''Chhuti'' ( English: ''A Vacation'') is a 1967 Bengali film, based on a novel by

Bimal Kar Bimal Kar (19 September 1921 — 26 August 2003) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Bengali. He received the 1975 Sahitya Akademi Award presented by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, for his novel ''Asamay''. ...

. It marked the directorial debut of

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 ...

, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. At the

14th National Film Awards The 14th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1966. The awards were presented on 10 October 1967 at the V ...

, it won the National Film Award for Best Film Based on High Literary Work. It also won a number of

BFJA Awards Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

, including Best Director.

Synopsis

The film is set in a small town in Bihar (now Jharkhand). All the main characters belong to a Bengali Christian community settled there. Bhramar (Nandini Maliya) is a teenage girl who lives with her father (

Ajitesh Bandopadhyay Ajitesh Bandopadhyay ( bn, অজিতেশ বন্দোপাধ্যায়; born: 30 September 1933 ― 13 October 1983) was an actor, playwright, activist and director. He along with Shambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt are considered to be t ...

) and her stepmother (Debabrati Sen). She is quiet and solitary, and remains sad since her relationship with her stepmother is not good. She has a good singing voice, but cannot tell anyone about her aspiration to become a singer. A young man, Amal (

Mrinal Mukherjee Mrinal Mukherjee ( – 7 May 2019) was an Indian actor, theatre personality and music director. He is the father of actor and singer Jojo. He is remembered for his negative roles in Bengali cinema. Career In 1955, Mukherjee made his debut ...

) comes to spend his vacation with them. The two fall in love. Amal encourages Bhramar to sing, and they spend some good moments together. Bhramar, however, has been ill for some time, and has hidden the fact from everybody. Finally, her illness becomes too severe to be concealed. She is diagnosed with

Leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, and has to be hospitalised. Amal, aware that her illness is probably terminal, promises to wait for her.

Cast

* Nandini Maliya as Bhramar *

as Amal *

as Bhramar's father * Debabrati Sen as Himani (Bhramar's stepmother) * Nirmal Chatterjee as Dr Majumdar

Crew

* Direction -

* Cinematography - Bimal Mukherjee * Editing - Subodh Roy * Music - Arundhati Devi

Production

The film was shot on location in and around the hill town of McCluskieganj, in present-day

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

Reception

When released, the film's simple story of young love appealed to audiences. The use of

Rabindrasangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

added to its attraction. The three

Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...

songs sung by Pratima Banerjee and Chinmoy Chatterjee remain popular to this day. Banerjee received the BFJA Award for Best Playback Singer (Female). The film was also critically acclaimed, winning a National Award and several BFJA Awards. The ''Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema'' describes ''Chhuti'' as a "lyrical melodrama", and observes that "... it distances itself from the tradition of popular romances addressing similar themes of terminal illness - by a literal process of exclusion." According to Upperstall, Arundhati Devi's move to filmmaking with ''Chhuti'' was "a major step in breaking the patriarchal Tollygunje Studio set-up". It adds that the film "exploited the sylvan surroundings ... to the hilt with some wonderful lyrical imagery."

Preservation

The film has been restored and digitised by the

National Film Archive of India The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February 1964. It is was a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. In March 2022, it was merged with ...

Home media

''Chhuti'' is available in VCD format.

Awards

-- National Film Award for Best Film Based on High Literary Work * BFJA Awards 1968 ** Best Indian Films (along with 8 others) ** Best Director --

** Best Screenplay—Arundhati Devi ** Best Dialogue --

** Best Editing—Subodh Roy ** Best Playback Singer (Female) -- Pratima Banerjee ** Special Award—Nandini Maliya

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0213554 1967 films Bengali-language Indian films Indian black-and-white films Films based on Indian novels Films set in Jharkhand 1960s Bengali-language films