''Chowronghee'' ( bn, চৌরঙ্গী) is a 1968 Indian

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 ...

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

by Pinaki Bhushan Mukherjee, starring

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, Screenwriter, script writer, composer, and sing ...

and

Subhendu Chatterjee Shubhendu Chatterjee, M.B.B.S. (29 November 1936 – 5 July 2007) was an Indian physician and actor, who is known for acting in Bengali television and films. A contemporary of actors Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, with whom he played seco ...

who played the lead role and

Biswajit Chatterjee Biswajit Chatterjee (born 14 December 1936), known mononymously as Biswajit, is an Indian actor, producer, director, singer and politician known for his work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Early career After films in Calcutta including ''May ...

Supriya Devi Supriya Devi (Supriya Choudhury; 8 January 1933 – 26 January 2018) was an Indian actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema for more than 50 years. She is best known for her portrayal of Neeta in Ritwik Ghatak's Bengali film '' Megh ...

and Anjana Bhowmick in supporting role. The music of the film composed by Ashima Bhattachariya who also produced this film. The film is based on a Bengali novel of the same name by

Shankar Shankar may refer to: People * Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer * L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar * San ...

and was a huge hit in its own right. The film is regarded as one of the greatest film in Bengali cinema and for Uttam's career.

Plot

The movie revolves around the experiences of the characters the author Shankar meets while working at one of the largest and most reputed hotels of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, Hotel Shahjahan. At the end of the movie, most of the characters experience tragedy, in one form or another. The major characters Shankar encounters with are: * Mr. Satyasundar (Sata) Bose is Shankar's co-worker and the receptionist at the hotel. Mr. Bose, played by

, is shown to be extremely friendly, benevolent and loved by all. Being an efficient worker, he takes care of all the guests very well, including guarding their secrets, and earns the respect and admiration of his boss, Marco Polo (played by

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

). He and Ms. Sujata Mitra (played by Anjana Bhowmick), an air hostess who visits the hotel frequently, become close they decide to marry. Sata resigns from his profession as a receptionist in search for a better life after their wedding. Sujata too decides to resign from her work since married women can no longer be employed as air hostesses. Unfortunately, just as she was about to take her last flight as an air hostess, she meets with a tragic air crash while take off that leads to her death. Her death leaves Sata bereaved and unable to live with the fond memories of the past, he leaves

and goes to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

where his former boss, Mr. Marco Polo has opened a new hotel and is more than willing to have him as his old fond worker. Thereafter, the fate of Sata Bose remains unknown. * Ms. Karabi Guha, played by

, is a housekeeper and hostess at the guest house owned by Mr. Aggarwal who is apparently a friend of the Pakrashis (see below). She takes a leading role in helping close an important deal with the German businessmen who are visiting Kolkata. When she learns of the plot of Mrs. Pakrashi's (see below) brother in jeopardizing the business agreement, she alerts Anindya Pakrashi. Eventually, Anindya and Karabi fall in love. However, when Mrs. Pakrashi learns this, she insults Karabi and warns her to leave Anindya in exchange for money. Eventually, in the middle of an intense altercation, Karabi shows the pictures of Mrs. Pakrashi with her boyfriends. This leaves Mrs. Pakrashi stunned and agrees to let Karabi marry Anindya. However, later, thinking about this incident, Karabi feels an intense sense of guilt for her actions. Unable to confront with her feelings, she decides to end her life. * Anindya Pakrashi, played by

Biswajit Biswajit Chatterjee (born 14 December 1936), known mononymously as Biswajit, is an Indian actor, producer, director, singer and politician known for his work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Early career After films in Calcutta including ''Ma ...

is the son of a renowned business personality of Kolkata, Mr. Madhab Pakrashi. He is shown to be as well mannered, humble and friendly. After returning from

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

, Madhab Pakrashi entrusts him with dealing with the German businessmen. In his effort, Anindya finds Karabi to be extremely helpful. Eventually, Karabi and Anindya fall in love. When unable to confront with her feelings, Karabi kills herself, it leaves him heart-broken and dumbfounded. The fate of Anindya Pakrashi remains unclear after this incident. * Madhab Pakrashi is a renowned business man of Kolkata. Remaining busy and out of town most of the time, he is unaware of his wife's infidelity. His only son, Anindya is educated abroad. When his son returns to Kolkata, he entrusts Anindya with dealing with the German businessmen. * Mrs. Pakrashi, wife of the renowned businessman Madhab Pakrasi leads a double life. In the morning, she devotes herself to social work appearing as a perfect

woman. At night, she visits the hotel in disguise and spends nights with her then boyfriend. As per Sata Bose, she engages in short term sexual relationships with different men at different times. Apparently, as shown in the movie, only Sata Bose, Shankar and Karabi know about her infidelity and double life. * Sujata Mitra, played by Anjana Bhowmick, is an

air hostess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

by profession. Her family lives in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. As an air hostess, she spends her nights serving the passengers on board and lives at the hotels in the various cities where her work takes her. Sata finds her simple minded, smart and attractive and falls in love with her. She too commits to Sata and buys him a new apartment where they would spend their life together once married. Unfortunately, on her last flight as an air hostess, before leaving her profession, her plane has an accident and she dies. This accident leaves Sata bereaved and heart-broken.

Cast

as Mr. Satyasundar Bose/Sata *

as Shankar *

as Ms. Karabi Guha *

as Anindya Pakrashi * Anjana Bhowmick as Ms. Sujata Mitra *

as Marco Polo *

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

as Nityahari Babu *

Haradhan Banerjee Haradhan Bandopadhyay (6 November 1926 – 5 January 2013) was a Bengali Indian male actor of television and films. He made his debut in the 1948 Bengali film ''Devdut'', directed by Atanu Bandopadhyay. He worked with some of the most prominen ...

as Jimmy * Sukhen Das as Gurberia *

Soundtrack

Production

The film is based on

Mani Shankar Mukherjee Mani Shankar Mukherjee (commonly known as ''Sankar'' in both Bengali and English-language literature) is an Indian writer in the Bengali language, who also served as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He grew up in Howrah district of West Bengal. Personal ...

's novel ''Chowronghee''. Pinaki Bhusan Mukherjee directed the film, with music composed and also produced by Ashima Bhattachariya. Film production started during 1967–1968. For the film shooting, staff were booked to the

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

of Kolkata. The film shooted in Grand Hotel and Technicians Studio, both place. There is two main protagonists Sata Bose the character played by Uttam, and a writer Shankar played by

. During the starting of the shooting Subhendu had scheduling problems because he was attending in the Frankfurt Festival for his film '' Panchashwaar''. Then he contacted Uttam to pause filming. Then Uttam requested to the producer and director to start filming a few days later.

Reception

Released in Durga Puja occasion in 1968 the film generally became superhit and ran for 112 days in theater. Film become huge popular and received huge acclaim like novel, but novel and the film both did not receive any awards, and also Uttam never got any awards for his outstanding performance in the film. The film earned the cult status.

Award

; Bengal Film Journalists Association Award *1969 : Bengal Film Journalists Association - Best Female Playback Singer Award -

Pratima Banerjee Pratima may refer to: * Pratima (Jainism) * ''Pratima'' (film), a 1945 Indian Hindustani-language film * Pratima Bansal Pratima "Tima" Bansal is a Canadian economist and management professor. She is a professor of strategy at the Ivey Busines ...

Remakes

National Award winner director Srijit Mukherjee made a film based on this in 2019, ''

Shahjahan Regency ''Shah Jahan Regency'' is an Indian Bengali drama film directed by Srijit Mukherji, under the banner of SVF Entertainment Pvt Ltd, starring Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Anirban Bhattacharya, Swastika ...

''.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0244460, title=Chowringhee 1968 films Bengali-language Indian films Films set in Kolkata 1960s Bengali-language films Films based on Indian novels Films based on works by Mani Shankar Mukherjee