''Pratham Kadam Phool'' ( bn, প্রথম কদম ফুল) is a 1969 Bengali film, written and directed by

Inder Sen Inder Sen is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter working in Bengali cinema. He has directed several films since the 1960s, making his directorial debut in the film ''Pratham Kadam Phool'', which was written based on the story of t ...

, based on the story of the same name, by

Achintya Kumar Sengupta Achintya Kumar Sengupta (born 19 September 1903 – 29 January 1976) was an Indian Bengali-language poet, story writer, novelist, biographer and editor. Life He was born in Noakhali, now in Bangladesh. At the age of 13, after his father's dea ...

. It stars

Tanuja Tanuja Samarth, known mononymously as Tanuja, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the Hindi film industry. Part of the Mukherjee-Samarth family, she is the daughter of actress Shobhna Samarth and producer Kumarsen Samarth, and was ...

and

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 ...

in the lead. The film produced by Dipangshu Kumar Deb, and edited by Arabinda Bhattacharya.

Plot

Sukanta meets Kakali in a library reading room and discovers his passion for her, though she rejects him initially. Pranta's wife, Sukanta's sister in law, has suspected the truth yet she does not dare to encourage the affair since Sukanta is not established. On another day, both Kakali and Sukanta become stranded in a lift of the library for long hours for want of power. Here, they come closer to each other, and they start meeting frequently here and there. Once, they enjoy a picnic together along with the friends of Sukanta. One day Sukanta comes to the house of Kakali, but her parents do not approve of her. After a long interval, Sukanta meets Baren, his school friend, who is now very well off. Baren works in a European firm in a high post. He has his own four-wheeler and a handsome flat where he stays with his widowed mother. When Sukanta visits her, Baren's mother expresses her wish to give her son a pleasant bride. Kakali, one day, comes to the house of Sukanta. Her maiden appearance moved every single member of Sukanta's family. In fact, the mother of Sukanta wants them to marry. The parents of Kakali refuse. So Kakali left the house and property of her father. Kakali joins Baren as a receptionist. And trouble starts in Sukanta's family. Sukanta the research scholar misjudges the relation of Kakali and Baren. Kakali leaves one day after a heated exchange. The nephew of Sukanta, who loves his aunt, misses her. He goes missing. In the meantime, Baren hears about everything from Kakali and he takes the initiative to solve it. Ultimately Kakali comes to the police station, where a happy reunion takes place.

Cast

as Sukanto Basu *

as Kakoli Mitra *

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 ...

as Baren *

Chhaya Devi Chhaya Devi ( bn, ছায়া দেবী; 3 June 1914 – 25 April 2001) was an Indian actress known for her work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. She appeared in hundreds of films for over five decades. Her first lead role was in Debaki ...

as Sukanto's Mother *

Shamit Bhanja Samit Bhanja ( bn, শমিত ভঞ্জ; 2 January 1944 – 24 July 2003) was an Indian actor and director known for his work in the Bengali cinema. He joined Rupkar, the theatre group of Sabitabrata Dutta and enacted in several plays in ...

as Bhajahari Manna (singer in Picnic) *Subrata Chatterjee as Sukanto's sister in law *

Anubha Gupta Anubha Gupta (1930 - 14 January 1972) was an Indian Bengali actress, known for her work in Bengali cinema. She received the Best Actress in Supporting Role Award at the 26th Annual BFJA Awards for the film '' Hansuli Banker Upakatha.'' Early li ...

as Sukanto's aunt *Padmadevi as Baren's mother (as Padma Devi) *Sadhana Roychoudhury as Kakoli's mother *

Tarun Kumar Chatterjee Tarun Kumar Chatterjee (24 February 1931 – 27 October 2003) was an Indian actor who is known for his exclusive work in Bengali cinema. In most of his films, his role as a supporting actor gave him huge appreciation from critics and audience. ...

as Prashanta (Sukanto's brother) *Shailen Mukherjee as Sukanto's father *Ajit Banerjee *Mihir Bhattacharya * Bhanu Banerjee as Servant (Kakoli's home) *Simantini Roy *Raktim Ghoshal *Fakir Das Kumar *Rajlakshmi Devi *Tushar Majumdar *Prabir Roy

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack has been scored by

Sudhin Dasgupta Sudhin Dasgupta ( bn, সুধীন দাশগুপ্ত; 9 October 1929 – 10 January 1982) was a prolific Bengali music director, lyricist, and singer. He worked in various other Indian languages, such as Hindi, Assamese and Oriya ...

and three out of four songs were written by him.

Pulak Banerjee Pulak Bandyopadhyay (; 2 May 1931 – 7 September 1999) was a Bengali Indian lyricist and songwriter of Bengali cinema. Early life He was born and brought up in Salkia, Howrah. His family had close links with art circles, in particular in dram ...

wrote the song "Ami Shri Shri Bhojohori Manna". All the song playback by

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

and

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

References

External links

* 1969 films Bengali-language Indian films 1960s Bengali-language films Films based on Indian novels Indian drama films 1969 drama films Films scored by Sudhin Dasgupta {{1960s-Bengali-film-stub