''Ananda Ashram'' ''(''Hindi: ''Anand Ashram'', English: ''The Ashram of joy)'' is a 1977 Indian bilingual

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

made in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language simultaneously, co-written and directed by

Shakti Samanta Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films such as ''Anand Ashram'' (1977), Anusandhan /''Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981), ''Anyay Abhi ...

. Based on a story by film director and novelist, Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, it stars

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), widely known as Mahanayak (), was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and playback singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema ...

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019; she was previously a member of ...

and

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter and actor who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. He appeared in 84 films in the 1970s and 1980s. As an actor, he is mostly known for his supporting roles in ...

(making his debut in Bengali cinema) in lead roles. The same story was earlier filmed as 'Doctor' in 1940 starred by Pankaj Mullick, Ahindra Choudhury and Bharati Devi.

Plot

Dr. Amaresh lives with his wealthy father, a Thakur, in a small town in India. While the Thakur would like to get Amaresh to marry a woman from an equally wealthy family, he has fallen in love with a poor woman named Asha, and would like to marry her. The Thakur is displeased, and asks Amaresh to leave his house, never to return. A few months later, Thakur's employee, Girdhari, informs him that he has found an abandoned child by the river bank, and would like to adopt him. Initially, the Thakur does not want anything to do with the child, but when he sees it for the first time, he decides to let Girdhari have his way. Years later, young Samaresh has grown up under Girdhari and Thakur's care, and travels abroad to study in order to be a doctor. When he returns, he decides to work with a chemical company. His travels take him to meet a beautiful woman named Sumita, her father, and an elderly man named Doctor. Samaresh is perturbed by this doctor, who seems to know him very well, and wants him to leave his job at the chemical company, and start practicing medicine in the small town where they live. What Samaresh does not know that this doctor is none other than his biological father, Amaresh. What both don't know is what steps the Thakur will take when he finds out that Samaresh is none other than his grandson.

Cast

as Dr. Amaresh Rai Chaudhary *

as Asha Rai Chaudhary *

as Dr. Samaresh Rai Chaudhary *

as Sumita Dutta *

as Zamindaar/Pratap Narain Rai Chaudhary * Asit Sen as Girdhari *

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutt (; 29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

as Rasharaj Dutta, Sumita's dad * Anita Guha as Sumita's mom * Chandrima Bhaduri *

Prema Narayan Prema Narayan (born 4 April 1955) is an Indian former actress, model, dancer and beauty pageant titleholder. She has acted in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was the Femina Miss India World 1971, and represented India at Miss World 1971. Early l ...

(Guest appearance) * Alankar Joshi as Chandan Dutta, Sumit's younger brother (as Master Alankar)

Production

After the success of '' Amanush'' in 1975

cast almost same actors including

. The film marked the collaboration for the first and only time where two legendary actor of Hindi and Bengali cinema Uttam Kumar and Ashok Kumar worked together. It's making again in double version. This film also shot in Sandeshkhali Sundarban like Amanush and the Nataraj Studio

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. There was a scene in ''Anand Ashram'' where Uttam Kumar would come down from a high hill, speak a dialogue with the heroine. So then Uttam Kumar already had two heart attacks. Uttam Kumar rose to a high place at that age with great difficulty. Then the director Shakti Samant understood the mistake and apologized. He says to changing the set. But Uttam Kumar said nothing. The with that body, he ran down the two-storey hill again and did it ok in one shot. Director

Prabhat Roy Prabhat Roy (; born 1946 in Jamshedpore) is a former Indian director who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received several awards including two National Awards and BFJA Awards. He began his career as an assistant director in the ...

(also the assistant director in the film) remembered the dedication of Uttam Kumar which is bring him to the top and different to the other artists. During the film production Mohunbagan Footballers in Mumbai at that time to play the Rovers Cup Final of 1977. On the evening, footballers turned upon the set to watching the shooting. Uttam Kumar always being a Mohunbagan fan. Uttam Kumar said to the footballers ''You should have to win the final and return to Kolkata with the trophy.'' Mohunbagan really become champions and kept good words of Uttam.

Music

The film had music by Shyamal Mitra, with lyrics by

Indeevar Shyamalal Babu Rai, known professionally as Indeevar (also credited as Indiwar and Indeewar), (1 January 1924 – 27 February 1997) was one of the leading Hindi film lyricists from the 1960s then through1990s Early life He was born and grew ...

Bengali Songs

*Prithibi Bodle Geche -

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

*Asha Chilo Valobasha Chilo - Kishore Kumar *Tinti Montro Niye - Shyamal Mitra *Valobeshe Dekei Dekhona -

Asha Bhonsle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

*Amar Shopno Tumi Ogo - Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar *Kotha Kichu Kichu Bujhe Nite Hoy - Aarti Mukherji, Shyamal Mitra

Reception

In the article of 2015

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

wrote ''It is Uttam Kumar’s commanding performance that leaves an impression on the viewer, especially the latter stage of his character when he carries himself with distinction. At no point does he indulge in histrionics. The director in fact does not allow anyone to drift from the balanced narration.'' The songs of the film become blast hits and again the reunite of Uttam and Kishore Kumar and there combination is huge popular in 1970s after the significant success of Amanush. The songs become evergreen and got the cult status. The Bengali version was released on the occasions of Durga Puja in Bengal. Unfortunately the Hindi version faired averagely at the box office but Bengali version become a blockbuster as expected and Kumar puja track record. The film saw the run 26 weeks constantly in theatres and become highest grossing Bengali film in 1977. This film become one of Kumar's most successful films ever.

References

External links

* * {{Bollywood Hungama movie, anand-ashram 1977 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by Shakti Samanta 1977 multilingual films 1970s Bengali-language films Indian multilingual films Films scored by Shyamal Mitra