Upahar

1955 Indian Bengali film

Upahar

Directed by| Tapan Sinha
Written by| Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay
Dialogues - Sudhiranjan Mukhopadhyay
Screenplay by| Tapan Sinha
Based on| Krishna
1955 Story
by Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay
Starring|

* Uttam Kumar
* Manju Dey
* Sabitri Chatterjee

Cinematography| Anil Banerjee
Edited by| Subodh Ray
Music by| Kalipada Sen
Lyricist - Gauriprasanna Majumdar

Production
company

Bani Chitram

Distributed by| Chayabani Limited

Release date

* 12 August 1955 (1955-08-12)

Running time

| 127 minutes
Country| India
Language| Bengali

Upahar is a Bengali drama film directed by Tapan Sinha based on a novel Krishna of Sailajananda Mukherjee.[1] This film was produced by the Bani Chitram and release in 1955. It's starring Uttam Kumar, Manju Dey and Sabitri Chatterjee in lead. Music director of the film was Kalipada Sen. This was the second film and first collaboration for Sinha with Kumar. Film was critically acclaimed but did moderate success at the box office.

## Plot

[edit]

A professor (Uttam Kumar) and his wife (Manju Dey) comes to live as tenants in the house of one Kanhali-babu (Kanu Bandopadhyay). They develop a soft corner for Krishna, the daughter of the landlord (Sabitri Chaterjee). Kanhali-babu eked out a livelihood from the rent that his house fetched. He was a strict father, and his daughter had no independence of her own. Krishna used to pass on the nutritious portion of her diet surreptitiously to her father and subsisted on the remnants. The professor’s wife discovers it and replenishes her diet sparing something for her from their meal. Kanhali-babu’s nagging trait infuriates Bhola (Johar Roy), the Professor’s servant. Krishna is in love with a certain gentleman (Nirmal Kumar) but her father has arranged her marriage to a retarded man in lieu of a paltry sum of money. After a lot of melodrama, Krishna unites with her paramour (Nirmal Kumar). The film doesn’t rise to any great heights, but nonetheless remain watchable. Towards the end Krishna suddenly discovers that beneath the stern exterior, Kanhali-babu was a very caring father and had stashed away huge wealth in order to marry off his daughter in grand style. Why then did Kanhali-babu tried to marry off Krishna by accepting a paltry amount from the bridegroom’s family.

## Cast

[edit]

* Uttam Kumar as Professor Ashok Sarkar
* Sabitri Chatterjee as Krishna
* Manju Dey as Neela
* Nirmal Kumar Chattopadhyay as Sunil
* Chabi Biswas as Sunil's father
* Kanu Banerjee as Kangalibabu
* Aparna Devi as Sunil's mother
* Tulsi Chakraborty as Ghatak
* Anubha Gupta as Sunil's aunt
* Jahar Roy as Servant
* Shyam Laha as Sethji

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Upahar

Soundtrack album by

Kalipada Sen

Released| 1955
Recorded| 1955
Studio| Bani Chitram
Length| 0:05:58
Label| Angel Digital
Kalipada Sen chronology
| Bidhilipi
(1955)  | Upahar
(1955)  | Kankabatir Ghat
(1955)

|
|

All lyrics are written by Gauriprasanna Majumdar; all music is composed by Kalipada Sen.

SongsNo.| Title| Playback| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Rimjhim Rimjhim"| Suprova Mitra| 3:30
2.| "Din Chale Jay"| Shyamal Mitra| 2:28
Total length:| 5:58

## Reception

[edit]

This was only the second Bengali film from director Tapan Sinha. His first film Ankush did not perform well. This was also the first collaboration by Uttam and Sinha. This film performed average at that time, but Uttam's performance was considered as one finest and ahead of the time. Sinha wrote in his autobiography that "Uttam's future is promising. There is lot of potential hidden in him." This film was a milestone.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tapan Sinha (1955), Upahar(1955) উপহার(১৯৫৫) [Uttam Kumar, Manju Dey, Nirmal Kumar, Sabitri Chattopadhyay], retrieved 26 March 2025
2. ^ সংবাদদাতা, নিজস্ব (17 April 2023). "পর্ব-৩২: কি 'উপহার' সাজিয়ে দেব". সময় Updates. Retrieved 26 March 2025.

## External links

[edit]

Upahar at IMDb
*[No.]: Number