''Nilachaley Mahaprabhu'' was a

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

Indian Bengali biographical film directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay, based on the life of 15th-century mystic

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishn ...

, who started his spiritual journey and Hindu reform movement, part of the

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6th cent ...

during his years at

Nilachal The abode of Hindu deity Jagannath at Puri is known as the Nilachala or Niladri, ila (Blue) + Achala (Mountain)meaning, The Blue Mountain. The Nilachala is a place of high religious significance in Hinduism and is one of the four Char Dhams. ...

, the shrine of

Jagannath Jagannath ( or, ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ, lit=Lord of the Universe, Jagannātha; formerly en, Juggernaut) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India and Bangladesh as part of a triad along with his brother Balabhadra, and sister ...

at Puri. It stars Asim Kumar in the titular role with Dipti Roy, Sumitra Devi, Ahindra Choudhury, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay,

Nripati Chattopadhyay Nripati Nath Chttopadhyay ( bn, নৃপতি নাথ চট্টোপাধ্যায়; born 1907 – 27 May 1975) was a Bengali actor, known for his role in '' Teen Kanya'' (1961), ''Bhanu Pelo Lottery'' (1958) and ''Dui Bari'' (1963). ...

and

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 '' Jalshaghar'' (''The Music Room'', 1958), '' Devi'' ...

in supporting roles. At the beginning of his career, a 20-year-old

Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of I ...

was rejected in his screen test for the film by director Kartik Chattopadhyay, he later made his debut with ''

Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...

'' (1959). The film continues to be a popular amongst Chaitanya and Krishna devotees and

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktiv ...

followers.

Cast

* Asim Kumar as Chaitanya * Dipti Roy as Vishnupriya *

Ahindra Choudhury Ahindra Choudhury (1896-1974) was an Indian actor, director, theatre personality and the co-founder of ''Photo Play Syndicate'', a Kolkata-based art organization for bioscope shows. A winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1958, Choudhur ...

Dhiraj Bhattacharya Dhiraj Bhattacharya (5 November 1905 - 1959) was an actor of Bengali and Hindi cinema who began in silent films. He was also a theater personality and writer. Early life Bhattacharya was born in a zamindar family of Panjia village, near Jessor ...

* Nitish Mukhapadhyay * Kanu Banerjee * Gurudas Bandyopadhyay *

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 ...

* Nripati Chattopadhyay *

* Sumitra Devi *

Molina Devi Molina Devi (1917 — 13 August 1977), also known as Molina Debi and Malina Debi, was a Bengali Indian actress of Bengali and Hindi film and theatre. As an actress, she played a wide variety of parts, later frequently playing matronly parts, es ...

* Padma Devi * Shikharani * Sumita Bandha * Jnanadakakuti * Suruchi Sengupta * Kumari Indrani

References

External links

* Bengali-language Indian films Indian biographical films Bengali-language biographical films Films set in the 15th century Biographical films about religious leaders Indian historical films Jagannath Films about Hinduism Indian black-and-white films Films set in Odisha 1950s Bengali-language films 1950s biographical films 1950s historical films {{1950s-Bengali-film-stub