''Dena Paona'' (; ) is a 1931 Bengali film directed by

Premankur Atorthy Premankur Atorthy (1890–1964) was an Indian novelist, journalist, and film director. He was involved in Hindi and Bengali cinema.Amar Mullick Amar Mullick (May 1899 – August 1972) was an Indian actor and director. Career Mullick was born in 1899 in Kolkata, British India. Although he was a civil engineer by profession but passionate in films. He joined New Theatres group in 1932 and ...

, Durgadas Bannerjee, Jahar Ganguly, Nibhanani Devi, and Bhanu Bandopadhyay. Based on a novel by

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicised as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee; 15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938) was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. He generally wrote about the lives of Bengali family and socie ...

and produced by

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970 And Padma Bhushan in 1972). It was formed on February 10, 1931. The company motto was ...

, it is credited as one of first Bengali

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

s, and along with

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...

, was one of the first sound films produced in India. The film explored the ills of the

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

system and touched on the problems of female oppression in 19th-century

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Plot

Jibananda is a drunkard Zamindar. Ekkari is his companion in all his sinful deeds and greed for money. Sorashi is the priestess in the local Chandi Temple and the estranged wife of Jibananda. She is adamant and stubborn, but responsible and honest, and has immense influence in certain sections of local society. When Sorashi was young, she was known as Alaka. Circumstances force Sorashi to stay all night in the drunk Jibananda's house. This created a ripple amongst the local villagers when they come to know about this incident. But Sorashi gave a legal statement to the police and Magistrate that she went to the Zamindar's house willingly. Jibananda was freed from all offences due to this statement. But the village leaders were very strict about their decision. Sarbeswar Shiromani, Mr. Chowdhury, and Janardan Roy decided not to assign the responsibility of a priestess of the temple to Sorashi any more. Nirmal, the son-in-law of Sabeswar Shiromani, is very impressed by the attitude and intelligence of Sorashi. Jibananda later tries to make advances on Sorashi but she refuses him, making him angry. He attempts to evict her from her shelter. Sagar and his team wait for Sorashi's order to fight against Jibananda. But Sorashi is totally dispassionate and decides to leave the temple as well as the village forever. This brings an unexpected change in Jibananda as he realises his mistakes and surrenders to Sorashi. In response to which she accepts his unconditional apology and accepts him.

Cast

* Bhanu Bannerjee as Nirmal *

Durgadas Bannerjee Durgadas Bannerjee (1893–1943) was an Indian Bengali film actor who appeared in many roles from 1922 to 1943. Early life Bannerjee was born on 3 December 1893 to a zamindar family at Kalikapur, Kolkata. Garia Rajbari was his ancestral h ...

as Jibananda *Nibhanani Devi as Shoroshi * Jahar Ganguly as Sagar Sardar *

Amar Mullick Amar Mullick (May 1899 – August 1972) was an Indian actor and director. Career Mullick was born in 1899 in Kolkata, British India. Although he was a civil engineer by profession but passionate in films. He joined New Theatres group in 1932 and ...

as Ekkari *Bhumen Roy as Nirmal *Shishubala as Haimabati *Umasashi in a crowd scene

Plot

Cast

References

External links

See also