Tapan Sinha

Tapan Sinha – the Creative Genius of Bengali Classical Cinema.

Tapan Sinha can be considered as the most dynamic creator of Bengali films after Satyajit Ray, who had glorified the Bengali golden age of Classical cinema with his outstanding vision. Being a legendary figure of the 50s, 60s and 70s, much have been written about the maestro whose significant films can be considered as masterpieces. What has not been written is that the standard of excellence he had created in those films cannot be replicated in hindi or any other regional films.

Firstly Tapan Sinha was fond of Classical literature and as such in his films the characters from the popular novels and short stories became lively in blood and flesh in celluloid. He made Kabuliwala based on Tagore’s epic short story, in 1957, which was astonishing for the viewers. Chabi Biswas, the greatest actor ever, to grace Bengali screen, mesmerised the audience with his dynamic performance of an Afghan character Rahmat. Chabi Biswas met few Afghans who sell mewa, peshta in the streets in Kolkata, personally to personify their characteristics in the role. Tinku Thakur, who played the role of the little girl Mini, was the best child artist ever to appear in Bengali films and the entire credit goes to Tapan Sinha for choosing her. Radha Mohan Bhattacharya was a grand scholar and his literary skills were synchronised with the role of Mini’s father who was a novelist in Tagore’s story. Manju Dey, the mother of Mini, was probably the most powerful character artist in the 50s, and she never looked like acting, every gesture of her seemed natural. Tapan Sinha’s script was outstanding by every standard. The film got national and international awards.



Tapan Sinha continued with his picturisation of classical literature in the following years. His brilliant film Louha Kapat was based on Jorasondho’s epic novel, which dealt with his experiences of different prisoners which he witnessed as a Jailor. The central character was played brilliantly by Nirmal Kumar whose poetic eyes showed the expression of observer. Chabi Biswas was again majestic in his notable role. Kali Banerjee’s performance as was one of the prisoners who was convicted for murder charge requires special mention. There were so many characters, out of which, Tapan Sinha picked up few and did not change the flow of literature in the novel. The other film Khoniker Atithi speaking about a handicapped boy who was cured by Nirmal Kumar, a doctor, who was compassionate about the mother of the child who was widow (played by Ruma Guha Thakurada), in the entire film, merged the pathos of the story with the elegance of camerawork.

In 1961, Tapan Sinha, came up with Bengali version of Hollywood film Prisoner of Zenda, titled Jhinder Bandi, it was related to a story of two twin brothers, with one of them, Shankar Narayan Singh, the king of Jhind, being kidnapped by his other brother and later freed by the twin brother. Uttamkumar, the dynamic personality of Bengali films, played a double role in the film, exhibiting the royal andaz of the historical character in the film, including sword fighting with anti-hero Soumitra Chatterji. The shooting of the film in the mountains and the lake palace required extraordinary skill. Radhamohan Bhattacharya showed the dignified personality of a Diwan who was the protector of the state and Tapan’s Sinha’s faith in his casting was bolstered by his brilliant display of royal character. Tapan Sinha’s wife Arundhuti Debi, was aristocrat in real life with her Rabindrik education of Shantiniketan and it helped her to display the role of the queen in the film who previously gave a life time performance in Tapan Sinha’s Khudito Pashan based on Tagore’s classic literature.

In 1963, Tapan Sinha, created Nirjan Saikate, a film showing the tragic story of 5 widows who came on a pilgrimage to the holy place at Puri. Anil Chatterjee, one of the other dynamic actors of Bengali cinema, played the role of the observer who went to Puri, and by acknowledging the rich sculptures of Sun Temple in Konark, convinced Sharmila Tagore, that the work of art of the unknown artists depict the fact, life is precious and human beings are expected to utilise their life for some immortal work by rising above their personal sorrow, sniffles, etc. The film received President’s gold medal, and significantly all the widows, five of them, Chaya Devi, Renuka Devi, Bharati Devi, Sharmila Tagore and Ruma Guha Thakurta received national award in that year, which has happened only once in the history of Indian cinema.

In 1964, Uttamkumar produced Jatugriha, based on the story of Subodh Ghose which was directed by Tapan Sinha. The film displayed the complexity of a rich couple living in Kolkata who did not have children with Arundhuti Debi playing the role of the wife who could not bear a child in her life. Significantly both Uttamkumar and Arundhuti Debi loved children a lot and the incapability led to domestic unhappiness which ultimately led to separation. The ending of the film was significant as both Uttamkumar and Arundhuti Debi rode on two trains which crossed each other in opposite directions. In their separation also both the husband and wife had mutual respect for each other. It can be classified as one of the most thoughtful cinema made by Tapan Sinha. In the following year Tapan Sinha made Atithi, based on Tagore’s story talking about the life of a bohemian character who travelled from one village to another whose mind never settled in one place.

Tapan Sinha also made Hate Bajare, where Ashok Kumar (Dadamoni) played the role of a village doctor who witnessed the tragic conditions of villagers who were subject to backwardness and oppression by the middlemen. Dilip Kumar gave a life time performance in Tapan Sinha’s Sagina Mahato, where a trade union leader was utilised for own benefit by the political forces of the region and exploited to the fullest extent. Anil Chatterji, the political activist countered Dilip Kumar in the tassel of muscle power in the film.

Tapan Sinha was a source of inspiration for film directors in Bombay to make realistic films. His film Kabuliwala was remade in hindi by Bimal Roy, with Balraj Sahani playing the role of Kabuliwala. His film Golpo holey Satti, 1966, was made in hindi by Rishikesh Mukherjee tilled Bawarchi in 1972. Tapan Sinha made a hindi version of Sagina in 1974, with Dilip Kumar playing the same role. Tapan Sinha’s Arohi, was picturised in hindi with the title Arjun Pandit, where Sanjeev Kumar played the central character which was played by Kali Banerjee in the Bengali film.

Tapan Sinha even depicted the naxalite movement in the films Ekhoni, Aponjon, in the 1970s and local unrest in the late 80s in films like Atonko, Antardhan, etc. The distinctive feature of Tapan Sinha’s films include, strong script, powerful story telling and superlative use of theme music. He chose locations which were romantic, picturesque and were colourful even during the black and white era which justified the depiction of the story. It is difficult to describe the immortal work of Tapan Sinha in a small article as he made around 35 films in a span of 40 years and each of the works can be scanned for cinematic, poetic and musical value. An archive should be created to preserve the works of Tapan Sinha for the film makers of present generation to learn to use classic literature to reach the message of the literary giants to the people at large.

Ajoy Kar

Ajoy Kar – The genius of camera, lighting and path-breaker in Bengali Cine-classics.

Ajoy Kar emerged in the Bengali film arena at a period when celluloid was at the stage of transformation from talkies era to studio based feature films. Studios were not developed to that extent and there was hardly any evidence of outdoor shootings taking place in the mid-40s. Ajoy Kar initially relied on popular stories like Bhraman Kanya, Bamuner Meye, etc., in the 40s with Shahar Theke Durey, with Jahar Ganguly making a mark in the minds film lovers of Bengal. His adapatation of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s tragic story Mejdidi, in 1950, showed the skills of powerful script and elegant story-telling with Kanon Devi showing her depth of acting and understanding the leading character termed mejdidi with her compassionate andaz.



But the critics in Bengal were shaken up with Ajoy Kar’s dynamic crime thriller Jighansa, in 1951. The story was based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Suspense thriller, The Hound of Baskervilles where Sherlock Holmes and Watson were involved in solving a murder mystery. The role of the detective was played by Sishir Battobyal with Manju Dey playing a ghostly character with her eloquent skills and natural splendour. Bikash Roy, was given a different dimension as one of the relatives of the princely estate, who was deprived of real property of the royal family and took revenge by killing each of the new predecessors of the royal family. He stayed in the neighbourhood in the disguise of a Botanist and was ultimately killed by the detective in the story before he could commit another murder. Ajoy Kar’s casting of the leading characters was as outstanding as the supporting casts, example being Metro Cinema’s gatekeeper (tall, lanky and fearsome) who was employed to kill the prince ( Biren Chatterjee) in the film. The hindi version of the film Bees Saal Bad, made in 1961 could not create the same fearsome impact as that of Jighansa.

After creating Darpachurna, Grihaprabesh with Uttamkumar and Suchitra Sen, Ajoy Kar took up the challenge of picturising Shyamali in 1956. Shyamali was the story of a deaf and dumb girl who was married to Uttamkumar, and was not accepted by his mother Malina Devi. At the end of the film Uttamkumar becomes successful to convince her mother that as he was lawfully married to the deaf and dumb girl and the marriage was solemnised according toHindu religious rites and ceremonies, she has to accept her as his wife and fill up her disability with love and compassion. As Shyamali was played in Star Theatre in Kolkata for five years with Sabitri Chatterjee, providing an outstanding performance in the role of Shyamali in stage, it was a big risk in picturising the story in a film. Ajoy Kar’s story-telling and a different casting (Kaberi Bose played the role of Shyamali in the film), had been successful to receive critic’s acclamation. Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s Bardidi was also picturised by Ajoy Kar with Uttam Kumar and Sandharani adjusting themselves to the rural characters and showing the softness of mind of villagers of Bengal in that era.

Ajoy Kar’ grand blockbuster came in 1957 with Harano Sur. If any director had made the best use of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, the legendary pair who had ruled the golden age of Bengali Cinema, then it was Ajoy Kar himself. Uttam Kumar launched himself as producer with story depicting the lost memory of an industrialist in Kolkata who suffered a railway accident, who was treated by a Doctor in Palaspur, and was married to the Doctor, but another accident brought back his old memory leaving aside the events that happened in between. Suchitra Sen had to work in the house of Uttamkumar as a governess of his nephew and through the missing note sung a number of times brought back his memory. Firstly, such an innovative type of idea was not presented in Bengali films before Ajoy Kar. Secondly just like Franz Beckenbauer was called the Kaiser, emperor in German football, Ajoy Kar could be termed as Kaiser of camera, as his naming of the film starts with words floating on the ripples and waves of water. Besides his presentation of Suchitra Sen, was classic in the film, because nobody in Uttamkumar’s family knew about Suchitra Sen’s (his character was Rama in the film) relation with Uttamkumar and as such rebuked her at different times, and she inspite of being a doctor was submissive at every moment of the film, digesting the insulting words hurled at her with calmness and composure. Besides, her glamour was utilised by Ajoy Kar to his fullest capability in the film.

After being successful with Khelaghar in 1959, Ajoy Kar, made his next masterpiece Suno Boro Nari, in 1960. The film depicting Subodh Ghosh’s literature was based on the tragic tale of a Professor of Bengali University (played by Uttam Kumar) who loved a rich student who defied him and led him to leave the place where he started his new life as a homeopathy doctor who used to reach women from one part of the country to the other in trains for security and other reasons. The daughter of Charu Ray (majestic barrister played by Chabi Biswas) fell in love with this person while he reached her to Patna from Giridih. At the end of the film this girl rejects the relation with a rich materialist person and embraced the middleclass professor against the wishes of her parents. Most of the film was depicted through train journey and at the end of the film when Chabi Biswas asked Uttamkumar to leave Giridih, he was in the train when Supriya Debi, the daughter of Chabi Biswas meets him in the train after leaving her house, property, pomp, grandier, etc. The literary value of Subodh Ghosh was matched by Ajoy Kar’s strong script and Uttam Kumar’s superlative performance.

Ajoy Kar was in the march for excelling himself and made the greatest blockbuster in Bengali film history with Saptapadi, in 1961. It was Uttam Kumar production again. The story written by Tarashankar Bandhopadhay depicted a medical student played by Uttam Kumar falling in love with an Anglo girl Rina Brown (played by Suchitra Sen). Uttam Kumar’s father Chabi Biswas, being an orthodox Hindu Brahmin could not accept a Hindu marrying a Christian and begged his son before Rina Brown. Rina Brown sacrificed her love and Uttam Kumar after converting himself into a Christian dedicated his life as a doctor who helped the victims of second world war which took place at that time. At the end of the film, Chabi Biswas realised that human attachment cannot be obstructed with the barriers of religion and glorified the sacrifice of Rina Brown. Uttam Kumar treated Rina Brown after she was severely injured by bomb blast. Romance was given a different dimension by Ajoy Kar in Saptabadi which can be categorised as one of the most refined cine-classic created during the golden age. The Shakespearean play Othello picturised in the film acted out by Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen and the playback provided by Utpal Dutta and Jennifer Kapoor was another grand creation in the same film. Uttam Kumar’s make up with beard in the role of the Christian doctor who had renounced desires, is probably the best make up ever given to Uttam Kumar in his life. Suchitra Sen’s performance and Chabi Biswas’s acting was as majestic as the dynamic camera work in the film.

After making Atol Jaler Aohan, Ajoy Kar created Sat Pake Bandha, in 1963, showing the adjustments of Suchitra Sen as a daughter of a rich family, whose marital life was ruined by the undue interference of her mother in the affairs of his middle class husband who was an academician. The personality of the husband (played by Soumitra Chatterjee) was shaken up with the insulting demeanour of his mother-in-law played by Chaya Debi and Suchitra Sen’s struggle for persuading her mother and convincing her husband failed as her husband never tried to show any adjustment. Suchitra Sen received best actress award in Moscow film festival and created an everlasting impact in the minds of film lovers across the country. The hindi version of the same film Kora Kagaz could not create the same impact where Jaya Bacchan played Suchitra Sen’s role.

The other notable films of Ajoy Kar include Kach Kata Hire, Dutta, Kayahiner Kahini, Parineeta, etc. Ajoy Kar trained a number of film –makers in the Film Institute of Pune in early 70s. As the neo-realistic film movement initiated by Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak diverted the focus of critics towards parallel cinema during the golden age, Ajoy Kar did not receive the recognition he deserved. He is the most unsung, unlamented, unrecognised director ever to grace Bengali cinema inspite of providing a new expression to plutonic affairs and nurturing the talents of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen who had brought colour in the black and white classics which have become immortal with passage of time. Ajoy Kar’s works should be preserved in an archive where new generation of film makers can learn how to develop a story base with powerful screenplay, excellent camera work, accurate casting and stylish effects.

Arundhuti Debi

Arundhuti Debi – the most aristocrat actress of Golden age of Bengali Cinema.

Arundhuti Devi (Mukherjee) born in 1925, is one of the most aristocrat actress to grace the silver screen during the golden age of Bengali cinema. She was educated in Biswabharati, (Rabindranath Tagore’s renouned University at Shantiniketan) and made a dramatic debue in director Karthick Chatterjee’s travel-based film Mohaproshaner pathe which was written by Proboth Sanyal. Bosonto Chowdhury, the hero of the film also made a sensational debue and both of them provided life in the role of the travellers who were bohemians as depicted in the film.

Within a short time Arundhuti Devi switched herself to a serio-comic film Chele Kar, 1954, directed by Chitta Basu. The story involved a small child of a needy family venture into the streets of Kolkata and caught hold of a wealthy bachelor person Bikash Roy, whom he calls father. The entire film hovers around that theme and at the end of the film both Bikash Roy and Arundhuti Debi falls in love with the child. The acting of Chabi Biswas, the greatest actor of Bengali silver screen, in the role of the grandfather of the small child named Tomato, was amazing as he portrayed both the personality of a father of patriarchal society and blended the sense of humour with the anger in the role.



Within a short period of time Arundhuti Debi created an image of thoughtful, understanding women in that age who could understand the complexities of life. After providing a serene performance in Asit Sen’s Chalachal, in 1956, opposite Nirmal Kumar, another thoughtful actor of that age, Arundhuti Debi got acclamation from the film lovers of Bengal with her powerful performance in her husband (Prabhat Mukherjee)’s film Bicharak, in 1957.[1] In the same film Uttam Kumar played the role of the Judge (bicharak) who had previously married the elder sister of Arundhuti Debi, played by Dipti Ray, who was suspicious about the relationship of her husband with her sister. In fact Uttam Kumar had attachment towards Arundhuti Debi. In the mean time fire broke out in the house on one day while Dipti Roy was sleeping. She laid her hand toward Uttam Kumar for help the way a drowning person catches straw. Uttam Kumar could help her, but the thought of attraction towards the sister was playing in his mind and he took his hand away. That provided him the opportunity of marrying Arundhuti Debi. While hearing a murder case which had a similar story line, Chabi Biswas, the public prosecutor, raised the same issue. Uttam Kumar recollected his past and the guilty conscience told him that he could have helped his wife if he wanted. Chabi Biswas’s standard of performance superseded the skills of professional pleaders in the court of law and Arundhuti Debi again kept her mark while consoling her husband about his previous deeds. Arundhuti Debi again showed her depth of thinking in the film Pushpadhanu opposite Uttam Kumar, where being duped by her first husband and bearing the burden of a small child whom she could not give his father’s identity, she renunciated her wealth after disclosing before Uttam Kumar her unfair past. Arundhuti Debi made a sensational performance in Tapan Sinha’s Khudito Pasan, where there was no dialogue for her. He used to come in dreams of the author and displayed the feelings of an unsatisfied soul who wanted to portray the events in her previous birth.

In 1959, Arundhuti Debi got an opportunity to perform in a film totally based on aristocracy titled Sasibabur Sangsar. Chabi Biswas acting in the pivotal role, displayed the agony of a karta of a hindu undivided family, who loses supremacy after retirement. He gave an immortal soliloquy about the definition of family, where he said in the outside world, the bread earner is known by his designation, but the same person when he returns home is a father, a father –in –law, a husband and the protector of the family under whose light and shade the happiness and sniffles of life revolve. In that classic film, Aundhuti Debi, the daughter-in-law faced a personality clash and convinced Chabi Biswas that the world had changed, and the displacement of members of the family for better jobs and new ventures is catered towards seed of development without disrespecting the values maintained by Chabi Biswas in his illustrious career.


Arundhuti Debi won the Bengal Film and Journalist Association Award (BFJA) for her classic performance in the film Bhagini Nivedita. She displayed the spiritual awakening of Bhagini Nivedita, who inspite of being an European realised the spiritual sermons of Swami Vivekananda and devoted her life towards social awakening and education of women in Bengal.

At the same time she acted with Uttam Kumar is successful films like Manmayi Girls School where she had to act as the wife of Uttam Kumar to get accommodation as the landlord required such a condition for allowing tenants in his lodge. In Tapan Sinha’s films Jhinder Bandi and Jotu Griha, she provided unparallel performance where the sorrow, the pains, the romantic appeal, everything was displayed with aristocracy. Also in the film Harmonium, in 1975, she displayed the elegance of a royal family inspite of being a widow who bought the harmonium for her little daughter to carry on the noble culture maintained by her ancestors.

In the late 60s, Arundhuti Debi launched her career as a director, and there too, her classic films Chuti and Megh O Roudra, based on classic literature of Tagore, got critic’s acclamation. Even her other films like Nyay Dando, where she brought up the daughter of a prisoner who was wrongly sentenced to prison by Radhamohan Bhattacharya who played the role of District Judge showed her capability to feel the character that had to be portrayed in the respective situation.



Although Arundhuti Debi, did not have the popularity of Suchitra Sen, the most successful actress of Golden age of Classical cinema, nor did she form any everlasting pair in that age, yet her performance had classical touch and carry the same impact in the same the way in which Pandit Ravi Shankar’s sitar or Bismilla Khan’s Shehnai mould the souls of listeners. Arundhuti Debi’s films should be restored for future generations to learn the art of skilful, thoughtful, powerful acting.

[1] Incidentally Chalachal was remade in hindi by Asit Sen with the title Safar in 1970, where Sharmila Tagore played the role of Arundhuti Debi.

Sudhin Dasgupta

Sudhin Dasgupta – A creative genius of Golden age of Bengali Modern songs.

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, during the Golden age of Bengali Modern songs, it was very difficult to create a distinct identity in terms of compositions as it was a transition period between use of classical music with westernised effects and incorporation of folk and other rural tunes in the urbanised music base. On one hand the classical legacy created by Legends like Viswadev Chatterji, Ghyanendra Prosad Goswami, Tarapodo Chakraborty were carried forward by Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh and others. Although the noted singers did use pure classical only in certain songs but the classical touch was evident in all their performances. On the other hand the folk singers like SD Burman, Nirmalendu Choudhury inspired Shyamal Mitra and others to maintain the colour, flora, fauna of Bengal’s romantic landscape.[1]



In the golden age, music composers and lyricists in Bengal had reached the zenith of creative compositions. Noted lyricists included Gouriprasanna Mojumdar, Shaymal Gupta, Pronob Roy, Sailen Roy and others. Music composers included Robin Chatterji, Pabitra Chatterji, Anol Chatterji, Anupam Ghatak, Anil Bagchi, Gyanprokash Ghosh, Salil Chowdhury, Nochiketa Ghosh and others. In the same age Sudhin Dasgupta, came up with his westernised compositions and contributed to Bengali modern songs, both with his lyrics and memorable music composition.
He had showed his skills in playing the Piano and with the expertise in a number of musical instruments, his compositions had an identity of his own in an age when every music composer galvanised the horizon of Bengali Modern song with their unique style.[2]

Notable compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta include “Moyurkonthi rater nile” for Manobendra Mukherjee, “Ei Jhirjhirjhir batashe” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, “Akash eto meghla” for Satinath Mukherjee, “keno tumi phire ele” for Shyamal Mitra, etc. The big challenge of Sudhin Dasgupta was to face Robin Chatterji, who was dominating the Bengali film music, and modern song with his versatile creations. Robin Chatterji had introduced Portugese folk song in the film Deeper naam tiya rong, “o amar sat rajari dhon” and “phiriti bosakor kure gi dise” sung by Shyamal Mitra and Bhaisnav angik bhajan “O mon kokhon shuru kokhon je shesh ke jane”in Uttamkumar’s film Kamallata, 1969. Besides he composed prayer song to kirtan to classical song in Lalubhulu, 1958, for Manobendra Mukherjee.

Sudhin Dasgupta changed the horizon of Bengali film song by asking Manna Dey to sing for Uttamkumar whose major songs were previously sung by Hemanta Mukherjee whose voice suited him the most. Sudhin Dasgupta went to Bombay where Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar were busy in the recording of songs of film Pakizaa with Gulam Mohammad and Naushad. When Sudhin Dasgupta recorded the song for Uttamkumar’s film Shonkhobela, 1966, titled “Dekechi ke age ke diyeche sara” as a duet song for Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, Naushad said the words could not be understood as it was composed in Bengali, for the tune was excellent.[3]



The film Shonkhobela was a superhit film and Sudhin Dasgupta’s composition for Manna Dey “Ami agantuk” and for Lata Mangeshkar “Aj mon cheche ami hariye jabo” was well acclaimed by music lovers across the nation. Sudhin Dasgupta shaped the career of Legendary singer Manna Dey who was busy in Bombay singing different types of songs under the patronage of Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Salil Chowdhury and others. After Shonkobela, Manna Dey formed an immortal combination in playback singing with Uttamkumar, providing sensational performance in films like Antony firingi, 1967, Nishipadda,1970, Stri, 1971, Sanyasi Raja, 1975, and winning national awards and Bengal Film Journalist Association (BFJA) awards one after the other.

Notable Bengali films where Sudhin Dasgupta composed music include Dakharkora, 1958, Shonkhobela, 1966, Choddhobeshi, 1971, Har Mana Har, 1972, Teen Bhubaner Pare, etc. He has used bayul ( a type of folk song in rural Bengal) in “ogo tomar shesh bicharer asay” for Manna Dey, South Indian tune in “bachao ke acho” in Chaddabeshi, rural touch in “rangila ranga dehe bhab jegeche” for Manobendra Mukherjee, Westernised chorus effect in “aro dure cholo jai” for Asha Bhosle. His lyrics were also very colourful like his compositions. He even taught music to established singer like Bonoshri Sengupta.

An archive should be created where Sudhin Dasgupta’s compositions are restored and preserved for future generations to get inspiration from creative music in the Golden age of Bengali modern songs.

[1] My father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex – Chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, Kolkata was the Cultural Secretary of Scottish Church College, Kolkata, the same college where Legendary singer Manna Dey, Eminent Film Director Nabyendu Chatterji ( Director of Award winning films like Chopper, Mansur miyar ghora, etc.), Parthoprotim Chowdhury ( Director of Award Winning film Chayasurjo)studied. In 1956, my father conducted the cultural program in Scottish Church College, inviting Manobendra Mukherjee, Shymal Mitra, Satinath Mukherjee to sing in front of huge crowd in North Kolkata. Satinath Mukherjee with his song “Bonopatho majhe” got huge applaud which was even outplayed by Manobendra Mukherjee with his song “Emni kore porbe mone baki jibon dhore”. The same crowd was spellbound with the orchestration of Sudhin Dasgupta in the song “Elo Borosha je sohosa money tai”.

[2] Sudhin Dasgupta played his compositions in Piano in Public function held in DumDum, Kolkata, in 1955, where Classical Singer Sandhya Mukherjee performed her songs of Uttamkumar’s film Sabar Upare. The program was held at a place close to Sudhin Dasgupta’s own house in Kalicharan Ghosh Road, Sinthee, Kolkata.

[3] Manna Dey gave memorable interviews in DD India, where he said Naushad’s remark about Sudhin Dasputa composition was that “awaaz ki ahmiat samajh me nahi aya, lekin sur bahut hi umdah hai”.

Manobendra Mukherjee - The Genius of Bengali Modern songs

Manobendra Mukherjee – the versatile legend of Bengali modern song

The 50s, 60s and 70s constitute the period of time when Bengali modern songs reached its peak of excellence and is called the Golden age of Bengali Adhunik Gaan. Bengal had a very unique collection of Basic discs which inspired composers and lyricists to create innumerable treasure of creative music during the age which were independent creations. Bengali modern songs were in fact more popular than film songs composed in the Bengali cinema which also reached it level of excellence in the 50s and 60s.

Manobendra Mukherjee, the most stylish Classical singer immerged in the golden age, when Bengali modern songs were also glorified by outstanding performance of Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, Manna Dey, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh to name a few. Being inspired by uncle Sidheshwar Mukherjee and Ratneswar Mukherjee, Manobendra shocked the listeners with his first basic disc in 1953, titled “Naichondon Lekha Sriradhar chokhe nai nai shemorai.”[1] It was based on kirtanango andaz, and Manobendra was trained towards Kirtans, Bhajans and Bhaktigeeti from the very early childhood.



Bengali modern song was on the verge of modernisation at that age, when Manobendra came up with his romantic creation “Emni kore porbe mone baki jiban dhore.” The music was composed by Manobendra himself and the lyrics were written by Shyamal Gupta. At the same time Manobendra made a debue in the film arena being the music director for Uttamkumar’s film Chapadangar Bou, 1954, where the songs were written by Tara Shankar Banerjee. Manobendra brought in the flavour of Mahadev’s Gajon, that are sung in villages in Bengal with the song “shibo he shibo he”.

Within short period of time, Manobendra attracted the attention of the leading lyricists and music composers of Bengal , namely Salil Chowdhury, Sudhin Dasgupta, Robin Chatterji, Anol Chatterji, Nochiketa Ghosh, Probir Mojumdar, Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Abhijeet Banerjee, and others. His successful songs include “Ami Parini bijhite parini” composed by Salil Chowdhury, “Mayur Konthi Ratero nile” by Sudhin Dasgupta, “Jodi Amake Dekho Tumi Udashi,” by Abhijit Banerjee, “Ei neel neel jal sagore” by Probir Majumdar, “ birohini chirobirohini” by Himangshu Dutta, “O amar chandro mallika” by Nochiketa Ghosh, “Tomar Pother Prante Moner monideep jele rekhechi”, by Satinath Mukherjee.[2]

In the late 50s, some of Manobendra’s own composition “ami eto je tomay bhalo besechi”, 1958, “Sei bhalo ei bosonto noy”, 1960, “Bhalo lagena tumi na ele” became everlasting hits. Even in Mohishashur Mordini, played in All India Radio, on Mohalaya, every year, Manobendra’s song “tobo achinto” created a Godly atmosphere accompanied by Birendra Bhodro’s Strotyopath.

In 1958, Robin Chatterji composed music for the film Lalu Bhulu, the story of a blind and a handicapped boy. The film stormed the Bengali silver screen, and Manobendra brought tears in the eyes of the audience with the songs “ Jar Hiya akasher nil nilimay”, “Dukho amar Shesh kore dao probhu,” “Surjo tomar Protom toron kholo”, “dukher pothe naali jodi”, “Ei pranjharona jaglo”. The immortal songs were written by Sailen Ray.

Manobendra had expertise in Toppa, thumri, Hindustani classical, bhajans, shyam sangeet, najrul geeti and other types of songs. It helped him to adorn Bengali modern songs with all these flavour. Besides the lyrics in his songs used to have a dynamic dimention, example “seto naam dhore konodin dakeni amay”, “barosha klanto o duti nayan niye”. He did sing pure classical numbers like “Kotoje soyechi betha, abhimanini”, composed by classical singer Chinmoy Lahiri, “Rimjhim baje monjiro kaar” composed by himself, “Bare Bare ke jeno dake”, composed by Sailen Mukherjee.

In the film Nilachole Mahaprobhu, 1958, composer Raichand Boral invited Manobendra to sing kirtans of Lord Chaitanya, the songs “jagannath jagat bandhu” and other songs have made the listeners spellbound. Monbendra also did sing Folk song titled Bhaitayali in Uttamkumar’s film Nabojanmo, 1958, where the noted song include “ore mon majhi”. Manobendra composed music in a number of Bengali films including Mayamrigo, 1960, Badhu, 1962, Jato Mat Tato Path, Joy Jayanti, 1970, Godhuli Belay, 1965, Sudur niharika, 1978, etc.[3]

In the 1970s, also Manobendra had sung notable songs like “Ei Ganga ei Padda’, 1970, “Halka megher palki”, “Hajar jonom dhore”, “ei moushumi mon shudhu rong bodlai”, etc.[4] In the 1980s Manobendra concentrated on Nazrul geeti and Bag bajarer gaan and there also he emerged as one of the greatest singer of all times. Due to Manobendra classical composers showed the courage of composing pure classical numbers in Bengali films like “Rajoni pohale sojoni kothay” by Anil Bagchi in the film Shashibabur Sangsar, 1960, “adhare” by Gyan Prokash Ghosh in the film Basant Bahar, 1958.

It is even difficult to ascertain whether Manobendra was a greater singer or greater music composer as there is hardly Bengali singer who did not sing a song composed by Manobendra, example being “mon bolche aaj sondhay” by Alpona Banerjee, “Gane gane ami je khuji tomay” by Supriti Ghosh, “sonali megher din” by Sandhya Mukherjee, “oi son son geroraj” by Hemanta Mukherjee, “Kemone janabo bolo e pranero bedona” by Shefali Chakraborty, etc.

It is a pity that Manobendra Mukherjee did not go to Bombay like many other Bengali singers and exhibited his versatile class of creativity in the All India arena where musical talents of other giants were exhibited. Manobendra’s immortal creations should be preserved in an archive for new generations to learn lessons relating to Hindustani classical music, innovations in terms of rhythm, taal, loy and grammer of kajri, tappa, nazrulgeeti, kirtans, bhajans, folk music and westernised creations.

[1] My father Ex chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, (Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Kolkata) had interviewed Manobendra Mukherjee, a versatile classical singer having immortal records on bhajans, kirtans, nazrulgeeti, modern bengali songs, film songs and asked him to sing his first Bengali Modern Song “Naichondon Lekha, sriradhar chokhe, nai nai shemorai” before the crowd in a function held in Paikpara, Kolkata where Manobendra said it was his beginning of his musical journey and a song which was a blank verse without musical instruments. If that song could be heard minutely it can be realized that modern music is almost bankrupt. Aroti Mukherjee, the famous Bengali singer, also my father’s witness in a case instituted in Bankshall Court, in the anurodher asor, in all in Radio, said that her teenage was shaken up by Manobendra with the song “Naichondon Lekha” in 1953. In the same interview Manobendra Mukherjee told my father, the real starting point of compositions is classical background.

[2] Abhijeet Benerjee, the composer of the Manobendra’s song “Mukto jharar neiko kanya neiko motir har” was interviewed by my father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, North, where Abhijeet Banerjee said, Manobendra was probably the greatest romantic singer in Bengali modern songs that Bengal ever produced considering even Shyamal Mitra’s brilliance in folk music and Manna Dey’s classical touch. Hemanta Mukherjee was busy with film music as he was associated with Uttamkumar. Manobendra had very stylish pronunciation and his classical touch in the songs and improvisation with the tabla, tal, loy was of superlative class.

[3] Manobendra received Indira Gandhi award for composing best music in the film Joyjayanti, 1970, the Bengali version of Hollywood film Sound of Music.

[4] Manna Dey, the Musical giant of Indian music, said he found Manobendra’s composition in the film Sudur niharika, difficult to sing with its classical orientation. Manna Dey is probably one of India’s greatest classical singer who glorified Bollywood and tollywood music during the golden age.

Wide dimension of Stories of Satyajit Ray

Wide dimension of Stories of Satyajit Ray.

According to intellectual critics of modern literature, Satyajit Ray had made memorable explorations into the twilight territories of the peculiar and the supernatural. Some of his extraordinary tales can send shivers up the spine, ensure everyone to keep the lights on when anyone goes to bed at night, and occasionally allow someone the luxury of nervous laughter.[1]
In the story titled ‘Bhuto’, a ventriloquist’s dummy slowly but surely turns malign and more human than its master;[2] in ‘The Pterodactyl’s Egg’[3] we meet a man who claims to have devised a way to travel, economy-class, into the fourth dimension; in ‘Anath Babu’s terror’ a ghost-hunter finds himself stalked by his terrifying quarry; and in ‘Shibu and the Monster’, a schoolboy has to figure out whether his mathematics teacher is really a demon or not.[4]



In the Story “Ghurghutiar Ghatana” there was a person residing at Ghurghutia, a moffusil town in West Bengal who had a wide collection of Novels and Books which were expensive and not easily available in the market. He maintained a locker which had a German Lock which could be opened only by combination. These types of locks were used during the time of Second World War where only the owner can know the exact combination of numbers and open the lock. The Central Character of the story made his parrot memorise the combination of the lock through a small poetic verse which in Bengali is termed “ Heyali”. The Parrot used to say “Trinayan O Trinayan Ektu Jiro”, which in Bengali meant , the person with three eyes, please rest for sometime. His son kidnapped the father but could not understand the implication of the heyali. Feluda , the Private Investigator was invited from Kolkata to find out what the parrot meant through those lines. The deal was that if Feluda succeeds in doing so the expensive novels will be given to him as reward. Feluda, recollected the period when India was under the colonial rule and The British Government ruled the country from the Capital Calcutta. At that time the British Generals maintained a number of Hindustani sepoys who used to speak in Hindi. When the British people failed to order them to close the door, they used to say “there is a brown crow” meaning “ darwaza bandh karo”. Feluda picked up that message and solved the puzzle about the verse of the parrot. Feluda said “ Trinayan O Trinayan Ektu jiro” means “three nine zero three nine eight two zero”. That was exactly the number with which the lock could be opened .There are other aspects of the story which was solved by Prodosh Mitra, but the thrill of suspense and inquisitiveness of the readers was kept intact while presentation of the story.



For several decades now, Satyajit Ray’s tales about unusual happenings and bizarre characters rooted in familiar surroundings have both regaled and terrified his readers, young and old alike. They include ‘The Hungry Septopus’,[5] a carnivorous plant with a monstrous appetite, ‘Barin Bhowmick’, a kleptomaniac who is taken back several years by a chance encounter on a train, ‘Patol Babu’, an amateur actor for whom a walk-on part in a movie turns into the ultimate challenge, ‘Bipin Chowdhury’, who seems to be suffering from a most disagreeable form of amnesia, ‘Bonku Babu’, a mofussil schoolteacher who is visited one night by a friendly and somewhat awkward alien,‘Ashamanja Babu’s Dog’, who bursts out laughing one morning‘Anath Babu’, a ghost hunter who finds himself being stalked by his terrifying quarryand many, many more unforgettable characters.[6]

Following the huge success of his telefilms, Satyajit Ray Presents 1 and 2, Feluda-30 and Dr. Munshir Diary based on a bunch of Satyajit Ray’s widely-read short stories, Sandip Ray has made a tele-film Satyajiter Gappo-2 which was telecast on DD-1 and 7 (National channel) as a tribute to the maestro’s 80th birth anniversary. The interesting feature of that experiment lied in its freshness and novelty as it mostly concentrated on bizarre contours of everyday life, human values found in its natural splendour and conflicts and complex situations.[7]

In the Film “ Joy-Baba Felunath”, 1978, Satyajit Ray created a case where an expensive Idol of Ganesha ( The Elephant god of the Hindus) is stolen from the House of Mr. Ghoshal in Benaras.[8]The grandson of Mr. Ghoshal was told to tell everyone that the Idol is with the king of Africa. Actually there was a Durga Murti being made in the same house and Devi Durga’s Bahon which was a Lion , ( The King of Africa) , where the idol was kept hidden with gum. Bikash , an orphan in that house who was brought up in the Ghoshal Family stole it and gave it to Maganlal MeghRaj , ( a rich marwari businessman) having house in Gyanbapi in Benaras. He was supposed to smuggle the idol through a Sadhubaba ( Machlibaba) at the shores of the Ganges in Benaras. Feluda intervened and arrested Maganlal Meghraj and solved the mystery. The performance of Utpal Dutta, a brilliant figure of Bengali stage and Indian films was extra ordinary. The location of Benaras, the bhajans that were picturised in the film and the synchronization of the sequences was brilliant.[9] It is a pity, that Ray did not have the time to make films on most of his literature in the form of short stories, Detective stories, Suspense Thrillers and Stories of Diverse categories. The literature of Ray should be revisited to understand the diversity of the range of topics, science base, technicality, educative subject matters, human values that Ray used to handle in the span of 35 years.





[1] https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no22911.htm

[2] Ventriloquism means the art of making one’s dummy talk when his master is the actual talker. There are certain letters the pronounciation of which does not require lip movement. For example if a Ventriquist says “ Mohunbagan” he will pronounce it ( nononbagan) because the letter n does not require lip movement.

[3] Ptrodactyle is a prehistoric bord appearing duing the time when Human Beings did not appear in the earth. I moving specimen is evident in the Science City at Kolkata.

[4] Satyajit Ray was born on 2 May 1921 in Calcutta. After graduating from Presidency College, Calcutta, he studied art at Rabindranath Tagore's University “Biswabharati” in Santiniketan. He won numerous awards for his films. He was honored with the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement by the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences and bestowed with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.

[5] Septopus is an organism similar to Octopus. Octopus has eight tentacles, Septopus has seven. In the relevant story the author’s dog was eaten up by the Septopus and that had made the owner ( A Scientist fascinated with plants and orchids) kill the Septopus with his rifle because it had become carnivorous.

[6] http://www.indiaclub.com/Shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=8655

[7] http://www.screenindia.com/20010518/rbengali.html

[8] Joybaba Felunath released in 1977 won the Best Feature Film Award, Hongkong Film Festival, 1979.

[9] My Father, the then Chdief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court ( Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Kolkata) when made a submission in the Sandip Ray case on Manuscripts of Ray, mentioned that Ray’s property is National Property and should be only kept in Archive maintained in Nandan for future generations to develop their knowledge base on the fields Ray had worked on. The ACMM Mridul Ray said Sandip Ray should maintain the rich legacy of his father by creating the same standard of excellence in the creative arts which he is handling now. It is reported in The Statesman, The Telergraph and other notable newspapers in 1994.

Detective Stories of Satyajit Ray

Detective Stories of Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray was India's first internationally recognized film-maker and, 15 years after his death, still remains the most well-known Indian director on the world stage. Ray has written that he became captivated by the cinema as a young college student, and he was self-taught, his film education consisting largely of repeated viewings of film classics by De Sica, Fellini, John Ford, Orson Welles, and other eminent directors.[1] With the release in 1955 of his first film Pather Panchali ("Song of the Road"), whose financing presented Ray with immense monetary problems, compelling him even to pawn his wife’s jewellery, he brought the neo-realist movement in film to India. Little could anyone have imagined that this first film would launch Ray on one of the most brilliant careers in the history of cinema, leading eventually not only to dozens of international awards, India’s highest honour, and a lifetime achievement Oscar from Hollywood, but the unusual accolade of being voted by members of the British Film Institute as one of the three greatest directors in world cinema.

Being a versatile genius of his times, much has been said about the skills used by Ray in transforming Celluloid from only a medium of entertainment to an arena of creative arts. Well known Directors of India namely Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and others have seen his first film Pather Panchali a number of times and learnt huge lessons relating to story telling in cinema. But much less has been said about Ray’s literary skills. Being a maestro of numerous number of Arts, including scripts, illustrations, music, his literature which predominantly was filmic got unnoticed. My entire childhood was flooded with crime thrillers of Ray being simplified for the children in series of stories of Feluda and Professor Shanku.[2] There were other writers of Bengal namely Premendra Mitra ( who have also made films on suspense thriller titled “Chupi Chupi Ase”, “Hanabari”), Hemendra Kumar Ray, Sunil Ganguly, Saradindu Bandopadhyay( Satyajit Ray’s film “ Chiriakhana” was based on his story where Uttamkumar played the role of Byomkesh Bakshi, a famous detective who solved a number of mysteries)[3] to name a few, who had attracted the attention of young readers and made a notable impact of stories relating to crime and punishment. But what was different in case of Ray’s literature was that he made the incidences cinematic. He always used to give description of the characters through ‘tapesh’ so that the chain of thoughts of the readers did coincide with the thoughts of the characters in his story.



When the same stories which were written, depicted by Ray were later made Films, they ended in excellence by their standards. The best example can be Sonar Kella ( The Golden Fortress).[4] Mukul, a young boy, was being haunted by memories of his previous life. He was taken to Dr. Hajra, a parapsychologist, for treatment. On discovering some drawings by Mukul that represented scenes from the past, Dr. Hajra believed that a Fortress in the drawings may be in Rajasthan. Dr. Hajra decided to take Mukul on a trip to Rajasthan in the hope that it might be a cure. A newspaper report caught the attention of two bandits. They kidnapped Mukul in hope of getting their hands on the treasure. The detective Feluda was engaged, along with his assistant Tapesh, to recover the child. Sonar Kella was a bewitching comedy-thriller for children of all ages. An exciting and fun-filled journey that took audiences from Calcutta to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan including Felu and friends chasing a train on a camelbacks. It included beautiful color photography and use of color for dramatic effect.[5]



The greatest skill of story-telling which was made evident by Ray was the use of coincidence. There is a scene where Feluda while travelling in a train from Kolkata to New Delhi was anticipating that the two Bandits to be in the same train with Dr. Hajra and Mukul if they have stayed in Delhi for one day and he anticipated any harsh step to be taken by the bandits. In the next scene Ray shows that Dr. Hajra is being pushed by Kamu Mukherjee who played the role of Mandar Bose from the cliff of Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur.[6] Ray realized that every reader while reading a story generally paints a picture of the person in their mind who is referred to in the story. So the writer or the novelist is supposed to give the details of the looks of the character to the readers .It became easy for him as he reached a level of excellence in illustration. The character “Jatayu” was intitially drawn in a different way. When Ray saw Santosh Dutta, the actor who played Jatayu in “Sonar Kella” and “Joy Baba Felunath”, he started drawing the character identically like Santosh Dutta. Seeing Satyajit Ray’s script full of illustrations is a treat for the eyes.[7] The film Sonar Kella was made for the children, but ended up in catching the attention of intellectual adult viewers, there were so many scientific aspects like telepathy, hypnotism employed in the film with justifications who reshuffled the knowledge base of viewers of different age.

Those readers who are addicted to read novels, short stories of Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle were also attracted towards literature composed by Ray. Besides the pictographic description of the places Ray used to describe ( Description of Lucknow in “ Badshahi Uncty”, description of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer in “Sonar Kella”, description of Benaras in “ Joy Baba Felunath”) was simply brilliant. Rays standard of perfection has given a new light on the historical, geographical, social and other aspects of every part of the world on where his stories were based. These days Sandip Ray makes films based on Satyajit Ray’s stories.[8] But the readers basically miss Ray’s literature which flooded the hearts of youth of the country with treasure of knowledge of different fields, subjects,dimentions. Research should be done on the literature of Satyajit Ray with same priority as the way his films are scanned. Detailed analysis of his literature can throw new light on the upcoming fresh talents of India who use their pen as a sword.




[1] http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Cinema/SRay.html

[2] www.mouthshut.com/product-reviews/Feluda_Stories_-_Satyajit_Ray-925039917.html - 85k Feluda is the Private Investigator created by Satyajit Ray named “Pradosh Mitra” just like Fiction Character “Sherlock Holmes” created by Arthur Conan Doyle.
[3] Chiriakhana was released in 1967 and won the National Film Award for Best Direction. Also Uttamkumar won the best Actor for playing the role of Satyanyeshi meaning founder of the truth.

[4] Sonar Kella was released in 1974 , the film where Ray introduced the character “Jatayu” for the first time which was played by Santosh Dutta on who demise Ray stopped making any more films on stories of .Feluda

[5] http://www.satyajitray.org/films/sonar_kella.htm

[6] Nahargarh means the abode of Tigers. In Jaipur it is one of the most eminent tourist attractions. Satyajit Ray discovered that entire Jaipur can be seen from the summit of Nahargarh Fort. So he shot his sequence where Mandar Bose throws Dr. Hajra from the Cliff to kill him.

[7] My Father, Sri Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, the then Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall Court, Kolkata was handling the brief of Sandip Ray ( son of Satyajit Ray) in a case where Uday Acharya, the brother of Nirmalya Acharya, denied to give Rays scripts which were with him, which were supposed to be kept in Nandan Archive under the supervision of Dr. Sur. The trunk containing the scripts of Ray were opened in Lalbazar, Kolkata Police Headquarters, where the scripts were unfolded. It included even the demi-newspaper called “ chandipurer Barta” used in the film Ganashatru by Ray . The case was reported in Anandabazar Patrika, Pratidin, The Statesman,etc in 1994.

[8] Sandip Ray had made films “Baksho Rahasya”, “ Bombaiyer bombete” and other films and TV serials on the stories of Satyajit Ray.