''Bicharak'' (English: The Judge) is a

Bengali-language Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is native to the Bengal region (Bangladesh, India's West Bengal and Tripura) of South ...

psychological thriller film thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and convention, it ...

directed by Prabhat Mukherjee. Based on a novel of the same name by

Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...

, the film was produced by

Arundhati Devi Arundhati Devi (; also known as Arundhati Mukherjee or Mukhopadhyay) (1924 – 1990) was an Indian actress, director, writer and singer who is predominantly known for her work in Bengali cinema. Arundhati Devi was a student of Visva-Bharati Un ...

. This film was released in 1959 under the banner of Prabhat Productions and received

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali The National Film Award for Best Bengali Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Ka ...

in 1960. The film stars

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 ...

in the titular role alongside Arundhati Devi in the lead, while

Chhabi Biswas Chhabi Biswas (''Chabi Biśbās''; 13 July 1900 – 11 June 1962) was an Indian actor, primarily known for his performances in Tapan Sinha's '' Kabuliwala'' and Satyajit Ray's films '' Jalsaghar'' (''The Music Room'', 1958), ''Devi'' (''The G ...

Pahadi Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Bengali films, such as '' Harano Sur'', ''Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant'', and ''Shilpi''. ...

and

Chandrabati Devi Chandrabati Devi was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Born on 19 October 1909, in Muzaffarpur, she moved to Kolkata, where she graduated in Bengali literature and trained in music under Dinendranath Tagore. She entered ...

play other pivotal roles. The film showed Uttam Kumar one of the best performance ever as a

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. This is also remembered as one of the best films in his career and best ever in Bengali Cinema history. The film also received huge critical acclamation and saw the commercial success.

Plot

The plot unfolds with a series of flashbacks which reveal a judge's past and hidden secrets. Gyanendra, a judge, lives with his wife Sarama. Being the Judge, with every trial of similar cases he remembers his past, the truth about his questionable actions. Gyanendra always recalls when he was a popular lawyer, married to Sumoti, a suspicious and rude lady. But he had a weak feelings for his professor's daughter Sarama. One day Gyanendra's house was burnt and his first wife Sumoti died. Gyanendra could not make any attempt to save her, perhaps he was unable to bear Sumati further. Thereafter he marries Sarama and becomes a judge, but realizes his crime and the past haunts him much.

Cast

Sisir Bhaduri Shishir Kumar Bhaduri or Sisir Kumar Bhaduri (2 October 1889 – 30 June 1959) was an Indian stage actor and theatre founder, commonly referred to as the pioneer of modern Bengali theatre. He was an actor, director, playwright and scenic desig ...

as Judge *

as Gyanendra *

as Lawyer *

Pahari Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films, such as ''Harano Sur'', ''Bhan ...

as Professor *

as Sarama * Dipti Roy as Sumati *

* Bani Hazra * Atanu Ghosh

Soundtrack

Award

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

: Certificate of Merit Best Feature Film in Bengali - Bicharak

References

External links

* 1959 films Bengali-language Indian films 1950s psychological drama films Indian psychological drama films Films based on Indian novels Indian black-and-white films 1950s Bengali-language films 1959 drama films Films based on works by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay {{1950s-Bengali-film-stub