''Jibon Theke Neya'' () is a critically acclaimed

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 ...

East-Pakistani film directed by

Zahir Raihan Mohammad Zahirullah (19 August 1935 – disappeared 30 January 1972), known as Zahir Raihan, was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is most notable for his documentary '' Stop Genocide'' (1971), made during the Bangladesh Liberatio ...

. Released in 1970, it has been described as an example of "national cinema", using discrete local traditions to build a representation of the Bangladeshi national identity. Set against the backdrop of the political and social upreveal in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(present-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) during the late 1960s, ''Jibon Theke Neya'' portrays the struggles and aspirations of the common people in the face of oppression and injustice. The film addresses themes such as poverty, political corruption, political exploitation, and the power of unity. ''Jibon Theke Neya'' garnered widespread acclaim for its powerful storytelling, poignant performances, and the director's exceptional execution. It played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of

Bangladeshi cinema The Cinema of Bangladesh, locally known as Bangla cinema, is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions in Bangladesh, each contributing its unique linguistic and cultural perspective. Beyond the dominan ...

and became a landmark film in the country's history. Moreover, the movie holds historical significance as it was released just months before the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

in 1971, which ultimately led to the independence of Bangladesh from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It remains a cultural touchstone, serving as a reminder of the importance of social justice and the enduring spirit of the

Bangladeshi people Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the permanent residents ...

. The film's legacy endures, and it continues to inspire filmmakers and audiences alike, cementing its place as a timeless classic in Bangladeshi cinema. According to ''The Daily Star'', the film is considered to be Zahir Raihan's finest work till date.

Plot

The film narrates the story of a middle-class family headed by an autocratic elder sister (called Apa). Other members include her two younger brothers (Anis and Farooq) and her husband (called Dulabhai). But nobody in the family has a say in any matter of the household and everything is decided by Apa. Her husband is not allowed to sing inside the house, her brothers are not allowed to marry and she abuses the servants day and night. To end her autocratic rule, Dulabhai marries Anis off to a lady named Sathi without informing Apa. Apa's sword of oppression comes down on her. Meanwhile, Farooq falls for Sathi's younger sister Bithi and marries her. Sathi and Bithi's elder brother Mr. Anwar is a political activist, who is imprisoned due to his involvement in the freedom movement. On the other hand, under the leadership of Sathi and Bithi, everyone in the house becomes united. The family members paste posters on the wall against Apa's dictatorship. The bunch of keys that symbolizes the control of the household goes to the two sisters. Losing her power, Apa starts conspiring against the sisters. Both Sathi and Bithi conceive two children. Sathi gives birth to a stillborn child. The doctor fears that she may not tolerate the grief. So Bithi's baby is placed in her lap. Thinking it is her own kid, Sathi begins to nurture it. Apa starts a dispute between the two sisters. Tactically, she poisons Bithi and puts the blame on Sathi. Although Bithi recovers, Sathi is arrested on the charge of poisoning. When the case comes up in the court, Dulabhai proves that Apa is the main culprit. In the end, the autocratic elder sister is placed behind the bars. Mr. Anwar is released, and he along with his sisters and their husbands go to the Shaheed Minar to pay tribute to the martyred.

Cast

Shuchanda Kohinoor Akhter (known by her stage name Shuchanda) is a Bangladeshi film actress and director. She started her career in the mid 1960s and acted in about 100 movies. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director for the film ''Hajar ...

as Bithi * Razzak as Farooq * Rosy as Sathi *

Shawkat Akbar Shawkat Akbar () was a Bangladeshi film actor. His career in the Bengali film industry began in 1964 with the film ''Eito Jibon''. He is considered one of the best co-stars of the film industry of Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the Peo ...

as Anis * Rawshan Jamil as Apa *

Khan Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman (known as Khan Ata; 11 December 1928 – 1 December 1997) was a Bangladeshi film actor, director, producer, screenplay writer, music composer, and singer, best known for his role in the film '' Jibon Theke Neya'' (1970). He ...

as Dulabhai * Anwar Hossain as Mr Anwar *

Amjad Hossain Amjad Hossain (14 August 1942 – 14 December 2018) was a Bangladeshi film director, actor, scriptwriter and lyricist. He won the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director twice, for the films '' Golapi Ekhon Traine'' (1978) and '' Bha ...

as Modhu * Baby Zaman as Ghotok

Production

The film was originally titled ''Tinjon meye o ek peyala bish'' (). At the request of film producer Anis Dosani,

Zaheer Raihan Mohammad Zahirullah (19 August 1935 – disappeared 30 January 1972), known as Zahir Raihan, was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is most notable for his documentary '' Stop Genocide'' (1971), made during the Bangladesh Liberatio ...

took over the responsibility of making the film. Zaheer Raihan decided that in the story of the film, one sister will poison another sister. Writer

could not accept this story because he thought that making a film with such a story would not be popular with audiences. However, instead of writing the story as per the words of Zaheer Raihan, Amjad Hossain continued to write the story as his own. Amjad Hossain later said in an interview with ''

Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...

'' that he could not write the story as directed by the director as he could not continue making a documentary film about

Amanullah Asaduzzaman Amanullah Mohammad Asaduzzaman (known as Asad; 10 June 1942 – 20 January 1969) was an East Pakistani student activist whose death at the hands of police during a protest on 20 January 1969 "changed the nature of the student-mass movement and& ...

due to government objections. Shooting for the film began on 1 February 1970, but some scenes were recorded a year earlier. Pakistan's military government had repeatedly tried to stop the film. The government threatened the film's director and actor Razzak. The director also received death threats for this film. Film maker Alamgir Kabir attributed the film's uneven production quality to threats to ban it and to the haste with which it was made. Filming was compressed into about 25 shooting days, as little as a third of what was typical in Pakistan at that time.

Music

was the music director of this film. Although the use of Tagore songs was banned by the

information minister An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

of Pakistan,

Khwaja Shahabuddin Khawaja Shahabuddin (31 May 1898 – 9 February 1977), sometimes spelled Khwaja Shahabuddin, was a politician of Kashmiri-Bengali descent from East Pakistan who was a minister in the Government of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family. ...

, in 1967, a song by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

has been used in the film in defiance of that ban.

Release

The film was not released on the scheduled date due to government restrictions. As the film was not released, the people of East Pakistan staged protests and demonstrations in various places. So the government cleared the film and released it. The government banned the film after it was released. The military junta later lifted the ban on the film in the face of protests. The film was shown in East Pakistani cinemas for about six months. The film was also screened in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, capital of Indian Bengal in 1971.

Reception

Critical reception

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen ( ; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, and a few Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Regarded as on ...

Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Widely considered as one of the greatest film makers of all time, his works remained largely underrated and ignored during hi ...

and

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...

praised the film. Exactly one month after the release of the film, film journalist Ahmed Zaman Chowdhury wrote in the weekly '' Chitrali'' magazine, "Zahir has the ease of editing a film, but lacks overall skills. As a result, there is not always an equation of how long a shot will last. So the application ends before it is spread." According to Bidhan Biberu, the film was able to represent the then Bengali society of

. Criticizing the film, Alamgir Kabir said that the character of the elder sister in the film is arranged in the style of

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

and the family shown in the film is compared with the politics of Pakistan at that time. However, according to him, such a family is not realistic in the true sense. He noted that many scenes showed in the film were not perfect.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jibon Theke Neya 1970 films 1970 drama films 1970s political films 1970s Bengali-language films Political satire films Bengali-language Pakistani films Bangladeshi political films Bangladeshi drama films Films scored by Khan Ataur Rahman Films directed by Zahir Raihan Films about poisonings Films based on Bengali language movement