Ray used Anil and Madhabi to perfection in Mahanagar.

Ray used Anil and Madhabi to perfection in Mahanagar.

Oscar winning Director Satyajit Tay experimented with the classic story with which writer Narendra Nath Mitra wrote the transformation of middle class Bengali of Kolkata of the early 60s. Satyajit Ray’s film was released in 1965, when the view of the writer was a reality, considering the socio-economic condition of the metropolitan city.

The film did receive both positive reviews and international awards. In Mahanagar the central character who was the sole bread-earner of the joint Bengali family was played by Anil Chatterji . Anil Chatterji was a middle-class Bengali in Mahanagar, who was an employee in a private bank in Kolkata but struggled to fulfill the needs of his wife Madhabi Mukherjee, his father, mother, small child and younger sister played by Jaya Bacchan.

Anil Chatterji with his multi-dimentional talent succeeded to express the anxiety of the middle-class husband. At some stages he was harsh towards his wife played by Madabi Mukherjee. Anil Chatterji was very adjusting and considerate towards his wife at the beginning confronting the opposition by his father, who believed that a middle-class Bengali housewife should not go to the outer world to earn a living.

Madhabi Mukherjee had to look for employment and joined Haradhon Banerjee’s firm which promoted women’s domestic products. There was strong resistance from the family. Just like other conservative bengalies, Anil Chatterji’s father, a retired academician, never liked the housewife to do marketing and earn a living. He in fact stopped talking to Anil Chatterji after Madhabi Mukherjee joined office.

Additional characters were included in Mahanagar, like the character of an anglo-colleague who played the role of the friend of Madhabi Mukherjee who helped her to be professional. She was unethically sacked by Haradhon Banerjee, and for her cause Madhabi Mukherjee gave her resignation at the end of the film.

Jaya Bacchan did a decent job in her role of the sister of Anil Chatterji. In fact it was her debut, and she was fortunate to get a role in a film directed by Oscar Winning Maestro Satyajit Ray. When Madhabi Mukherjee went to give her resignation letter, Anil Chatterji asked her not to give it, as his company went for a lockout and he became jobless. But when Madhabi Mukherjee gave her resignation at the end of the film Anil Chatterji supported her and cooperated with her.

Both the husband and the wife had to earn to meet the requirements of the present day. That was the message given by the writer Naren Mitra. Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar won many national and international awards. Satyajit Ray’s was a master of casting and he used the acting skills of Anil Chatterji and Madhabi Mukherjee in such a way that the viewers could identify themselves in their respective roles. The film should be preserved for realistic story, brilliant script, outstanding story-telling and meaningful acting.

Humkadam was not as successful as Mahanagar

Humkadam was not as successful as Mahanagar.

Director Anil Ganguly experimented with the same story which Satyajit Ray made his film Mahanagar in his film Humkadam. Satyajit Ray’s film was released in 1965, while Anil Ganguly’s one was released in 1980.

But the film did not receive either positive reviews or commercial benefits. In Humkadam, Parikshit Sahani played the role played by Anil Chatterji in the Bengali film Mahanagar. Anil Chatterji was a middle-class Bengali in Mahanagar, who was the sole bread-earner but struggled to fulfill the needs of his wife Madhabi Mukherjee, his father, mother, small child and younger sister played by Jaya Bacchan.

Parikshit Sahani in the film Humkadam, could not express the anxiety of the middle-class husband. At some stages he was harsh towards his wife played by Rakhee. Anil Chatterji was very adjusting and considerate towards his wife Madhabi Mukherjee in Mahanagar.

Rakhee had to look for employment and joined Biswajeet Chatterji’s firm which promoted women’s domestic products. There was strong resistance from the family. Just like in Mahanagar, Anil Chatterji’s father, a retired academician, never liked the housewife to do marketing and earn a living, in Humkadam, A. K. Hangal, the father of Parikshit Sahani was never liked Rakhee’s employment at all.

Additional characters were included in Humkadam, like the character of Helen, who played the role of the friend of Rakhee who helped her to be professional. Helen was also earning for her handicapped husband. Parikshit Sahani and his family members never liked it.

Dina Pathak did a decent job in her role of the mother of Parikshit Sahani. Anil Ganguly kept the ending of the film same as Mahanagar. When Madhabi Mukherjee went to give her resignation letter, Anil Chatterji asked her not to give it, as his company went for a lockout and he became jobless. Parikshit Sahani did the same thing in Humkadam.

Both the husband and the wife had to earn to meet the requirements of the present day. That was the message given by the writer Naren Mitra. Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar won many national and international awards. Anil Ganguly’s Humkadam was a sincere project, but did not get the recognition as an innovative work.

Satyajit Ray's casting was excellent in Post Master and Manihara.

Satyajit Ray’s casting was excellent in Post Master and Monihara.

Satyajit Ray was a master of casting whenever film direction was in question. He experimented with Rabindranath Tagore’s epic literature Teen Kanya in his film Teen Kanya. He chose the stories Post Master, Manihara and Shamapti.

In Post Master, Ray’s choice of Anil Chatterji in the role of Post Master showed his immense class in casting of characters. Anil Chatterji displayed the uneasiness of a Post Master in adjusting in village conditions very well. He listened to the rural music of the old villagers. He got frightened to weird mannerism of Nripati Chatterji who played the role of a village beggar. He faced fever, and even in sleep he dreamt about the weird beggar.

Ray’s casting of Chandana Banerjee in the role of the little girl was equally excellent. The girl lost her parents at a young age and served the Post Masters in the village. She took care of Anil Chatterji when he got fever and treated him like an elder brother. Anil Chatterji taught him to read and write. When he got transferred and a new Post Master came in his place, Chandana Banerjee made the viewers weep through her passionate expression. She got attached with the Post Master and did not even take the money offered to her by Anil Chatterji when he left the village.

In Manihara, the casting of Kali Banerjee and Konika Majumdar in the lead roles also showed Ray’s class. Kali Banerjee was a zamindar and Konika Majumdar was his wife. She had a troubled past. She was possessive towards her jewellery. When Kali Banerjee went to Kolkata for work, she asked one of her friends to reach her to her native town.

Konika Majumdar died. When Kali Banerjee returned back, her ghost came and appeared before Kali Banerjee. Kali Banerjee looked at her hand full of jewellary which later turned into a skeleton. A road passer told the story to a visitor who was also a ghost. Kali Banerjee’s frightened expression amazed the viewers.

Ray was a great artist and his illustration helped him to cast the right actors and actresses at the right roles. The characters came out of classic novels and mesmerized the viewers with conviction and accuracy. The film should be preserved for Tagore’s brilliant literature, Ray’ s powerful direction and the effortless performances of main actors and actresses in the film.

Satyajit Ray's Kanchenjungha could not reach the masses.

Satyajit Ray’s Kanchenjungha could not reach the masses.

Satyajit Ray experimented with an abstract subject in the film Kanchenjungha in 1962. Based on the story of Ray himself, the film was related to the greatness of Himalayas, especially Kanchenjungha. But Ray’s message was reflected through the reactions of the actors and actresses of the film and it was hardly understood by the common mass.

It was the first Bengali coloured film, and the entire shooting was done in Darjeeling, the greatest tourist destination of West Bengal. Chabi Biswas played the role of the Rai Bahadur of that time, who was awarded the title by the British Government. He was the Chairman of 5 Companies in West Bengal. He wanted his daughter Aloknanda Roy to get married to N. Viswanathan, a careerist. Chabi Biswas’s entire family came to visit Darjeeling.

Haridhan, a middle-class person brought Arun Mukherjee to Darjeeling. He introduced Arun Mukherjee, with Chabi Biswas, so that he could give him a job. Arun Mukherjee was jobless in Kolkata and earned livelihood through private tution. When Chabi Biswas discussed the contribution of British Colonial Government in shaping Darjeeling and his own life, Arun Mukherjee was not moved by the materialist outlook of Chabi Biswas.

Arun Mukherjee stood in front of the great Himalayas, and the greatness of the mountain range prevented him from praying for his minor material requirements. He told Chabi Biswas that he did not require any job. He said if he wanted to work in any organization he would qualify for the post through hard work, not by reference of an influential person. At the same time, Aloknanda Roy did not find N. Biswanathan’s materialist talks impressive, and did not consent about marriage due to the effect of the romantic location of the place and influence of Kanchenjungha. Even her elder sister Anubha Gupta disclosed the truth to her husband Subrata Sen Sharma about her affair with another person, and agreed to tear away the letters that were related to the affair. They agreed to strengthen their relationship in the interest of their small daughter.

In the serious level of communication, Pahari Sanyal, the brother of Karuna Banerjee, the wife of Chabi Biswas, and Anil Chatterji, the son of Chabi Biswas, were the two relief characters. Anil Chatterji was interested in maintaining relationship with beautiful women, while Pahari Sanyal searched for beautiful birds in the place.

Chabi Biswas probably provided his most majestic performance of his life in Kanchenjungha, and his dignity, personality and elegance set up the theme of the film. He found that a poor small child singing a son in Darjeeling was happy, and Chabi Biswas’s earthly achievements were overshadowed by the gigantic presence of the evergreen Himalayas. Satyajit Ray brought his philosophy in the film and it won a number of awards in India and abroad, but even then the message did not reach the ordinary common mass due to abstractness of the subject.

Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterji complimented each other in Agnisangskar.

Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterji complimented each other in Agisangskar.

Director Agradoot played a pivotal role in the early success of Uttam Kumar in films like Agniparikkha, Sabar Opore in the mid-50s. From that time onwards the main director of Agradoot Bibhuti Laha tried to make realistic films with Uttam Kumar.

In Agnisangskar, Uttam Kumar was the Chief Engineer of the industrial firm owned by Anil Chatterji. Just because Anil Chatterji had partial amount of insanity, his mother Chaya Debi ran the firm with the responsible officers. As the manager Bikash Roy ill-treated the workers, she made Uttam Kumar, the manager. She also asked Supriya Debi to go to the industry and check the working regularly, as she herself was ill. Supriya Debi admired the working of Uttam Kumar and fell in love with him.

Supriya Debi had no relationship with Chaya Debi, but was brought by her with the aim of making her daughter-in-law. In the meantime Uttam Kumar was given the responsibility of bringing back Anil Chatterji from Kolkata, as never liked the native place. Anil Chatterji came back and got involved with Supriya Debi. But she was not interested to marry Anil Chatterji, she asked Uttam Kumar to leave the job. After Uttam Kumar got settled elsewhere Supriya Debi got entangled marriage according to hindu rites.

At that time Anil Chatterji called Uttam Kumar in his native place and after communication left him. He committed suicide and implicated Uttam Kumar for his death. All the evidence went against Uttam Kumar and he was awarded death penalty. At that time the diary of Anil Chatterji was recovered and due to insistence other Board Members of the company like Chabi Biswas, the Judge stopped the sentence and Uttam Kumar was released.
While Uttam Kumar was effortless in his romantic performance, Anil Chatterji showed his range in playing the mentally deranged character. Anil Chatterji already gathered fame by playing brilliant characters in Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara, Tapan Sinha’s Nirjan Saikate, Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar. In this film he balanced the romantic appeal of Uttam Kumar with his aggressive acting. The film became successful and attracted the attention of educated viewers. Hemant Kumar’s music was impressive with Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “tomar duarkhani” becoming hit. The film should be preserved

Review of Uttam Kumar's Ami Se O Sakha.

Review of Uttam Kumar's Ami Se O Sakha.

Uttam Kumar’s Ami Se O Sakha was released in 1975 and created a great impact in the minds of the viewers. The director Mongol Chakravarty experimented with the literature of Ashutosh Mukherjee and the brilliant performances of the team of actors and actresses created a different dimension for the film.

Uttam Kumar belonged to a poor family in the family. His elder brother which was played by Uttam Kumar again with a different make up earned money by teaching students in the locality. One of such student Aroti Bhattacharya misbehaved with him, and her father thinking that the teacher had a bad character whipped him. Uttam Kumar’s brother turned insane and did spend the rest of the life in an asylum.

Uttam Kumar was brought up by Asitboron, the father of Anil Chatterji, who gave a new life to Uttam Kumar. Both Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterji became doctors. They met Kaberi Bose, a writer in Lucknow and from that time got attached with her. Anil Chatterji married Kaberi Bose and all three of them remained friends. Anil Chatterji went abroad and returned to Kolkata and opened a nursing home.

Uttam Kumar met Aroti Bhattacharya, the wife of Tarun Kumar and ridiculed her in a party to take revenge about the ill-treatment done to his brother which compelled him to become insane. Uttam Kumar disclosed before Kaberi Bose about the entire event and the reasons for his action.

But Anil Chatterji got involved in unlawful practices. He took money for abortion of a child and the mother of the child died in the process. Uttam Kumar took Anil Chatterji’s blame on him and suffered imprisonment for seven years. He sacrificed his life to repay the contribution of Anil Chatterji’s father Asitboron who brought him up. Uttam Kumar lastly said he wanted to see a happy family of Anil Chatterji when he came out of prison, a family with a child.

The film was related to a serious subject and as such there was hardly any scope for songs. Even then Shyamal Mitra’s music was impressive. The two songs “emon sapna kokhone dekhini age” sung by Haimanti Shukhla and “ei hashi manay nato” sung by Shyamal Mitra were successful. Uttam Kumar, Anil Chatterji and Kaberi Bose were at their best in the film.

The film was remade with the title Bemisaal by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in the late 70s. The film did excellent business in bollywood. Amitabh Bacchan played the role of Uttam Kumar in that film, while Vinod Mehra played the role of Anil Chatterji in the film and Rakhee played the role of Kaberi Bose. Ami Se O Sakha was a clear example Kolkata’s dominance in All India films and for those reasons the film should be preserved and restored.

Remembering Tapan Sinha - the legendary storyteller.

Remembering Tapan Sinha – the legendary story – teller.

Tapan Sinha, the legendary story-teller and path-breaker in Bengali cinema had died recently at the age of 84 years. Very recently he had been awarded the highest award Dada Saheb Phalke for his notable contribution to films for more than 50 years. Being a big admirer of John Ford and Billy Wilder, Tapan Sinha worked under the dynamic personility Charles Cryton in Pinewood Studios in London.He returned back to India with a vision of merging the environment, mystery, tribal reality, social concerns with literary flavour and his dynamism shaped and nurtured silver screen from its infancy to a field of exhibition of work of art.

Most of his films received awards in India including national awards and also international awards. He had used the immortal literature of legendary writers of Bengal including Rabindranath Tagore, Jorasondho, Sorodindu Bandhopadhyay, Subodh Ghosh, to name a few and mesmerized the audience with his powerful script, outstanding camera work, meaningful casting and innovative story-telling.

The subjects with which he had made films never matched with each other showing the dynamism of the legend of legends. The story of Kabuliwala was based on Tagore’s realization of affection of an afghan father for his small daughter. Chabi Biswas astonished the viewers with his dynamic performance and created a standard which was not reached by even stalwart actor of bollywood Balraj Sahani in Bimal Roy’s Kabuliwala.

In that respect, no other director other than Satyajit Ray had such a strong casting sense that was exhibited by Tapan Sinha. His team of actors varied from film to film and the audience found that the actor or actresses he chose in the respective film matched the literary character that was depicted in novels. Nirmal Kumar, the jailor in the film Louhakapat was matchless with his poetic eyes which expressed his compassion towards the prisoners.

His casting of Uttam Kumar in the film Jhinder Bandi, the adaptation of Anthony Hopp’s Prisoner of Zenda, stormed Bengali films in the early 60s. Uttam Kumar looked like a European actor on horseback which was required in the film considering the chivalry that was required from Shankar Narayan Singh, the prince of Jhind, a land of warriors. The same Uttam Kumar was used in a different way by Tapan Sinha in the film Jotu Griha.

Uttam Kumar was a notable engineer in the film, who married Arundhuti Debi, but could not beget any child due to deficiency of Arundhuti Debi. He had property, pomp, grandeur, recognition in the society, yet due to lack of children ultimately the relationship ended up in separation. In their separation also the relationship between Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi was divine, and their feelings for each other touched the souls of the audience when in the last scene their trains crossed one another thereby providing a new path for the spouses. The depiction of Anil Chatterji, a middle-class worker in Uttam Kumar’s firm who had many children and was needy, yet happy with his struggling life, had not been forgotten by cinematic audience.

The same Tapan Sinha brought out the best from Tragedy King Dilip Kumar in the film Sagina Mahato, which was remade in hindi as well. Dilip Kumar was tribal leader and leader of worker’s union in the hilly districts of West Bengal. He was used by the local political leaders including Anil Chatterji for mobilizing the ideal youth of the place, but when Dilip Kumar gained popularity, his powers were taken away and he was proved to a traitor. The powerful performance of both Dilip Kumar and Anil Chatterji had not been forgotten by cinematic audience even after 40 years of the date of creation of the film.

He used Ashok Kumar and Vaijayantimala in style in the film Hate Bajare, where the notable contribution of a compassionate doctor attracted the attention of the viewers. Villains like Ajitesh Banerjee and comedians like Chinmoy Roy surprised the viewers with a different style of acting. Again in Nirjan Saikate, Anil Chatterji’s performance as an observer questioned the fate of five widows in the film namely Sharmila Tagore, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Bharati Devi, Chaya Devi, Renuka Debi, all of whom received National awards for their individual performance.

When the works of Tapan Sinha are analyzed it becomes a question to the historians in respect of where to start and when to end. The work of Kali Banerjee, a compounder in the film Arohi, with an emotional relationship with his master played by Bikash Roy, requires special mention. The feelings of a semi-educated rural person was displayed in style by Kali Banerjee who sacrified his earnings for the education of his master’ son.

Tapan Sinha’s other landmark films include Khudito Pashan, Khaniker Atithi, Golpo Holey Sotti. Tapan Sinha even showed the unrest existing in Kolkata during the naxalite period in films like Ekhoni and Aponjon. Besides there were films based on reflections like the film Atithi were Tagore’s complex observations were highlighted. His comedy films like Bancharamer Bagan and Baidurjo Rahasya addressed the interests of common audience of the country.

Radhamohan Bhattacharya, an eminent scholar and versatile personality was used by Tapan Sinha in dynamic roles like the royal diwan in Jhinder Bandi, the medical expert in Khoniker Atithi, the noted novelist in Kabuliwala and the urdu poet in Khudito Pashan.

In the late 90s, Tapan Sinha even made films based on antisocial activities like Antardhan and Atonko, where Soumitra Chatterji depicted the concerns of middle-class father in a complex society. Most of Tapan Sinha’s films were remade in hindi and provided fresh ideas for other directors in bollywood industry like Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, etc.

He is probably the most unsung, unrecognized, unlamented maestros of golden age of Bengali cinema, but the intellectuals of India and abroad consider Tapan Sinha as the greatest director of all times after Satyajit Ray and had remained an institution by himself.

The viewers pay their regard and respect to the departed soul.

Anil Chatterji – the towering actor of Bengali cinema.

Anil Chatterji – the towering actor of Bengali cinema.

Anil Chatterji, on of the towering actors of Bengali cinema had performed in dynamic roles both in the realistic films of Satyajit Ray, Hrithik Ghatak, at the same time had performed in commercial films opposite Uttam Kumar. He played the role of Post Master to perfection in Ray’s film Teen Kanya based on Tagore’s literature. He reached the depth of the character to understand the feelings of as teenage girl who used to work for the post master in a remote village of West Bengal who attached herself with him and when he got transferred became sad and continued with her solitary life in the remote village.


He surprised Tragedy King Dilip Kumar in the Bengali and hindi version of the film Sagina Mahato directed by Tapan Sinha. Dilip Kumar was a union leader who understood the pulse of the northeastern people and became their leader but Anil Chatterji used him for the enhancement of popularity of his own party and after the goal was fulfilled he made him a villain in the eyes of the same people ho made him the leader.

In Hrithik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara, Anil Chatterji, acted as a singer who had faced the pains of partition of Bengal during India’s independence and lived a tragic life. Is sister played by Supriya Chowdhury worked as a teacher and fed the family. Anil Chatterji struggled hard and got success in classical music in the frag end of the film but by that time his sister got infected with tuberculosis and he could not save her life. He displayed the compassionate shades of character and showed his observation in life and displayed the helplessness of a victim of partition.

He played the role of Deshbandhu CR Das in a historical film and was appreciated for his spirited performance. He also acted as a police officer in Shakti Samanta’s successful film Amanush, in both the bengali and hindi version where Uttam Kumar was the leading actor and when required Anil Chatterji even whipped Uttam Kumar to transform his character.


It is difficult to mention the contribution of legendary actor like Anil Chatterji in a small article as his films Komol Gandhar, Mahanagar, Ami Se O Sakha, Nirjan Saikate are milestones of Bengali films, and had Soumitra Chatterji not got the accolade of a powerful character actor in realistic films, Anil Chatterji could have been portrayed as strong competitor of Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of bengali cinema. His films should be restored and preserved.