''Neel Akasher Neechey'' (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: নীল আকাশের নীচে ''Nil akasher niche'', "Under the Blue Sky") is a 1959

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

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 ...

directed by

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 ...

and produced by

Hemanta Mukherjee Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other India ...

, starring Kali Bannerjee, Manju Dey,

Bikash Roy Bikash Roy (16 May 1916 – 16 April 1987) was an Indian actor and filmmaker who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He is considered as one of the best character artists of india, all time. He has also acted in lead roles in few movies an ...

in lead roles. The film was based on the

Mahadevi Verma Mahadevi Varma (26 March 1907 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi, Hindi-language poet, essayist, short story writer, and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the ''Chhayavaad, C ...

short story ''Chini Feriwala''. Set in the background of the last days of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, the film explores the lives of a number of characters, including the platonic relationship between an immigrant Chinese wage worker, Wang Lu, and the main female character Basanti. The film had overt political overtones and was the first film to be banned by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. The ban was effective for two months.

Plot

Set in the 1930s, the film tells the story of an honest Chinese hawker, Wang Lu, who sells silk in Calcutta's streets while refusing to get involved in the opium trade run by his fellow countrymen. He feels a sisterly affection towards Basanti, the wife of a lawyer who is engaged in a nationalist political group. Basanti is arrested and imprisoned causing Wang Lu to get involved with her political group. He later returns to China to join the resistance movement against the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II, and often r ...

in 1931.

Cast

* Kali Bannerjee as Wang Lu * Manju Dey as Basanti *

as Basanti's husband * Smriti Biswas as Maki * Suruchi Sengupta * Ajit Chatterjee * Rasaraj Chakraborty * Mei-Lin Jiang as Mei-Lin in special appearance

Soundtrack

References

External links

* * 1958 films 1958 drama films Bengali-language Indian films Indian drama films Films directed by Mrinal Sen Films set in Kolkata Censored films Film censorship in India Films set in the British Raj 1950s Bengali-language films Films based on Indian novels Second Sino-Japanese War films Films set in the 1930s Films shot in Kolkata Films set in the Indian independence movement Cultural depictions of Chinese people Films about immigration Films based on short fiction 1950s controversies {{1950s-Bengali-film-stub