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Bancharamer Bagan
aka The Garden of Bancharam 1980 133’ col Bengali d/sc/co-dial/lyr/m Tapan Sinha p Dhiresh Kumar Chakraborty st/co-dial Manoj Mitra, based on his play c Bimal Mukherjee lp Manoj Mitra, Nirmal Kumar, Dipankar Dey, Robi Ghosh, Bishwa Guha-Thakurta, Debika Mukherjee, Donald F. Sihan, Bhanu Bannerjee, Madhabi Chakraborty
Sinha’s excursion into the fairy-tale genre tells of an old peasant, Bancharam (Mitra), who defeats the tyrannical landlord Chhakari (Dey). Inheriting a dry patch of land, Bancharam converts it into a fabulous garden. The British magistrate supports him when Chhakari attempts to acquire the garden, after which he dies. Chhakari’s son Nakari tries a new strategem: he promises Bancharam Rs 100 every month provided Bancharam bequeaths his garden to the landowner by a specific date. Bancharam agrees but amazingly becomes healthier with every passing day, repeatedly promising to die but failing to do so. Come the appointed day, Nakari arrives with the funeral band and finds Bancharam glowing with health. Nakari collapses on the prepared funeral bed and dies instead. The film used several theatrical techniques, including direct address and rhyming dialogue, and has fine performances by Mitra, the author of the popular play, and Dipankar Dey.