150 years of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay turns 150 today. It goes without saying how deeply indebted Bengali cinema is to him. As a tribute to him today, BFA has curated ten memorable points for you. We hope that Sarat Chandra’s legacy and Bengali cinema endure for many years to come.
During the silent era, 6 films were adapted from Sarat Chandra's stories: "Andhare Alo" in 1922, followed successively by "Chandranath" (1924), "Devdas" (1929), "Srikanta" (1930), "Charitrahin" (1931), and "Swami" (1931).
Bengali cinema's first full-length sound film was also based on Sarat Chandra's story, "Dena Paona". Released under the New Theatres banner, it was directed by Premankur Atorthi. In fact, for a long period following the dawn of the sound era, Bengali cinema repeatedly returned to Sarat Chandra. In the 1950s alone, 23 films were made based on his writings.
Notably, all the films produced during the silent era were subsequently remade during the talkie period, with the sole exception of "Charitrahin".
Sarat Chandra initially wrote "Dena Paona" and "Datta" as novels, later adapting them for the stage under the titles "Shoroshi" and "Bijoya". Cinematic adaptations were subsequently made using these very titles. "Bijoya" was released in 1936, while "Datta" was adapted in 1951, 1976, and 2023, respectively. We have already mentioned "Dena Paona", and "Shoroshi" was made in 1954.
The booklet for New Theatres' film "Bijoya" featured a blessing from Sarat Chandra: "You have adapted many of my books into films... I pray this time too that 'Bijoya' delights everyone, both from a cinematic perspective and a literary one..."
In adapting Sarat Chandra's stories, Bengali cinema ventured as far as Burma itself. Released in 1957, that film was titled "Chhabi", directed by Niren Lahiri.
Among the portrayals of Sarat Chandra's characters that remained on people's lips for a long time are Pramathesh Barua in "Devdas", Debi Mukherjee in "Pather Dabi", Sunanda Devi in "Kashinath", Kanan Devi in "Mejdidi", Sandhyarani and Malina Devi in "Bindur Chhele", and Bikash Roy in "Indranath, Srikanta O Annadadi". Needless to say, this list is not exhaustive.
Uttam Kumar starred in 9 films based on Sarat Chandra's stories: "Bordidi", "Chandranath", "Rajlakshmi O Srikanta", "Grihadaha", "Kamal Lata", "Biraj Bou", "Sabyasachi", "Devdas", and "Darpachurna".
Based on continuous theatrical runs in Kolkata, Suchitra Sen's biggest hit was "Datta", directed by Ajay Kar, with Soumitra Chatterjee as the leading man. The film ran for 26 weeks.
Instances of films made specifically about an author's childhood are rare. In that regard, the 1978 film "Balak Sarat Chandra" deserves special mention. Directed by Jayanta Saha, the film covered the events of Sarat Chandra's first twenty years of life.
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