''Lathi'' () is a 1996 Indian Bengali-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Prabhat Roy. Produced by Shanti Film Corporation, it stars Victor Banerjee as the protagonist, with an ensemble cast consisting of Soumitra Chatterjee,

Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors of modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He is the son of Bollyw ...

, Debashree Roy, Satabdi Roy, Haradhan Bandopadhyay, Abhishek Chatterjee, Pallavi Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Deepankar De, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Kaushik Sen. The music of the film has been composed by Bappi Lahiri.

Plot

Atindranath Banerjee, an elderly man who has retired after a long career as a teacher at a local school, receives recognition and a farewell from the institution. While returning home, he is accompanied by his son-in-law, Somnath (Prosenjit Chatterjee), and his daughter, Lipi (Satabdi Roy). On the way, he witnesses an old woman from a lower social class being beaten and harassed by a local man who accuses her of being a kidnapper. Atindranath intervenes and saves her. At home, he faces mistreatment from his sons (Koushik Banerjee and Bodhiswatta) and their wives. Frustrated by their behavior, he decides to discipline them using a stick, believing it will help them improve their character. Meanwhile, his youngest son (Abhishek Chatterjee) secretly marries Banani (Rituparna Sengupta) without informing him. Despite this, Atindranath supports them, and the couple moves to a slum, where they start a teaching initiative. However, they soon face harassment from a local political leader. Meanwhile, his granddaughter, Sonali (June Malia), gets involved in a relationship with Tota Roychowdhury and becomes pregnant. In the end, with the intervention of Victor Banerjee, the political leader is dealt with, and Atindranath returns to the slum, continuing his teaching efforts. The "lathi" (stick) in the film symbolizes the old man's determination to instill discipline and improve the quality of life for those around him.

Cast

* Victor Banerjee as Atindramohan Banerjee, a former headmaster of a school * Debashree Roy as Kalyani Banerjee, Atindramohan's deceased wife * Bodhisattwa Majumdar as Jyotin Banerjee, Atindramohan's eldest son ** Soham Chakraborty as young Jyotin (Credited as Master Bittu) * Debika Mitra as Jyotin's wife *

Kaushik Banerjee Kaushik Banerjee is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He has appeared in more than a 100 films throughout his career of four decades. Born to the ace actor Haradhan Bannerjee, he made his actin ...

as Bipin Banerjee, Atindramohan's second eldest son * Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay as Bipin's wife * Abhishek Chatterjee as Nabin Banerjee, Atindramohan's youngest son * Rituparna Sengupta as Banani, Nabin's wife * Satabdi Roy as Lipi Mukherjee, Atindramohan's daughter *

as Somnath Mukherjee, Lipi's husband * June Malia as Sonali, Atindramohan's granddaughter * Pushpita Mukerjee as Pinki, Atindramohan's granddaughter * Soumitra Chatterjee as Sadananda, Atindramohan's friend (deceased) *

Nirmal Kumar Nirmal Kumar (; born 14 December 1928, in Kolkata, India) is an Indian actor who appears in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali and Hindi films. Nirmal Kumar is married to actress Madhabi Mukherjee and has two daughters. He won the B.F.J.A award for ...

as Atindramohan's friend * Haradhan Bandopadhyay as Pranotosh, Atindramohan's friend * Manoj Mitra as Shibshankar, Atindramohan's friend * Tota Roy Chowdhury as Prashanta, Sonali's boyfriend * Sabyasachi Chakraborty as Prashanta's father, an IPS officer * Mrinal Mukherjee as Sashikanta Bhattacharya, Prashanta's grandfather, an MLA *

Arindam Sil Arindam Sil (born 12 March 1964) is an Indian actor, film director and line producer who predominantly works in Bengali films. Early life Sil was born on 12 March 1964 in North Calcutta to a traditional joint family. He was a student of St. J ...

as Swarup, Sadananda's son * Rita Koiral as Swarup's wife * Pallavi Chatterjee as Uma * Saheb Bhattacharya * Deepankar De as Bivash Dastidar * Gita Dey as Manoda * Dulal Lahiri as Narayan Sen (deceased) * Koushik Sen as Goon *

Chandan Sen Chandan Sen is an Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language stage, television and film actor, playwright and director. Career He started acting in Bengali theatre in 1977. He joined ''Natya Anan'' theatre group as a creative director and an ac ...

* Joy Badlani as Goon * Partha Sarathi Deb as Doctor

Awards

References

External links

*
Lathi (1996 film)
in Gomolo 1996 films Films scored by Bappi Lahiri Bengali-language Indian films 1997 film awards Indian drama films Films directed by Prabhat Roy 1990s Bengali-language films Films set in slums {{1990s-Bengali-film-stub