Amritakumbher Sandhane showed the crude reality of attending Kumbh Mela.

Amritakumbher Sandhane showed the crude reality of attending Kumbh Mela.

Director Dilip Ray experimented with epic literature of Bengal’s literary giant Samaresh Bose titled Amrito Kumbher Sandhane in the year 1982. The film was based on the experience of visiting Kumbh Mela in Prayag Sangam in Allahabad. Kumbh Mela is considered a very pious event by numerous Indians and those who get a scope of taking a holy dip consider themselves fortunate and blessed by God.

Subhendu Chatterji played the role of the observer in the film. He was a writer and related the stories of different individuals who travelled with him. He observed the story of Bhanu Banerjee, who had a daughter, who left the house with her girl friend and never returned back. Bhanu searched for her in Allahabad.

He witnessed the story of George Becker, who was a sadhu, then married Sanghamitra and left the life of ascetic. But she left him and became a baijee in Benaras and again returned back to Allahabad as a devotee. Anup Kumar was a bayul, who went to Prayag for giving holy dip in the sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. But at the holy time for bathing in Prayag, there was immense rush and got stamped and died.

Subhendu met a Bihari family of Pramod Ganguly and his three wives. The characters were played by Aparna Sen, Ruma Guha Thakurta and Lili Chakravarty. Their husband was old and infirm. He was taken to Prayag so that the holy dip can change his health. Instead he got stamped in the rush and died. All the three wives got back being widows.

At the time when everyone wanted to bath in Prayag, the naga sanyasis from different akhras created a mess, and the police and administration failed to stop the crowd and the unrest. It took away the lives of more than thousands of people and the rest returned back with injuries.

Samarash Bose attacked the unscientific belief in the minds of rural people in India that bathing in the holy waters of Prayag during Kumbh Mela can wash away all their evil and bring prosperity in life. He used the term “amriter saadh labanakto” meaning the taste of the holy water which should have been sweet was not sweet at all, was rather bitter. His words were given expression by Subhendu Chatterji in the film he realized that Kumbh Mela hardly brought any happiness and prosperity, on the other hand took the lives of innocent people. But for uneducated population of the country the religious beliefs in their minds cannot be substituted by rational scientific thinking. The music of the film was composed by Sudhin Dasgupta.

Dilip Ray was appreciated for his efforts to make a film on the brilliant subject and the film ended being very successful.

Uttam Kumar was unparallel in Sakher Chor.

Uttam Kumar was unparallel in Sakher Chor.

Uttam Kumar was matchless in Sakher Chor. The film did excellent business in the early 60s. The film was directed by Prafulla Chakravarty.

Uttam Kumar played a bet with his friends to steal an item from a renowned person’s house. If he could establish himself as a thief he would win huge sum of money. He required a person to do it. He used Bhanu Banerjee to do it.

Bhanu Banerjee worked in the organization Kamal Mitra who was involved in unlawful activities. Kamal Mitra believed that Uttam Kumar was really a thief. When Uttam Kumar got involved in an affair with Basabi Nandi, the daughter of Kamal Mitra, Uttam Kumar was told not to mix with Basabi Nandi any more.

Basabi Nandi was supposed to be married to Tarun Kumar, the nephew of Chabi Biswas. Chabi Biswas called a lot of visitors in his place to celebrate the engagement ceremony of Tarun Kumar with Basabi Nandi. Uttam Kumar, Kamal Mitra and others were invited.

Tarun Kumar on the other hand never wanted to marry Basabi Nandi, but could not say it before Chabi Biswas. He told everything to Uttam Kumar. He made his work easy.

Uttam Kumar had the uphill task of explaining the situation to Kamal Mitra. He told the entire story about his bet with his friends. Kamal Mitra wrote a letter to Uttam Kumar and went away from the place.

Basabi Nandi was married with Uttam Kumar at the end of the film. Bhanu was absolutely amazed with the entire state of affairs. The music of the film was composed by Shyamal Mitra. The song “mon holo je majhi amar mon holo je majhi” sung by Shyamal Mitra became hit.

The film did not have any significant twist and turn. Inspite of everything it got box-office due to sheer brilliance of Uttam Kumar. He reached a level of excellence from where he could pull on any film on his own shoulders. Had Uttam Kumar acted in equal number of bollywood films he would have become a superstar of excellence at the same level as that of Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar. The film should be preserved.

Review of Amritakumbher Sandhane.

Review of Amritakumbher Sandhane.

Director Dilip Ray experimented with epic literature of Bengal’s literary giant Samaresh Bose titled Amrito Kumbher Sandhane. The film was based on the experience of visiting Kumbh Mela in Prayag Sangam in Allahabad. It was probably the last film where Sudhin Dasgupta composed music mostly which included bhajans and bayul songs.

Subhendu Chatterji played the role of the observer in the film. He was a writer and related the stories of different individuals who travelled with him. He observed the story of Bhanu Banerjee, who had a daughter, who left the house with her girl friend and never returned back. Bhanu searched for her in Allahabad.

He witnessed the story of George Becker, who was a sadhu, then married Sanghamitra and left the life of ascetic. But she left him and became a baijee in Benaras and again returned back to Allahabad as a devotee. Anup Kumar was a bayul, who went to Prayag for giving holy dip in the sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. But at the holy time for bathing in Prayag, there was immense rush and got stamped and died.

Subhendu met a Bihari family of Pramod Ganguly and his three wives. The characters were played by Aparna Sen, Ruma Guha Thakurta and Lili Chakravarty. Their husband was old and infirm. He was taken to Prayag so that the holy dip can change his health. Instead he got stamped in the rush and died. All the three wives got back being widows.

At the time when everyone wanted to bath in Prayag, the naga sanyasis from different akhras created a mess, and the police and administration failed to stop the crowd and the unrest. It took away the lives of more than thousands of people and the rest returned back with injuries.

Samarash Bose attacked the unscientific belief in the minds of rural people in India that bathing in the holy waters of Prayag during Kumbh Mela can wash away all their evil and bring prosperity in life. His words were given expression by Subhendu Chatterji in the film he realized that Kumbh Mela hardly brought any happiness and prosperity, on the other hand took the lives of innocent people. But for uneducated population of the country the religious beliefs in their minds cannot be substituted by rational scientific thinking.

Dilip Ray was appreciated for his efforts to make a film on the brilliant subject and the film ended being very successful.

Review of Uttam Kumar's Ekti Raat.

Review of Uttam Kumar’s film Ekti Raat.

Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengali films, created sensation in the 50s, with the legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Whenever both the romantic performers performed together, middle-class bengalies associated themselves with the characters and became part of the same film. Till today, they are still considered to be the most romantic pair, who had graced Indian silver screen.

In Ekti Raat, while Uttam Kumar’s wife Sabita Chatterji, lost her train, due to contingent reasons, Uttam Kumar travelled with Suchitra Sen was also married to his destination in car. As that car also faced mechanical problems, they had to stay in Tulsi Chakravarty’s hotel for one night. Tulsi Chakravarty, only allowed married couples in his hotel, and for staying over there for a night, Uttam Kumar had to tell a lie that he was the husband of Suchitra Sen.

Suchitra Sen came with her dog, which ran away from the garden of that hotel and ran into the fields at night. Malina Debi, the mother of Sabita Chatterji, went to the house where her daughter was supposed to go to trace her son-in-law. All the events continued one after the other with comedy sequences. When Kamal Mitra, the husband of Suchitra Sen, came to know about the incident, he decided that he had to do play acting with Uttam Kumar to convince his wife, that nothing untoward happened during the night when Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen stayed together in the same room.

The last part of the film was related to the manner in which the Sabita Chatterji was reconciled with the assistance of relatives like Pahari Sanyal, Chandabati Debi and others. Bhanu Banerjee played the role of a drunkard in the film.

The music of the film was brilliant with experiments done by Anupam Ghatak. Sandhya Mukherjee was elegant as usual especially in the song “kakon bole srimoti kande”. Her voice suited Suchitra Sen the most and she was indebted to Sandhya Mukherjee for her huge success in bengali films. The film released in 1956, had not lost its appeal even after 50 years of creation and should be restored.

Review of Tapan Sinha's Golpo Holeo Satti.

Review of Tapan Sinha’s Golpo Holeo Sotti.

Tapan Sinha used to be considered a legendary story-teller after Satyajit Ray in the 50s and 60s. His films were related to classic literature of giant novelists. His casting was flawless. He chose actors and actresses who suited the respective role and he was an inspiration for all the directors of India.

Golpo Holeo Sotti was released in 1966, with the message given by human conscience that work was God. Idle life led to disaster. Robi Ghosh played the role of that human conscience. He worked in as servant in a joint family, where Prashad Mukherjee was the elder brother with Chaya Debi, his wife. The second brother and his wife were dead and they left a daughter who stayed in that house. Bankim Ghosh was the third brother with his wife Bharati Debi. Bhanu Banerjee the youngest brother did not marry. Besides Ajoy Ganguly and his wife was the third generation. Prashad Mukherjee’s old father was alive.

Before Robi Ghosh arrived in their house, none of the other servants stuck in their house. Chaya Debi and Bharati Debi failed to do the domestic work, while the brothers Prashad Mukherjee, Bankim Ghosh, Bhanu Banerjee, etc., did none of the household work after they returned from office. Robi Ghosh joined as a cook and taught the women of the house different varieties of dishes. He even negotiated between Partho Mukherjee, a next door neighbor who loved the daughter of the second son. He took the grandfather for morning walk.

More importantly Robi Ghosh united the brothers who were envious about one another. He taught the small son of Bankim Ghosh the song “sukh bole” which meant once this life ends no one can get back their life, so human beings should make the best use of their lives. Robi Ghosh helped the thrives gang of Chinmoy Roy to steal the trunk in the house full of money. Then he asked Partho Mukherjee to return that trunk back to the old man and the family members so that they could get impressed and ask him to marry the second son’s daughter.

The theme music used by Tapan Sinha in the film was extraordinary. All the actors and actresses of the film performed to their limit. Tapan Sinha’s script and camera work were brilliant. Hrishikesh Mukherjee made the hindi version of the film with the title Bawarchi. Although the film where Rajesh Khanna converted it into a romantic film got box-office success, the film reached nowhere near Golpo Holeo Satti in story-telling, acting performance and intellectual treatment.

Tapan Sinha’s Golpo Holeo Satti should be restored for filmic accomplishments.

Review of Bhanu's Ashite Ashiona.

Review of Bhanu’s Ashite Ashiona.

Bhanu Banerjee in the 60s gained immense popularity in the Bengali celluloid. Ashite Ashiona was released in the mid-60s with a subject related to dreams. Bhanu Banerjee was eighty years old person who was ill-treated by his sons and daughters – in –law. His wife Ruma Guha Thakurta was seventy years old.

He dreamt that he went for a change to a village named Nagtara. He went with his servant played by Jahar Rai. There he swam in a pond owned by Tarun Kumar. After bathing out he regained his youth. He shaved and returned back to his house. Tarun Kumar took the sample of the water to the Chief Chemists and asked him to test it. Then he dropped an old street dog in the water, which attacked all the chemists. The chemists informed the UN Authorities about the pond.

Bhanu returned back home, but before his elder son Kamal Mitra or second son Asit Boron forcibly made him sign the pond in favour of them, brought Ruma Guha Thakurta to the village. All the old persons of that village flocked near the pond to bath in that water. Robi Ghosh, Gangapada Badu and other authorities created a barbed wire around the pond.

Johor Roy, the servant of Bhanu created a lever by which she threw Ruma like a rocket and she immersed in the pond and returned back as young girl. Robi Ghosh drowned more than six types in the pond and reduced in size. When the police chased Bhanu and Ruma, they tried to escape and ended up being arrested by the police. Bhanu opened his eyes and found that he was dreaming and he stilled remained eighty years old person.

The music in the film composed by Gopen Mallick was fabulous. Manna Dey’s songs “dub diye jao” and “Jodi akaksh hoto” became super hit. As usual Bhanu Banerjee gave brilliant lips in the film. Ruma did well in the role of the old lady. Tarun Kumar as usual contributed well in Bhanu’s film. The supporting actresses like Renuka in the role of the wife of Kamal Mitra did well. Jahar Roy, Shyam Laha and Shital Banerjee did well in their respective roles.

The film should be preserved for the unique subject that was dealt with, that is regaining youth, which everyone in the world strives for.

Review of Bhanu's Personal Assistant.

Review of Bhanu’s Personal Assistant.

Bhanu Banerjee used to be considered the greatest comic hero to have born in Indian films in the 50s and 60s. Personal Assistant was one of his biggest blockbusters during the black and white era. Chitrakar directed the film and Nochiketa Ghosh gave the brilliant music.

In that film Tarun Kumar, the friend of Bhanu Banerjee introduced him to many employers as he was jobless. He lost the job in a shop used for repairing radios. Then he applied in a firm named Gargi and Sons owned by Ruma Guhathakurta. Ruma only wanted female candidates in the post of personal assistant. But as Bhanu’s name was Rama Gupta, she thought it was a female name and called him for interview. He was both BSC, BCom. So qualified in the interview and got the job.

The terms of the company was that if the employee left the job within 5 years of appointment he had to return all his salary. If the employer sacked him he was supposed to pay the entire salary for the 5 years. Bhanu was a poet and asked Tarun Kumar to consult Tulshi Chakravarty, a Publisher who published written works of renowned writers. Tarun Kumar told a lie to Tusi Chakravarty that the poems were written by Minoti Mitra (Bhanu) who admired Tulsi Chakravarty. He agreed to publish his poems.

In the mean time Renuka, a rich lady appointed Bhanu Banerjee to play piano that she bought for her own liking. Bhanu tried to teach her to play the piano, but she failed. She organized a show where Bhanu was supposed to actually play the piano from the backstage and she was supposed to do playacting in front with another piano. Bhanu agreed to do it with the consideration of Rs 1000, the amount he had to return back to Ruma as he wanted to leave the job.

The entire drama ended in a mess, when Tulsi Chakravarty came to Bhanu’s house to give the Book of Poems, when Tarun Kumar told him that Minoti Mitra had died. A public gathering was organized where Tarun Kumar declared before the people that Bhanu was the poet who wrote with the petname Minoti Mitra.

All the comedy sequences ended up with romantic relationship between Bhanu and Ruma Guha Thakurta. The music of Nochiketa Ghosh was excellent with hit songs of Hemant Kumar and others like “k choleche kolkatae”, “tomade notun kuri”, “srichoronkomoleshu noi”, “ei besh bhalo”, etc. Bhanu gave excellent lips in those songs.

All the artists in the film including Ruma Guha Thakurta, Tarun Kumar, Tulsi Chakravarty, Mita Chatterji, Pahari Sanyal, Renuka were sublime and the film ended up being super hit. It is still considered as a black and white classic. New directors should learn to create comedy pictures without any cheap sequence or vulgarity.

The film and the songs stand out as a landmark of Bengali film industry of 1959 and for those reasons should be preserved and restored.