, the adult Ravi (Prashant Narayanan) leaves the factory and sets out for Calcutta. He begins working for an old carpet seller and his granddaughter, Deepa (Tillotama Shome). Masha (Tannishtha Chatterjee) has become a professional courtesan in Calcutta, romanced by a customs officer, Yani Mishra (Irrfan Khan). Masha goes to the Shiva temple every full moon to possibly meet Ravi, who himself is trying to search for her. They almost meet one night, but are separated by the chance arrival of Deepa, who Masha thinks is Ravi's wife. Masha decides to marry Yani, and Ravi, thinking Masha has forgotten him, finally marries Deepa.
Ravi renovates the carpet shop and becomes an Exporter of carpets. A few years later, he meets Yani, who had once bought a carpet from him to impress Masha. Yani invites him and Deepa to a dinner party, where Ravi and Masha finally meet. Perplexed at first, their mutual attraction gradually turns into an extra-marital affair. When Yani announces that he has been transferred to Kerala, Masha gets scared at the thought of losing Ravi again and asks him to take some action. Confused, Ravi arrives at the railway station but lets her down. The two leave, with Yani telling Ravi, just before boarding, that Masha is pregnant.
A few years later, Yani visits Ravi and tells him that Masha delivered a boy in Kerala, but he came to know that it wasn't his, and he threw them out of his house. Ravi goes to the brothels, where he finds Masha and their son, but she refuses to see him. Ravi departs, sliding a packet full of money into her room before leaving.
The film comes to the present time where elderly Ravi is at the factory. He hears a little girl and her grandmother in the courtyard. He starts talking to them and finds out that the grandmother is Masha, who is still waiting for Ravi to come; because this was the place where they first met. Ravi is astounded, but in the end he decides to walk away. The little girl asks her grandmother who he was, to which she replies, "It was Ravi".
Cast
• Prashant Narayanan as Ravi Gupta
• Tannishtha Chatterjee as Masha
• Tillotama Shome as Deepa
• Irrfan Khan as Yani Mishra
• Sikandar Agarwal as Young Ravi
• Tumpa Das as Young Masha
• Soumitra Chatterjee as Old Ravi
• Sova Sen as Old Masha
• Biplab Dasgupta as the Factory Manager
• Satya Bandopadhyaya as Deepa's Grandfather
14. Subho Mahurat(2003)
The phrase ‘Shubho Mahurat’ is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first day of shooting is usually marked by a grand reception, followed by a token shooting or vice-versa. This Miss Marple-esque film began with this event. An NRI producer,Padmini Chowdhury (Sharmila Tagore) has come to India to invest in a film. An out-of-work director is assigned the job of direction.
The out-of-work director had a shady past. The witness to his shady past was an aspiring actor, who was subsequently thrown out of the acting circuit. Thereafter, this actor started a catering service for the film unit. The NRI producer insisted on casting a retired actress in a prominent role. The retired actress, a drug-addict, subsequently died under mysterious circumstances.The journalist Mallika Sen (Nandita Das) was the only person present at the time of the actress’ death. The suspicion naturally fell on the husband of the actress.
The husband reportedly has an amorous relationship with another lady. The unnatural death of the actress made the police come into the scene. An IPS officer took up the investigation. During the course of investigation, this IPS officer befriends the journalist. Meanwhile, the journalist caught the fancy of a still photographer, who incidentally, was closely related to the NRI producer.
This NRI producer had a past no less interesting than the other protagonists of the story. The NRI producer was an actress of repute in her heyday. She divorced her husband and left the country to settle abroad. Before that, she had given birth to an abnormal child. The course of the film revealed that she bore a grudge against an actress of her time, for spreading the contagious in her.
Another amorous affair also ran parallel to the main theme. The camera assistant was repenting for his past affair with the hair-dresser. The hair-dresser had her problems and she was extracting money very often from the camera assistant. All through the movie' the aunt of the journalist, Ranga Pishima (Rakhee Gulzar) gave vital leads to the investigation through deductive logic. She was able to read the mind of the niece correctly. Her valuable inputs finally leads to solving of the murder mystery.
Cast
• Sharmila Tagore as Padmini Chowdhury
• Rakhee Gulzar as Ranga Pishima
• Nandita Das as Mallika Sen
• Sumanta Mukherjee as Sambit Roy
• Kalyani Mandal as Kakoli
15. Subarnarekha(1962)
The film tells the story of Ishwar Chakraborty (Abhi Bhattacharya), a Hindu refugee from East Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India. He goes to West Bengal with his little sister Sita (Indrani Chakrabarty) where he tries to start a new life. In a refugee camp, they see the abduction of a low-caste woman and Ishwar takes her little son Abhiram (Sriman Tarun) with him. He gets a job at a factory in the province, near the river Subarnarekha.
After completing his study when Abhiram is asked to go to Germany for his studies, he (Satindra Bhattacharya) and Sita (Madhabi Mukherjee) discover that they are in love. But at this moment, Ishwar's fear of prejudice emerges, as he does not want his sister, a Brahmin, to marry a lower caste boy. During Sita's wedding with another man, the girl and Abhiram elope and go to Calcutta. Ishwar is angry and heartbroken.
Sita and Abhiram live in the slums of Calcutta and try to make ends meet. They have a little son (Sriman Ashok Bhattacharya). One day, Abhiram gets a new job as a bus driver, but this leads to tragedy: when he accidentally hits and kills a little girl, he is lynched by the crowd. In her desperate situation, Sita is forced to think about taking up prostitution.
In the meantime, Ishwar is living a lonely and sad life in the province. When his old time friend Haraprasad (Bijon Bhattacharya) comes to visit him, they decide to go to Calcutta on a binge-drinking tour. They finally end up in a brothel, both completely drunk. When Ishwar staggers into one of the bedchambers, he is faced... with his own sister, whose first "client" he should become. Sita immediately recognizes him and rather cuts her own throat than submit to incest. She dies. When Ishwar realizes what has happened, he breaks down.
At the end of the film, the now completely broken Ishwar meets Sita's little son, who is now his closest relative. He brightens up and decides to take the little boy into his house.
Cast
Abhi Bhattacharya,
Madhabi Mukherjee,
Satindra Bhattacharya,
Bijon Bhattacharya,
Rambilas,
Indrani Chakrabarty,
Sriman Tarun
16. Tahader Katha(1992)
Shibnath (played by Mithun Chakraborty) is a freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement. The film starts when, following the independence of India, Shibnath is released from prison after eleven years of incarceration for murdering a British officer. Shibnath spent a part of his term in the prison asylum.
In the journey back home, Shibnath is accompanied by one of his comrades, Bipin (played by Dipankar De)—now a successful businessman and an aspiring politician. Shibnath experiences the aftermath of Partition of India (India was partitioned in Republic of India and Pakistan in 1947, at the time of independence), with his own family becoming refugees, and his old village now belonging to a separate nation. Once cutting a formidable figure as a virile and courageous freedom fighter crusading for a united and independent Bengal to drive away the British, Shibnath now stands in stark contrast: a fragile, fragmented shell of his former self as he awkwardly hobbles along an unpaved road through the countryside, stopping frequently along the way to relieve himself in the woods, unable to control even his own bodily functions (undoubtedly the autonomic legacy resulting from years of physical torture and inhumane treatment that he sustained while in police custody).
Shibnath's wife, Hemangini, urges him to make ally with Bipin who is willing to capitalize on Shibnath's legendary reputation for patriotism, by asking to accompany him in electoral campaigns. In exchange, Bipin is ready to arrange Shibnath the job of a school master. However, Shibnath remains disillusioned and mystified by the life that now lies before him away from his beloved—and irretrievably lost—homeland. Unable to abandon his crushed idealism and put his devastated past behind him, he withdraws further away from family and former colleagues, retreating into the tenuous company of his own fractured and haunted memories.
Cast
Mithun Chakraborty
Anashua Mujumdar
Dipankar Dey
Subrata Nandy
Deboshri Bhattacharya
Ashok Mukherjee
17. Teen Kanya(1961)
Cast for Postmaster:
Nandalal Anil Chatterjee
Ratan Chandana Banerjee
Bisay Nripati Chatterjee
Khagen Khagen Pathak
Bilash Gopal Roy
Newly arrived from Calcutta, Nandalal takes a position as the Postmaster of a tiny rural village in Bengal. He has for his servant Ratan, a young orphan girl. She is illiterate, but he teaches her how to read and write. When Nandalal falls ill, Ratan nurses him back to health. Nonetheless, he dreams of returning to Calcutta. He gets ready to leave, oblivious to how attached to him Ratan has become. The narrative concludes with his departure, in which he is forced to confront his misunderstanding of Ratan's feelings when she snubs him.
Cast for Monihara:
Phanibhusan Saha Kali Banerjee
Manimalika Kanika Majumdar
Madhusudhan Kumar Roy
Schoolmaster and narrator Gobinda Chakravarty
Near a sumptuous mansion, now abandoned, the village schoolteacher recounts the history of a book he holds in his hand to a man seated on the stairs, concealed under a shawl. It seems that the house was formerly inhabited by a man whose wife had a consuming passion for jewels, which led to their ruin. After having listened to the tale, the man points out some errors in it; his authority comes from the fact that he is the husband's ghost.
Cast for Samapti:
Amulya Soumitra Chatterjee
Mrinmoyee Aparna Das Gupta
Jogmaya Sita Mukherjee
Nistarini Gita Dey
Kisori Santosh Dutta
Rakhal Mihir Chakravarty
Haripada Devi Neogy
Returning from Calcutta after passing his exams, Amulya spends a few days with his mother, who has arranged for him to marry the daughter of a respectable family. The son resists and, in order to forestall the marriage, suggests a different bride: Mrinmoyee, a mischievous and contrary adolescent girl whose family has lost their home. The mother finally gives in. After a difficult wedding night, Amulya, instead of facing his new circumstances, hastily goes back to Calcutta. Realizing the nature of the situation, his mother pretends to be sick in order to bring him back for a more responsible reunion.
18. Unishe April
Sarojini (Aparna Sen) is a dancer, whose immense love and dedication of her art raises her to a level of a great dancer honored with lots of acclamations and numerous prizes on one hand while drifts her away from her family on the other hand. Her growing popularity resulted in development of an inferiority complex by her husband Manish (Boddhiswatta). This complexes seemed to crop up in daily family matters resulting a drift between the couple.The husband shapes their only daughter in his hands and cuddles her from her mother who is too busy after her career. She seems to find a replacement for the void in her life through dancing, however is unsure whether her blossoming career and success is really bringing her happiness.
The sudden dismise of Manish forces Sarojini to put her daughter in hostel .These trivialities , the glittering memory of her father and her mother's inability of give her proper time results in developing complexity inside little Aditi (Debashree Roy) and hatred towards her mother.The film however starts when Aditi is grown up and is keen to make a go of her career as a doctor like her father. By that time there has already been a sharp cleavage between mother daughter relationship.What hammers in Aditi's mind is that her mother has forgotten her father to such an extent that she even does not remember her father's death anniversary.Misunderstanding dismatch of temperaments crop up creating an air of suffocation for both.
Aditi by that time has also chosen her life partner and is obsessed with him as she had been always looking for somebody to care for her.She wanted a love that she didn't get from her mother.Situationally she was ditched by her boyfriend on that very day and situations forced mother and daughter for a face to face conversation.Gradually they unlock their hearts top each other.The story of twenty years came out for once in a lifebreath.Untold facts gets deciphered , misunderstandings seems to get cleared.All hinting to a big question "Will Aditi be able to forgive her mother ?"
Rituparno depicts their embittered relationship with utmost care.How the daughter shows indifference to her mother's activities to her mother's friends students are woven with extremely natural dialogues and sometimes quoted in "Thanx" .Some scenes like mother celebrating her success on her husband's anniversary , her daughter's not taking part in celebrations , daughter's ignorance of mother's pain in knee do justice in the weaving of the relationship.He has gone into depth in portraying the mental status of Aditi throughout the film.Some details like Aditi forgets to close the tap or switch of the light brings in the naturality of the film.The flashbacks comes quite naturally and matches with the state of the mind.Rituparno has taken care of every single character of the film which bloom forth bold performances by Debosree Roy and Aparna Sen.
Cast
Aparna Sen
Debashree Roy
Prasenjit Chatterjee
Dipankar Dey
19.Akaler Shandhaney
In September 1980, a film crew comes to a village to make a film about a famine, which killed five million Bengalees in 1943. It was a man made famine, a side- product of the war, and the film crew will create the tragedy of those millions who died of starvation. The film documents the convivial life among the film crew and the hazards, problems and tension of film making on location. The actors live a double life, and the villagers, both simple and not-so-simple folk watch their work with wonder and suspicion. But as the film progresses, the recreated past begins to confront the present. The uneasy coexistence of 1943 and 1980 reveals bizarre connection, involving a village woman whose visions add a further dimension of time—that of future. A disturbing situation, indeed, for the “famine-seekers”!
Cast
Dhritiman Chatterjee
Smita Patil
Gita Sen
Rajen Tarafdar
Sreela Mazumder
Radhamohan Bhattachariya
Jayanta Chowdhury
Dipankar De
Jochhan Dastidar
20. Kharij
Kharij, sometimes translated as The Case is Closed, is a 1982 Bengali film by Mrinal Sen. It is based on a novel by Ramapada Chowdhury. It tells the story of a middle class family whose child servant is found dead, and their efforts to pacify his grieving father.
Cast
• Anjan Dutt - Anjan Sen
• Mamata Shankar - Mamata Sen
• Sreela Majumdar - Sreeja
• Indranil Moitra - Pupai
• Dehapratim Das Gupta - Hari
• Nilotpal Dey - Inspector
• Charuprakash Ghosh - Lawyer
• Debatosh Ghosh
• Gita Sen - Helpful neighbor
• Sunil Mukherjee - Curious neighborhood onlooker
Its a love story with a twist set in Bengal in pre independent India (early 1940); the time when young Indian students were competing equally with British 'goras' in all fields whether it be education or sports. This was the time when barefooted Bengali football team defeated the booted British team to win the national football shield; this was the time when the ambitious and educated Calcutta students were matching their prowess in different fields of education with the British - be it law or medicine. It is in this time of rising nationalistic sentiments (1942 was when Gandhiji started the non violent Quit India movement) that Krishnendu (Uttam Kumar), a bright, young, athletic and Hindu Bengali youth falls in love with an equally talented and attractive but Christian Rina Brown (Suchitra Sen). Both of them were students in the National Medical College and they come close during their interaction in multitude of sports and cultural events (there is an interesting rendition of Othello within the movie; that portion of the movie was directed by Utpal Dutt). However their marriage is not on the cards due to the differences in religion (particularly opposed by Krishnendu's dad, a staunch, conservative Hindu) and they move each other ways only to clash unexpectedly again, later in life. Most of the movie is shown in flashback mode; Krishnendu pondering over the past upon his sudden and unexpected interaction with a drunk and passed out Rina in a military hospital in rural Bengal.
Cast
• Chhabi Biswas ... Krishnendu's Father
• Chhaya Devi ... Rina's maid
• Utpal Dutt ... Othello (voice-over)
• Tarun Kumar ... Krishnendu's friend
• Uttam Kumar ... Krishnendu
• Padmadevi ... Krishnendu's mother
• Suchitra Sen ... Rina Brown
• Jeniffer Kapoor ... Desdemona (voice over)
2. Kabuliwala(1956)
Rehmat (Chhabi Biswas), a middle-aged fruit seller from Afghanistan, comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise and befriends a small Bengali girl called Mini (Tinku Thakur) who reminds him of his own daughter back in Afghanistan. He puts up at a boarding house along with his countrymen.
One day Rehmat receives news of his daughter’s illness through a letter from his country and he decides to leave for his country. Since he is short of money he decides to sell his goods on credit for increasing his business. Later, when he goes to collect on his money, one of his customers abuses him and in the fight that ensues Rehmat warns that he will not tolerate abuse and stabs the guy when he does not stop the abuse.
In the court Rehmat's lawyer tries to obfuscate the facts but in his characteristic and simple fashion Rehmat states the truth in a matter of fact way. The judge, pleased with Rehmat's honesty, gives him 10 years' rigorous imprisonment instead of the death sentence. On the day of his release he goes to meet Mini but discovers that she has grown up into a 14-year old girl and is about to get married. Mini does not recognize Rehmat, who realizes that his own daughter must have forgotten him too. Mini's father gives Rehmat the money for travel out of Mini's wedding budget to which Minnie agrees; she also sends a gift for Rehmat's daughter.
Cast
• Chhabi Biswas ... Rehmat
• Tinku ... Mini
• Radhamohan Bhattacharya ... Girl's Father
• Manju Dey ... Girl's Mother
• Jiben Bose ... Jailor
• Asha Devi ... Maid
• Kali Bannerjee
• Jahar Ray
• Nripati Chatterjee
3. Harano Sur(1957)
An amnesiac after a train accident, Alok Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar) is rescued on escaping from the asylum where he is admitted by doctor Roma Banerjee (Suchitra Sen) who takes him to her father's (Pahadi Sanyal) country house in a village called Palaspur. There, while treating him she falls for him and he for her. They marry but a second accident makes him recall his life as a rich businessman in Calcutta and forget the memories spent with Roma. Roma follows him to Calcutta and meets him there but he doesn't recognise her. He hires her as governess to his niece instead. Roma keeps trying to simulate Alok's memory but is looked at suspiciously by Lata, Alok's fiancee in Calcutta who thinks Roma is snatching Alok away from her and who complains to Alok's mother. The latter has Roma kicked out. Alok realizing she is from Palaspur and that is where he got back his memory goes there and regains his memory of times spent with Roma there. All's well that end well.
Cast
Chandrabati Devi ... Alok's mother
Utpal Dutt ... Dr. majumdar
Kajari Guha ... Lata
Uttam Kumar ... Alok Mukherjee
Dipak Mukherjee ... Mihir Bhattacharya
Shailen Mukherjee ... Manager
Khagen Pathak ... Station Master
Pahadi Sanyal ... Roma's Father
Suchitra Sen ... Dr. Roma Banerjee
4. Deep Jwele Jaai(1959)
Deep jwele jai or Deep Jweley Jai (Bengali: দীপ জ্বেলে যাই, To light a lamp) was a Bengali movie directed by Asit Sen. It tells the story of a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, played by Suchitra Sen.
Sen's character is a part of a team exploring new therapy for patients who have suffered emotional trauma. The approach taken by the team is to offer these individuals an emotional resort, which is where Sen's character plays her part. Her role is to act as a friend and a lover for the patient, but at the same time, refrain from any emotional involvement on her own part as her role is purely that of a nurse who is helping the patient recover. She has to repeatedly break the emotional attachments that she experiences because as a nurse, she is a part of therapy.
The movie looks at the neglected emotional trauma of this nurse who is used merely as a tool in the whole process of therapy. The movie ends by showing that the Sen is being admitted to the same ward where she used to be a nurse. The last words in the movie are uttered by Sen, who whispers out "I wasn't acting, I couldn't" indicating that she indeed fell in love with her patient! Also cast among others, were Pahari Sanyal, who plays a veteran doctor eager to explore new grounds, but hesitant of the human costs. Basanta Chowdhury plays as an artist and a lover-scorned.
The music was directed by Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee, and one of the songs, "Ei raat tomar amar" (This night's just for you and me)has come to be regarded as one of the greatest and sensuous love song ever sung in Bengali. The movie is regarded as one of the greatest movies exploring emotions of a relationship. The director would later remake the film in Hindi as Khamoshi (Silence) (1969), starring Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna, and in a guest role Dharmendra.
There was a Telugu remake, Chivaraku Migiledi (lit: What is left at the end) starring Savitri. Another remake of the film was made in 2005: Kyon Ki, directed by Priyadarshan and stars Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Jackie Shroff, Om Puri and Sunil Shetty.
Cast
• Suchitra Sen...Radha
• Basanta Choudhury..Tapash
• Pahadi Sanyal..Psychiatrist
• Tulsi Chakraborty
• Anil Chatterjee..Patient at mental asylum
• Namita Sinha
• Kajari Guha
• Chandrabati Devi..Matron
• Dilip Choudhury
• Shyam Laha
5. Paras Pathar(1958)
Paresh Chandra Dutt (Tulsi Chakrabarti), a middle-class bank clerk in Kolkata, attends a charity match on a rainy day rather reluctantly. At Curzon Park (modern-day Surendranath Park), where the match is apparently to be held, he finds a small, round stone. Thinking it is a marble, he gives it to his nephew. The child discovers that it turns metal into gold (i.e. it is the Philosopher's stone).
Dutt "buys" the stone from the child with sweets after witnessing the stone's power himself. He decides to take a few old cannonballs from the city dump, turn them into gold, and sell them. This scheme makes him rich; as a chauffeur drives him home from the dump, the car pulls into the driveway of a mansion (his new home). He now has a young secretary named Priyatosh Henry Biswas (Kali Banerjee) who, among other things, mentions that Dutt is invited to a cocktail party (his first).
At the party, Dutt acts slightly unnatural before engaging in drunken revelry. When another guest orders him to get out, he turns an iron figurine into gold (thus partially revealing how he became successful). It is not long before this incident is posted as a headline in the papers, causing a panic in Bengal. Paresh Dutt flees with his wife, Giribala (Ranibala Devi), leaving nearly everything (including the stone) with Priyatosh but cautioning him to hand it over if the police arrive.
Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Dutt are taken to a police station for interrogation, and the police discover that the desperate Priyatosh has swallowed the stone. Dr. Nandi (Moni Srimani), a medical specialist, informs the inspector (Haridhan Chatterjee) that Priyatosh is digesting the stone. Soon after Paresh and Giribala Dutt hear of this, they notice the golden objects turning back into iron. The Dutts happily rejoin their servant (Jahar Roy) and Priyatosh.
Cast
• Tulsi Chakraborty - Paresh Chandra Dutta
• Ranibala Devi - Giribala Dutt (Paresh's wife)
• Kali Banerjee - Priyotosh Henry Biswas (Paresh's personal Secretary)
• Jahar Roy - Brajahari, The servant
• Gangapada Basu - Businessman Kachalu
• Haridhan Chatterjee - Police Inspector Chatterjee
• Bireswar Sen - Police Officer
• Moni Srimani - Doctor Nandi
• Chhabi Biswas, Jahar Ganguli, Pahari Sanyal, Kamal Mitra, Nitish Mukherjee, Subodh Ganguli, Tulsi Lahiri, Amar Mullick, Chandrabati Devi, Renuka Roy, Bharati Devi as Cocktail party guests.
6. MahaNagar(1963)
Mahanagar is set in Calcutta during the 1950s. It explores the evolving independence of a middle-class woman, Arati Mazumdar (Madhabi Mukherjee), as she takes her first job because of increasing financial pressure due to her husband's income not being enough for the family to live on. This decision is purely a financial one and is made in spite of opposition from both families. Arati subsequently grows to delight in her newfound financial and psychological independence.Eventually, her husband loses his job and she becomes the sole breadwinner. Arati grows increasingly independent and befriends an English-speaking, Anglo-Indian colleague (representative of the legacy of the British Raj) Edith (Vicky Redwood), a move which raises suspicion and increases conflict.
Cast
• Anil Chatterjee - Subrata Mazumdar
• Madhabi Mukherjee - Arati Mazumder
• Jaya Bhaduri - Bani
• Haren Chatterjee - Priyogopal (Subrata's father)
• Sefalika Devi - Sarojini (Subrata's Mother)
• Prasenjit Sarkar - Pintu
• Haradhan Bannerjee - Himangshu Mukherjee
• Vicky Redwood - Edith
7. Paroma(1984)
The movie is about a 40-year-old married woman, Paroma (Rakhee Gulzar) who falls in love with Rahul (Mukul Sharma), an expatriate photo-journalist working for glossy magazines who photographs her making her look glamorous. Their affair, and the invasion of the glamour machine into her life, becomes a problem when some of the photographs, earlier admired by the family, are published in a journal. Paroma is rejected by her husband and has a mental breakdown. In the end, a doctor suggests prescribing psychiatric treatment and when Paroma adamantly refuses any sense of guilt, her young daughter comes and gives her mother moral support.
Cast
Rakhee Gulzar
Aparna Sen
Anil Chatterjee
Deepankar Dey
Mukul Sharma
8. Nayak(1966)
A famous star of Bengali films, Arindam (Uttam Kumar), has been invited to the capital to receive a prestigious award. As all the flights are booked, he is forced to travel by a train from Calcutta to New Delhi. He is in a foul mood as the morning's papers are filled with his being involved in an altercation and his latest film is slated to become his first flop.In the restaurant car, he meets Aditi (Sharmila Tagore), a young journalist who edits a serious women's magazines. Filled with contempt for the likes of him, she secretly plans to interview him because she thinks it would make a saleable 'copy'. It soon leads to him unwittingly pouring out his life history. The interraction also brings to surface the inner insecurities of Arindam's character and his consciousness of the limitations of his 'powers'. Aditi initially takes notes, surreptitiously, but later on, out of empathy almost bordering on pity, abandons it. However, critical of the star, she interrogates him and the star ends up re-examining his life. In a series of conversations with Aditi, he also reveals his past and guilts.
Arindam talks about Shankarda, his mentor, taking us back to his early youth. His selling out to films and giving up theatre against the wishes of his old teacher... His first day's shoot, and he being snubbed by a successful actor Mukunda Lahiri. A few years later Mukunda Lahiri, now a forgotten actor after a series of flops, comes to him to beg for a small part. He rejects the ageing actor in revenge. His taking refuge in alcohol. And his refusing to help a friend in politics.
Toward the end of the train journey, Arindam is drunk and contemplates suicide. He asks the conductor to fetch Aditi. He begins to confess an affair with a married woman. But Aditi stops him. It was an affair with the heartless and ambitious Promila, which ended in a brawl with her husband.
As the star re-lives and examines his life with Aditi, a bond develops between them. Aditi realises that in spite of his fame and success, Arindam is a lonely man, and needs her sympathy and understanding. Out of respect for his frank confession, she chooses to suppress the story and tears up the notes she has written. She lets the hero preserve his public image.
Cast
• Uttam Kumar - Arindam Mukherjee
• Sharmila Tagore - Aditi
• Bireswar Sen - Mukunda Lahiri
• Somen Bose - Sankar
• Nirmal Ghosh - Jyoti
• Premangshu Bose - Biresh
• Sumita Sanyal - Promila Chatterjee
• Ranjit Sen - Haren Bose
• Bharati Devi - Manorama (Mr. Bose's wife)
• Lali Chowdhury - Bulbul (Mr. Bose's daughter)
• Kamu Mukherjee - Pritish Sarkar
• Susmita Mukherjee - Molly (Mr. Sarkar's wife)
• Subrata Sensharma - Ajoy
• Jamuna Sinha - Sefalika (Ajoy's wife)
9. Pather Panchali(1955)
Set in rural Bengal of the 1920s, Pather Panchali focuses on the lives of Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his family members. Apu's father Harihar Ray (Kanu Banerjee) lives in his ancestral home in the village Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, and dreams of a better career writing scholarly plays and poetry. In reality, he is easily exploited — he cannot even muster the courage to ask his employer for overdue wages, although his family is in dire need of money. Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) takes care of their two children, Durga (Uma Dasgupta) and Apu, and her elderly aunt-in-law, Indir Thakrun (Chunibala Devi). With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and a hunchback cripple. Occasionally, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive. Durga often steals fruit from a neighbour’s orchard and shares it with Aunt Indir, with whom she feels some filial affinity. Sarbajaya bears the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity to steal. Once, Durga was blamed for stealing a bead necklace though it was just to humiliate Sharbajaya for not clearing her credits to her.
Apu and Durga share an affectionate brother-sister relationship. Durga, as the elder sister, cares for Apu with motherly affection, although she does not spare any opportunity to tease him. They share the simple joys of sitting quietly under a tree, running after the candy man who passes by ringing bells, viewing pictures in a bioscope shown by a travelling vendor, and watching a play by a travelling troupe of actors. In the evenings, they can hear the whistles of trains far away. One day they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train. The scene depicting Apu and Durga running through Kaash fields to see the train is one of the memorable sequences in the film.[11] While playing one day in the bushes, they discover their Aunt Indir lying dead there.
Harihar, unable to earn adequately in the village, decides to travel to nearby cities to search for a better job. He promises Sarbajaya that he will return with enough money to repair their derelict house. During his absence, the family sinks even deeper into poverty. Sarbajaya grows increasingly lonely and embittered. The monsoon season approaches and storm clouds gather. One day, Durga dances playfully in the downpour for a long time. Soon she catches cold, and develops a fever. With scarce medical care available, her fever continues and eventually on a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, she dies. Harihar finally returns home and starts to show Sarbajaya what he has brought from the city. But Sarbajaya, who remains silent at first, breaks down at the feet of her husband, and Harihar screams as he discovers that he has lost his only daughter. The family decides to leave the village and their ancestral home. As they start packing, Apu finds the necklace that Durga had earlier denied having stolen. He throws it into a pond. The film ends with Apu and his parents riding a slow ox-cart to their new destination.
Cast
• Kanu Banerjee - Harihar, Apu and Durga's father
• Karuna Banerjee - Sarbajaya, Apu and Durga's mother
• Subir Banerjee - Apu
• Runki Banerjee - Durga (Child)
• Uma Dasgupta - Durga (Young Girl)
• Chunibala Devi - Indir Thakrun, Old aunt
• Haren Banerjee - Candy seller
10. Aparajito(1956)
The film begins with Apu's family getting settled in an apartment close to a ghat in Benares. Here Apu (Pinaki Sengupta) makes new friends. While his mother Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) stays at home, his father Harihar (Kanu Banerjee) works as a priest. On a Diwali day, Harihar develops a fever and rests, as Apu comforts him. The next day, he leaves for his work as usual towards the ghat, ignoring his wife's advice to rest. While coming back to home, he collapses on the stairs of the ghat, and dies soon afterwards.
In Harihar's absence, it becomes Sarbajaya's responsibility to earn money for the family. She starts working as a maid. A relative invites them to return to their ancestral village in Dewanpur (in Rajshahi Division, modern-day Bangladesh). They settle in a village called Mansapota. Apu asks his mother to send him to a school. Apu studies diligently and receives a scholarship to go to Calcutta (now Kolkata). Sarbajaya does not want to let her son leave. She gives in and helps him prepare to leave.
Apu (Smaran Ghosal) starts working at a printing press after school. Sarbajaya expects visits from him, but Apu manages to visit only a few times and feels out of place in Mansapota. Sarbajaya becomes seriously ill, but does not disclose her illness to Apu. One day while waiting for him, she hears his voice at the doorstep and goes to see him, but finds only the noise of monkeys in the trees and a pond of fireflies as she begins fainting. When Apu finally comes to know about her poor health, he leaves for the village and finds that she has already died. A relative requests him to stay back there and to work as a priest. Apu rejects the idea. He returns to Calcutta and performs the last rites for his mother there.
Cast
• Pinaki Sen Gupta - Apu (Boy)
• Smaran Ghosal - Apu (Adolescent)
• Kanu Banerjee - Harihar, Apu's father
• Karuna Banerjee - Sarbajaya, Apu's mother
• Ramani Sen Gupta - Bhabataran, old uncle
• Charaprakash Ghosh - Nanda Babu
• Subodh Ganguly – Headmaster
11. Apur Sansar(1959)
A large part of the story unfolds in Calcutta. Apu Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) is an unemployed graduate living in a rented room in Calcutta. Despite his teacher's advice to go to University, he is unable to do so because he can't afford it. He tries to find a job, while barely getting by providing private tuition. His main passion is writing a novel, partially based on his own life, hoping to get it published some day. One day he meets his old friend Pulu, who coaxes him to join him on a trip to his village in Khulna to attend the marriage of a cousin named Aparna (Sharmila Tagore).
On the day of the marriage it turns out that the bridegroom has a serious mental disorder. The bride's mother cancels the marriage, despite the father's protests. He and the other villagers believe, according to prevalent Hindu tradition, that the young bride must be wedded off during the previously appointed auspicious hour, otherwise, she will have to remain unmarried all her life. Apu, after initially refusing when requested by a few villagers, ultimately decides to take Pulu's advice and come to the rescue of the bride by agreeing to marry her. He returns with Aparna to his apartment in Calcutta after the wedding. He takes up a clerical job, and a loving relationship begins to bloom between them. Yet the young couple's blissful days are cut short when Aparna dies while giving birth to their son, Kajal. Apu is overcome with grief and holds the child responsible for his wife's death.
He shuns his worldly responsibilities and becomes a recluse - travelling to different corners of India, while the child is left with his maternal grandparents. Meanwhile, Apu throws away his manuscript for the novel he had been writing over the years. A few years later, Pulu finds Kajal growing wild and uncared for. He then seeks out Apu, who is working at a mining quarry and advises Apu one last time to take up his fatherly responsibility. At last, Apu decides to come back to reality and reunite with his son. When he reaches his in-laws' place, Kajal, having seen him for the first time in his life, at first does not accept him as a father. Eventually he accepts Apu as a friend and they return to Calcutta together to start life afresh.
Cast
• Soumitra Chatterjee as Apu
• Sharmila Tagore as Aparna, Apu's wife
• Alok Chakravarty as Kajal
• Swapan Mukherjee as Pulu
12. Charulata(1964)
The film tells the story of a lonely housewife, known as Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), who lives a wealthy, secluded and idle life in 1870's Calcutta. Her husband, Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee), runs a newspaper, The Sentinel, and spends more time at work than with his wife. However, he notices that Charu is lonely, and asks his cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), to keep her company. Amal is a writer and is asked to help Charu with her own writing. However, after some time, Charu and Amal's feelings for each other move beyond those of a mentoring relationship as Charu begins a latent sexual attraction towards Amal. Amal is unwilling to betray his cousin's trust that has already suffered at the hands of Charu's swindling brother, Umapada. He abruptly leaves, and after Charu hysterically submits to her disappointment in the presence of Bhupati, there is nothing left but for the forsaken woman and her humiliated husband to forge a contrived reconciliation.
Cast
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Amal
• Madhabi Mukherjee - Charulata
• Shailen Mukherjee - Bhupati Dutta
• Shyamal Ghoshal - Umapada
• Gitali Roy - Manda
• Bholanath Koyal - Braja
• Suku Mukherjee - Nishikanta
• Dilip Bose - Shashanka
• Joydeb - Nilotpal Dey
• Bankim Ghosh - Jagannath
13. Shadows of Time(2004)
The film opens with the elderly Ravi (Soumitra Chatterjee) driving to an abandoned carpet factory in West Bengal. As he explores the remains of the factory, he finds his bed and other memoirs. The story flashbacks to the early 1940s in pre-independent India, with Ravi Gupta (Sikandar Agarwal) a child laborer in the factory, saving up his earnings so that he can leave the factory one day. Ravi befriends a girl of his own age, Masha (Tumpa Das), who's been sold to the factory by her father. When the obstinate factory manager (Biplab Dasgupta) tries to sell Masha to a rich man, Ravi unsuccessfully tries to match the bid. He subsequently gives her the money to escape, and as they part Masha promises to wait for Ravi at every full moon at Calcutta's great Shiva temple.
Years later, the adult Ravi (Prashant Narayanan) leaves the factory and sets out for Calcutta. He begins working for an old carpet seller and his granddaughter, Deepa (Tillotama Shome). Masha (Tannishtha Chatterjee) has become a professional courtesan in Calcutta, romanced by a customs officer, Yani Mishra (Irrfan Khan). Masha goes to the Shiva temple every full moon to possibly meet Ravi, who himself is trying to search for her. They almost meet one night, but are separated by the chance arrival of Deepa, who Masha thinks is Ravi's wife. Masha decides to marry Yani, and Ravi, thinking Masha has forgotten him, finally marries Deepa.
Ravi renovates the carpet shop and becomes an Exporter of carpets. A few years later, he meets Yani, who had once bought a carpet from him to impress Masha. Yani invites him and Deepa to a dinner party, where Ravi and Masha finally meet. Perplexed at first, their mutual attraction gradually turns into an extra-marital affair. When Yani announces that he has been transferred to Kerala, Masha gets scared at the thought of losing Ravi again and asks him to take some action. Confused, Ravi arrives at the railway station but lets her down. The two leave, with Yani telling Ravi, just before boarding, that Masha is pregnant.
A few years later, Yani visits Ravi and tells him that Masha delivered a boy in Kerala, but he came to know that it wasn't his, and he threw them out of his house. Ravi goes to the brothels, where he finds Masha and their son, but she refuses to see him. Ravi departs, sliding a packet full of money into her room before leaving.
The film comes to the present time where elderly Ravi is at the factory. He hears a little girl and her grandmother in the courtyard. He starts talking to them and finds out that the grandmother is Masha, who is still waiting for Ravi to come; because this was the place where they first met. Ravi is astounded, but in the end he decides to walk away. The little girl asks her grandmother who he was, to which she replies, "It was Ravi".
Cast
• Prashant Narayanan as Ravi Gupta
• Tannishtha Chatterjee as Masha
• Tillotama Shome as Deepa
• Irrfan Khan as Yani Mishra
• Sikandar Agarwal as Young Ravi
• Tumpa Das as Young Masha
• Soumitra Chatterjee as Old Ravi
• Sova Sen as Old Masha
• Biplab Dasgupta as the Factory Manager
• Satya Bandopadhyaya as Deepa's Grandfather
14. Subho Mahurat(2003)
The phrase ‘Shubho Mahurat’ is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first day of shooting is usually marked by a grand reception, followed by a token shooting or vice-versa. This Miss Marple-esque film began with this event. An NRI producer,Padmini Chowdhury (Sharmila Tagore) has come to India to invest in a film. An out-of-work director is assigned the job of direction.
The out-of-work director had a shady past. The witness to his shady past was an aspiring actor, who was subsequently thrown out of the acting circuit. Thereafter, this actor started a catering service for the film unit. The NRI producer insisted on casting a retired actress in a prominent role. The retired actress, a drug-addict, subsequently died under mysterious circumstances.The journalist Mallika Sen (Nandita Das) was the only person present at the time of the actress’ death. The suspicion naturally fell on the husband of the actress.
The husband reportedly has an amorous relationship with another lady. The unnatural death of the actress made the police come into the scene. An IPS officer took up the investigation. During the course of investigation, this IPS officer befriends the journalist. Meanwhile, the journalist caught the fancy of a still photographer, who incidentally, was closely related to the NRI producer.
This NRI producer had a past no less interesting than the other protagonists of the story. The NRI producer was an actress of repute in her heyday. She divorced her husband and left the country to settle abroad. Before that, she had given birth to an abnormal child. The course of the film revealed that she bore a grudge against an actress of her time, for spreading the contagious in her.
Another amorous affair also ran parallel to the main theme. The camera assistant was repenting for his past affair with the hair-dresser. The hair-dresser had her problems and she was extracting money very often from the camera assistant. All through the movie' the aunt of the journalist, Ranga Pishima (Rakhee Gulzar) gave vital leads to the investigation through deductive logic. She was able to read the mind of the niece correctly. Her valuable inputs finally leads to solving of the murder mystery.
Cast
• Sharmila Tagore as Padmini Chowdhury
• Rakhee Gulzar as Ranga Pishima
• Nandita Das as Mallika Sen
• Sumanta Mukherjee as Sambit Roy
• Kalyani Mandal as Kakoli
15. Subarnarekha(1962)
The film tells the story of Ishwar Chakraborty (Abhi Bhattacharya), a Hindu refugee from East Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India. He goes to West Bengal with his little sister Sita (Indrani Chakrabarty) where he tries to start a new life. In a refugee camp, they see the abduction of a low-caste woman and Ishwar takes her little son Abhiram (Sriman Tarun) with him. He gets a job at a factory in the province, near the river Subarnarekha.
After completing his study when Abhiram is asked to go to Germany for his studies, he (Satindra Bhattacharya) and Sita (Madhabi Mukherjee) discover that they are in love. But at this moment, Ishwar's fear of prejudice emerges, as he does not want his sister, a Brahmin, to marry a lower caste boy. During Sita's wedding with another man, the girl and Abhiram elope and go to Calcutta. Ishwar is angry and heartbroken.
Sita and Abhiram live in the slums of Calcutta and try to make ends meet. They have a little son (Sriman Ashok Bhattacharya). One day, Abhiram gets a new job as a bus driver, but this leads to tragedy: when he accidentally hits and kills a little girl, he is lynched by the crowd. In her desperate situation, Sita is forced to think about taking up prostitution.
In the meantime, Ishwar is living a lonely and sad life in the province. When his old time friend Haraprasad (Bijon Bhattacharya) comes to visit him, they decide to go to Calcutta on a binge-drinking tour. They finally end up in a brothel, both completely drunk. When Ishwar staggers into one of the bedchambers, he is faced... with his own sister, whose first "client" he should become. Sita immediately recognizes him and rather cuts her own throat than submit to incest. She dies. When Ishwar realizes what has happened, he breaks down.
At the end of the film, the now completely broken Ishwar meets Sita's little son, who is now his closest relative. He brightens up and decides to take the little boy into his house.
Cast
Abhi Bhattacharya,
Madhabi Mukherjee,
Satindra Bhattacharya,
Bijon Bhattacharya,
Rambilas,
Indrani Chakrabarty,
Sriman Tarun
16. Tahader Katha(1992)
Shibnath (played by Mithun Chakraborty) is a freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement. The film starts when, following the independence of India, Shibnath is released from prison after eleven years of incarceration for murdering a British officer. Shibnath spent a part of his term in the prison asylum.
In the journey back home, Shibnath is accompanied by one of his comrades, Bipin (played by Dipankar De)—now a successful businessman and an aspiring politician. Shibnath experiences the aftermath of Partition of India (India was partitioned in Republic of India and Pakistan in 1947, at the time of independence), with his own family becoming refugees, and his old village now belonging to a separate nation. Once cutting a formidable figure as a virile and courageous freedom fighter crusading for a united and independent Bengal to drive away the British, Shibnath now stands in stark contrast: a fragile, fragmented shell of his former self as he awkwardly hobbles along an unpaved road through the countryside, stopping frequently along the way to relieve himself in the woods, unable to control even his own bodily functions (undoubtedly the autonomic legacy resulting from years of physical torture and inhumane treatment that he sustained while in police custody).
Shibnath's wife, Hemangini, urges him to make ally with Bipin who is willing to capitalize on Shibnath's legendary reputation for patriotism, by asking to accompany him in electoral campaigns. In exchange, Bipin is ready to arrange Shibnath the job of a school master. However, Shibnath remains disillusioned and mystified by the life that now lies before him away from his beloved—and irretrievably lost—homeland. Unable to abandon his crushed idealism and put his devastated past behind him, he withdraws further away from family and former colleagues, retreating into the tenuous company of his own fractured and haunted memories.
Cast
Mithun Chakraborty
Anashua Mujumdar
Dipankar Dey
Subrata Nandy
Deboshri Bhattacharya
Ashok Mukherjee
17. Teen Kanya(1961)
Cast for Postmaster:
Nandalal Anil Chatterjee
Ratan Chandana Banerjee
Bisay Nripati Chatterjee
Khagen Khagen Pathak
Bilash Gopal Roy
Newly arrived from Calcutta, Nandalal takes a position as the Postmaster of a tiny rural village in Bengal. He has for his servant Ratan, a young orphan girl. She is illiterate, but he teaches her how to read and write. When Nandalal falls ill, Ratan nurses him back to health. Nonetheless, he dreams of returning to Calcutta. He gets ready to leave, oblivious to how attached to him Ratan has become. The narrative concludes with his departure, in which he is forced to confront his misunderstanding of Ratan's feelings when she snubs him.
Cast for Monihara:
Phanibhusan Saha Kali Banerjee
Manimalika Kanika Majumdar
Madhusudhan Kumar Roy
Schoolmaster and narrator Gobinda Chakravarty
Near a sumptuous mansion, now abandoned, the village schoolteacher recounts the history of a book he holds in his hand to a man seated on the stairs, concealed under a shawl. It seems that the house was formerly inhabited by a man whose wife had a consuming passion for jewels, which led to their ruin. After having listened to the tale, the man points out some errors in it; his authority comes from the fact that he is the husband's ghost.
Cast for Samapti:
Amulya Soumitra Chatterjee
Mrinmoyee Aparna Das Gupta
Jogmaya Sita Mukherjee
Nistarini Gita Dey
Kisori Santosh Dutta
Rakhal Mihir Chakravarty
Haripada Devi Neogy
Returning from Calcutta after passing his exams, Amulya spends a few days with his mother, who has arranged for him to marry the daughter of a respectable family. The son resists and, in order to forestall the marriage, suggests a different bride: Mrinmoyee, a mischievous and contrary adolescent girl whose family has lost their home. The mother finally gives in. After a difficult wedding night, Amulya, instead of facing his new circumstances, hastily goes back to Calcutta. Realizing the nature of the situation, his mother pretends to be sick in order to bring him back for a more responsible reunion.
18. Unishe April
Sarojini (Aparna Sen) is a dancer, whose immense love and dedication of her art raises her to a level of a great dancer honored with lots of acclamations and numerous prizes on one hand while drifts her away from her family on the other hand. Her growing popularity resulted in development of an inferiority complex by her husband Manish (Boddhiswatta). This complexes seemed to crop up in daily family matters resulting a drift between the couple.The husband shapes their only daughter in his hands and cuddles her from her mother who is too busy after her career. She seems to find a replacement for the void in her life through dancing, however is unsure whether her blossoming career and success is really bringing her happiness.
The sudden dismise of Manish forces Sarojini to put her daughter in hostel .These trivialities , the glittering memory of her father and her mother's inability of give her proper time results in developing complexity inside little Aditi (Debashree Roy) and hatred towards her mother.The film however starts when Aditi is grown up and is keen to make a go of her career as a doctor like her father. By that time there has already been a sharp cleavage between mother daughter relationship.What hammers in Aditi's mind is that her mother has forgotten her father to such an extent that she even does not remember her father's death anniversary.Misunderstanding dismatch of temperaments crop up creating an air of suffocation for both.
Aditi by that time has also chosen her life partner and is obsessed with him as she had been always looking for somebody to care for her.She wanted a love that she didn't get from her mother.Situationally she was ditched by her boyfriend on that very day and situations forced mother and daughter for a face to face conversation.Gradually they unlock their hearts top each other.The story of twenty years came out for once in a lifebreath.Untold facts gets deciphered , misunderstandings seems to get cleared.All hinting to a big question "Will Aditi be able to forgive her mother ?"
Rituparno depicts their embittered relationship with utmost care.How the daughter shows indifference to her mother's activities to her mother's friends students are woven with extremely natural dialogues and sometimes quoted in "Thanx" .Some scenes like mother celebrating her success on her husband's anniversary , her daughter's not taking part in celebrations , daughter's ignorance of mother's pain in knee do justice in the weaving of the relationship.He has gone into depth in portraying the mental status of Aditi throughout the film.Some details like Aditi forgets to close the tap or switch of the light brings in the naturality of the film.The flashbacks comes quite naturally and matches with the state of the mind.Rituparno has taken care of every single character of the film which bloom forth bold performances by Debosree Roy and Aparna Sen.
Cast
Aparna Sen
Debashree Roy
Prasenjit Chatterjee
Dipankar Dey
19.Akaler Shandhaney
In September 1980, a film crew comes to a village to make a film about a famine, which killed five million Bengalees in 1943. It was a man made famine, a side- product of the war, and the film crew will create the tragedy of those millions who died of starvation. The film documents the convivial life among the film crew and the hazards, problems and tension of film making on location. The actors live a double life, and the villagers, both simple and not-so-simple folk watch their work with wonder and suspicion. But as the film progresses, the recreated past begins to confront the present. The uneasy coexistence of 1943 and 1980 reveals bizarre connection, involving a village woman whose visions add a further dimension of time—that of future. A disturbing situation, indeed, for the “famine-seekers”!
Cast
Dhritiman Chatterjee
Smita Patil
Gita Sen
Rajen Tarafdar
Sreela Mazumder
Radhamohan Bhattachariya
Jayanta Chowdhury
Dipankar De
Jochhan Dastidar
20. Kharij
Kharij, sometimes translated as The Case is Closed, is a 1982 Bengali film by Mrinal Sen. It is based on a novel by Ramapada Chowdhury. It tells the story of a middle class family whose child servant is found dead, and their efforts to pacify his grieving father.
Cast
• Anjan Dutt - Anjan Sen
• Mamata Shankar - Mamata Sen
• Sreela Majumdar - Sreeja
• Indranil Moitra - Pupai
• Dehapratim Das Gupta - Hari
• Nilotpal Dey - Inspector
• Charuprakash Ghosh - Lawyer
• Debatosh Ghosh
• Gita Sen - Helpful neighbor
• Sunil Mukherjee - Curious neighborhood onlooker
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