''Saheb Bibi Golam'' is a 1956 Bengali film directed by Kartik Chatterjee. It is based on a Bengali novelist Bimal Mitra's 1953 novel of the same name. The film explores the tragic fall of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

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 ...

during 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 ...

. The title of the movie and the story is a reference to the plot simultaneously exploring a platonic relationship between a beautiful, forlorn wife of an aristocrat and a career-driven clerk. The film stars Sumitra Devi,

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), widely known as Mahanayak (), was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and playback singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema ...

Chhabi Biswas Chhabi Biswas (''Chabi Biśbās''; 13 July 1900 – 11 June 1962) was an Indian actor, primarily known for his performances in Tapan Sinha's '' Kabuliwala'' and Satyajit Ray's films '' Jalsaghar'' (''The Music Room'', 1958), ''Devi'' (''The G ...

Pahari Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films, such as ''Harano Sur'', ''Bhan ...

. This film is considered to be one of the greatest Bengali films ever made. The storyline is based on the backdrop of the British rule in India and deals with the shocking downfall of Bengal feudalism during that period. Featuring Uttam Kumar, Sumitra Devi along with Chhabi Biswas this film is one of the best Bengali films that has ever been made and was later saw a Hindi remake titled ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’ that proved to be one of the most critically acclaimed Bollywood movies. The film is considered one of Best Bengali films ever made.

Plot

The film opens at the ruins of an old

haveli A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, or manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', me ...

in Calcutta, where a group of labourers are busy pulling down what remains. When the workers break off for lunch, the overseer (

) wanders through the mansion. As he sits at a place there begins a flashback to the end of the 19th century. The lower-class and educated Bhutnath arrives in colonial Calcutta looking for work. He is granted to stay in the grand mansion of an aristocratic family. He works at the Mohini Sindoor factory run by Subinay Babu (

), a dedicated member of the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

. Subinay Babu's daughter Jaba (Anubha Gupta) is amused by Bhutnath whom she considers an unsophisticated rustic. Bhutnath becomes fascinated with the goings-on in the mansion and every night observes the decadent lifestyle of the Choudhury brothers. One night the servant, Bansi (Kanu Banerjee), takes Bhutnath to meet the younger landlord's beautiful wife Pateshwari ( Sumitra Devi) who implores him to bring her Mohini Sindoor believing it will keep her unfaithful husband home. Bhutnath is struck by her beauty and sadness and inadvertently becomes Pateshwari's secret confidante. A bomb explodes in the marketplace and Bhutnath is injured in the ensuing crossfire between freedom fighters and British soldiers. Jaba looks after him. Pateshwari's repeated attempts to appease her husband fail until she becomes his drinking companion to keep him by her side. Jaba's marriage is finalised with Supavitra (a member of Bramho Samaj) but after her father's death she declined the marriage. Bhutnath becomes a trainee architect and goes away to work on a training project. After his return he find the mansion in partial ruins. Pateshwari is now a desperate alcoholic and her husband, paralysed. Meanwhile, he learns that he and Jaba were betrothed as children. One night Pateshwari asks Bhutnath to accompany her to a nearby shrine to pray for her ailing husband. Their plan to go to the shrine is informed to the elder landlord (

), who suspects that Pateshwari is having an affair with Bhutnath. He orders his henchmen to chase them. As Bhutnath and Pateshwari travel in the carriage, it is stopped by the henchmen. Bhuthnath is knocked unconscious and Pateshwari is abducted. When he wakes up in hospital, Bhutnath is informed that Pateshwari has disappeared and the younger landlord is dead. The flashback ends. Bhutnath's workers inform him that a skeleton is found buried in the ruins of the mansion. From the bangles around the hand of the corpse, Bhutnath realises it is the remains of Pateshwari.

Cast

as Bhutnath * Sumitra Devi as Choto Bou Rani *

as Mejo Babu *Nitish Mukherjee as Choto Babu *

Chhaya Devi Chhaya Devi (; 3 June 1914 – 25 April 2001) was an Indian actress known for her work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. She appeared in over two hundred films for over five decades. Her first lead role was in Debaki Bose's Bengali film ''Sonar ...

as Boro Bou Rani *Padma Devi as Mejo Bou Rani *

as Subinay Babu *

Anubha Gupta Anubha Gupta (27 December 1929 – 14 January 1972) was an Indian Bengalis, Bengali actress and singer who is known for her work in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. She received the Best Actress in Supporting Role Award at the 26th Annual ...

as Jaba *

Jahar Ganguly Jahar Ganguly (October 1904 – 1969) was an Indian actor and theater personality. He received Best actor award in 6th Annual Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards in 1943 for his performance in ''Bandi''. Career Ganguly was born in undiv ...

Bhanu Banerjee Bhanu Banerjee, also known as Bhanu Bandyopadhyay (born as Samyamoy Banerjee; 26 August 1920 – 4 March 1983), was an Indian actor, known for his work in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He acted in over 300 movies, in numerous plays and ...

Kanu Banerjee Kanu Banerjee (Kanu Bandyopadhyay; 20 June 1905 – 27 January 1983) was an Indian actor and director of Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema and Bengali theatre, theatre.Soumitra Das and Dalia Mukherje (5 August 2012)"The matter-of-fact ac ...

as Bongshi *Haridhan Banerjee *

Nabadwip Haldar Nabadwip Haldar was an Indian actor, comedian and theater personality who is known for work in Bengali cinema. Early life Haldar was born in 1911 in Sonpalashi village, near Hatgobindapur, in undivided Burdwan district in British India. After ...

Soundtrack

The lyrics was written by Pranob Roy.

Reception

The film regarded as one of the greatest Bengali film ever made. Generally film become superhit. Uttam Kumar performance as Bhootnath was great acclaim by the critics. Famous actor Biswajeet Chatterjee inspired to his performance when he played Bhootnath role in Drama at Rangamancha theater. This film is considered as one of the best film ever made.

Remakes

In 1962 the film was remade in Hindi as '' Sahib Biwi Aur Gulam'' by

Guru Dutt Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964; also known as Gurudatta Padukone) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998 ...

(Producer and director) and he also played Bhootnath role while

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Known as "The Tragedy Queen", she is regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinem ...

and

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress. Regarded among the most accomplished actresses of Hindi cinema, she has worked in more than Waheeda Rehman filmography, 90 feature films, in a career spanning over five decades. Her ac ...

also starred as Chhoti Bahu and Jabba role. It's remade again in Bengali in 2016 in same title starring

Swastika Mukherjee Swastika Mukherjee (born 13 December 1980) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Bengali and Hindi films and television. She is the daughter of actor Santu Mukhopadhyay. Throughout her career, she received various accolades including fou ...

, Anjan Dutta and Ritwik Chakraborty.

References