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Best Of Bengali (India) Cinema-Beyond Ray, Ghatak & other 6 masters.

by raunakjoy • Created 9 years ago • Modified 9 years ago
Here, i am giving a list of best bengali films in my view.Since most people tend to associate bengali cinema with only Ray, Ghatak or Sen, i am not going to include any of their films. I am also not including any films of Tapan Sinha, Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh , Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh, the reason behind my doing so is that i want to show that there exists very good cinema in bengali beyond the films of these master makers.
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  • 160 titles
  • Chandidas (1932)

    1. Chandidas

    19322h 13m
    6.8 (37)
    This film is about Chandidas, a legendary 15th-C. Bengali Vaishnavite poet whose biography remains obscure but was an influence on the better documented Chaitanya (1486-1533), a school teacher who promoted the Vaishnavite ideology in Bengal, mostly through hymns about the Radha-Krishna legend. The film stressed the poet's teachings through the love story between Chandidas and a low-caste washerwoman, Rami. The conventional villain of the saint film genre, who represents the established order threatened by the outsider's revolutionary influence on common people, is the rapacious upper-caste merchant Bijoynarayan. When Rami rejects his advances, he persuades the high priest to insist that Chandidas must repent or be punished for associating with a low-caste woman. Chandidas agrees to repent but when he sees the injuries Rami has suffered at the hands of the merchant's goons, he rejects institutionalized religion in favor of the higher Vaishnavite call for a more democratic god and leaves the village with Rami.
    DirectorDebaki Kumar BoseStarsDurgadas BannerjeeKrishna Chandra DeyManoranjan Bhattacharya
    A lyrical and trend setting movie by Debaki Basu.
  • Mukti (1937)

    2. Mukti

    19372h 19mNot Rated
    7.8 (26)
    This classic adultery story tells of an artist, Prasanta (Barua) presented in the stereotypically romantic image: dedicated to his vocation, paying no heed to his scandalous reputation (he paints nude models) and with a cavalier attitude to his conservative father-in-law's (Choudhury) demands for a good social behaviour. He is married to the rich Chitra (Kanan Devi). The couple are in love but neither partner is prepared to compromise their ideals. The marriage falls apart. Prasanta concedes his wife's demand for a divorce and goes to the jungles of Assam, where for many years his closest associates are a wild elephant and Jharna (Menaka), the wife of an innkeeper named Pahari (P. Mullick). He also makes a sworn enemy of a local trader (Nawab/A. Mullick). Chitra marries the millionaire Bipul (Mukherjee) and they go an elephant hunt. They kill Prasanta's pet elephant. Since Chitra believes Prasanta to be dead he avoids meeting her, but is forced to rescue her from the villainous trader.. Prasanta succeeds but dies at Chitra's feet. The film interprets his death as Chitra's final achievement of the freedom she had craved. Barua contrasts the regressive story presented as static and unresolved, both as narrative and as performance, with a hyperactive environment that overwhelms the trivial nature of the lead couple's desires.
    DirectorP.C. BaruaStarsP.C. BaruaKanan DeviAmar Mullick
    An Ahead of times classic.
  • Rajat Jayanti (1939)

    3. Rajat Jayanti

    19392h 20mNot Rated
    5.7 (9)
    The simple-minded Rajat (Barua) loves neighbor Jayanti (Menaka Devi). He is advised on how to court her by his street-smart cousin Bishwanath (Sanyal) and Bishwanath's friend Samir (Bannerjee). Bishwanath and Samir try to get Rajat's miserly guardian Bagalcharan (Choudhury) to loan them money so that Samir can make a 'European-style art film'. Rajat's and Jayanti's guardians meanwhile become enemies. Rajat's guardian first falls in to the hands of a Quaker -crook Gajanan and from there into the clutches of two professional crooks Natoraj (Indu Mukherjee) and his daughter Supta (Molina Devi) who pretend to be multimillionaires. They eye the jewelries kept fro Rajat's would be bride. Supta pretends to like Rajat, and the alliance is accepted by Rajat's guardian and in rebound Jayanti agrees to marry Bishwanath. How to spoil the crook's plan, whom none know to be crooks?
    DirectorP.C. BaruaStarsP.C. BaruaPahadi SanyalBhanu Bannerjee
    A comedy classic by P.C.Barua.
  • 4. Manmoyee Girls School

    19352h 32m
    A comedy adapted from a successful play. The zamindar Damodar Chakraborty (Chakraborty) starts a school named after his wife and recruits a married couple as teachers. Manas (Ganguly in the role which had made him a stage star) and Niharika (Kanan Devi) pretend to be married in order to get the jobs. Their imposture, together with the fact that he is Hindu while she is Christian, produces complications.
    DirectorJyotish BannerjeeStarsTulsi ChakrabortyRadha RaniJahar Ganguli
    Great comedy film with Kanan Bala n co. Has been remade countless times.
  • 5. Sahar Thekey Durey

    19432h 1m
    DirectorSailajanand MukherjiStarsKanu BannerjeeDhiraj BhattacharyaPrafulla Das
    Classic rural Melodrama By Sailajananda.
  • 6. Pratisruti

    1941
    DirectorHemchandra ChunderStarsAsitbaranRatin BanerjeeChhabi Biswas
    Shows brotherly love at its greatest.
  • 7. Bondi

    1942
    6.2 (8)
    DirectorSailajanand Mukherji
    Another Sailajananda Classic.
  • Udayer Pathey (1944)

    8. Udayer Pathey

    19442h 2m
    7.3 (40)
    Anup writes for a newspaper, and his sister is invited to a girl's birthday party by her rich friend Gopa. After she leaves the party, accused of being a thief, Gopa comes to the house to apologize and meets Anup. He refuses her personal apology, saying it's a societal problem. Anup's boss sends him to a rich official's office who needs a speech written. This man is Rajendra, brother of Gopa and husband of the birthday girl. The speech Anup writes goes well, so Rajendra steals Anup's manuscript for a novel and publishes it under his own name. Rajendra is praised for his insight into the issue of poverty, but the workers at his company go on strike. Anup and Rajendra's sister Gopa, support the striking workers, but his paid goons squelch the strike. Disillusioned by the hypocrisy, Gopa leaves her comfortable wealth behind to be with Anup.
    DirectorBimal RoyStarsMaya BasuBiswanath BhaduriRadhamohan Bhattacharya
    First truly realistic cinema of India. Debut of the legend Bimal Roy. Remade as Dharam-Hema starrer Naya Zamana.
  • 9. Jiban Maran

    19382h 24m
    6.0 (12)
    A famous radio singer Mohan (Saigal) is in love with Geeta (Leela Desai). When he goes to his friend a doctor, TB Specialist, Bijoy (Bhanu) for a check-up, he is found to be in an advance stage of TB. Meanwhile Leela's dominant mother and aunt (Nibhanani and Manorama) had been against the poor Mohan and had set their eyes on same Dr. Bijoy, the son of a family friend. When Mohan comes to know of it, and also his sickness, he decides to walk away from them. He is intercepted by a doctor who ran a sanatorium for TB patients, with some new method of treatment. Geeta couldn't forget Mohan and waited, but in the end she had to relent. Then it was known that Mohan was alive and cured. What would now Bijoy and Geeta do? There wedding was the next day, and they have to go ahead with it, the honour of both the families were at stake. Mohan too aware of his being exposed, disappears from the sanatorium and is untraceable.
    DirectorNitin BoseStarsK.L. SaigalLeela DesaiDevbala
    A Nitin Bose classic.
  • 10. Desher Mati

    19382h 45m
    Ashok goes to a village, mobilizes the peasants, fights the oppression of the village head-man and achieves bumper crops. Childhood friend Ajoy goes to England to study mining technology and is determined to make a success of a mining project in the rural area where Ashok is working. Each has radically different ideas about what is best for an independent nation. Ajoy's sister Protibha, who loves Ashok, secretly finances Ajoy's rural modernization endeavors. Ajoy, unaware of this, falls in love with Gauri, daughter of the social outcast Kunja. When Ajoy returns from England, he discovers that the best coal-fields lie directly beneath Ashok's land. The crisis is manifested in a drought that threatens to destroy Ashok's work and prove Ajoy's contentions right.
    DirectorNitin BoseStarsK.L. SaigalKrishna Chandra DeyUma Sashi
    Another Nitin Bose gem.
  • 11. Parichay

    19412h 21m
    DirectorNitin BoseStarsK.L. SaigalKanan DeviNaresh Bose
    Another Classic from Nitin Bose. Saigal- Kanan duo at its best.
  • 12. Saathi

    1938
    DirectorParshwanath Yeshwant AltekarStarsDurga KhoteMubarak Mechant
    Phani Majumdar's debut. Great songs. Great Story. Great Saigal and Kanan Bala.
  • 13. Mane Na Mane

    19452h 1m
    DirectorSailajanand MukherjiStarsKanu BannerjeeDhiraj BhattacharyaAshu Bose
    Rural Melodrama at its best. Remade countless times including as Gopi in Hindi starring Dilip Kumar.
  • 14. Anjangarh

    19482h 6m
    DirectorBimal RoyStarsSunanda BanerjeeRaja GanguliHiralal
    Bimal Roy adapts a great story of Subodh Ghosh for this classic.
  • 15. Chandrashekhar

    1947
    5.3 (24)
    DirectorDebaki Kumar BoseStarsChhabi BiswasBharati DeviKanan Devi
    Ashok Kumar. Kanan Bala. Bankimchandra. Debaki Basu..Don't need to say anything more.
  • Kavi (1949)

    16. Kavi

    19492h 31mNot Rated
    8.2 (16)
    DirectorDebaki Kumar BoseStarsRobin MajumdarNitish MukherjeeAnubha Gupta
    Debaki Basu at his best. Great songs of Robin Majumdar.
  • 17. Bhuli Nai

    19482h 37m
    DirectorHemen Gupta
    Hemen Gupta's cult patriotic movie.
  • 18. '42

    19512h 36m
    7.4 (28)
    DirectorHemen GuptaStarsHarimohan BoseManju DeyPradeep Kumar
    Another Hemen Gupta film. Bikash Ray's performance as ruthless police officer still sends shivers down the spine.
  • Barjatri (1951)

    19. Barjatri

    1951
    7.4 (38)
    A timeless comedy follows friends on wedding adventures, with uproarious mishaps. Gansha's quest for love adds depth to Bengali cinema.
    DirectorSatyen BoseStarsHrishikesh BandyopadhyayKalo BandyopadhyaySatyen Bandyopadhyay
    Comedy at its best with Kali Banerji, Anup Kumar & co. Superb direction by Satyen Bose.
  • Pasher Bari (1952)

    20. Pasher Bari

    1952
    8.0 (17)
    DirectorSudhir MukherjeeStarsBhanu BannerjeeSavitri ChatterjeeAnup Kumar
    Comedy Classic. The original of Kishoreda-Mehmood's Padosan.
  • Sharey Chuattar (1953)

    21. Sharey Chuattar

    19531h 38m
    8.2 (492)
    The owner of Annapurna boarding house faces trouble for letting a girl stay at the boys hostel.
    DirectorNirmal DeyStarsDeben BandopadhyayBhanu BannerjeeGurudas Bannerjee
    Tulsi Chakraborty & Bhanu Banerji at their comic best. Debut of Uttam-Suchitra duo.
  • Chinnamul (1951)

    22. Chinnamul

    19511h 57m
    7.8 (59)
    A group of farmers from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) who were forced to migrate to Calcutta because of the partition of Bengal in 1947.
    DirectorNemai GhoshStarsGangapada BasuBijon BhattacharyaJalad Chatterjee
    A great film on partition. Praised even in Russia.
  • 23. Tathapi

    19502h 2m
    7.6 (13)
    DirectorManoj BhattacharyaStarsBhanu BannerjeeGangapada BasuBijon Bhattacharya
    Another classic scripted by Bimal Roy.
  • 24. Kalo Chhaya

    1948
    6.6 (17)
    DirectorPremendra MitraStarsGurudas BannerjeeDhiraj BhattacharyaSipra Mitra
    A spooky atmospheric thriller by Premendra Mitra. Remade in Hindi as Apradhi Kaun.
  • Hanabari (1952)

    25. Hanabari

    1952
    8.0 (35)
    A person vows to eradicate the rumors of a haunted house.
    DirectorPremendra MitraStarsDhiraj BhattacharyaBipin MukherjeePranoti Ghosh
    Premendra Mitra does it again after Kalo Chhaya.

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