Satyajit Ray showed his class in casting in Post Master and Monihara.

Satyajit Ray

showed his mastery in casting in Post Master and Monihara. Satyajit Ray was a master of casting whenever film direction was in question. He experimented with Rabindranath Tagore’s epic literature Teen Kanya in his film Teen Kanya. He chose the stories Post Master, Manihara and Shamapti. In Post Master, Ray’s choice of Anil Chatterji in the role of Post Master showed his immense class in casting of characters. Anil Chatterji displayed the uneasiness of a Post Master in adjusting in village conditions very well. He listened to the rural music of the old villagers. He got frightened to weird mannerism of Nripati Chatterji who played the role of a village beggar. He faced fever, and even in sleep he dreamt about the weird beggar. Ray’s casting of Chandana Banerjee in the role of the little girl was equally excellent. The girl lost her parents at a young age and served the Post Masters in the village. She took care of Anil Chatterji when he got fever and treated him like an elder brother. Anil Chatterji taught him to read and write. When he got transferred and a new Post Master came in his place, Chandana Banerjee made the viewers weep through her passionate expression. She got attached with the Post Master and did not even take the money offered to her by Anil Chatterji when he left the village. In Manihara, the casting of Kali Banerjee and Konika Majumdar in the lead roles also showed Ray’s class. Kali Banerjee was a zamindar and Konika Majumdar was his wife. She had a troubled past. She was possessive towards her jewellery. When Kali Banerjee went to Kolkata for work, she asked one of her friends to reach her to her native town. Konika Majumdar died. When Kali Banerjee returned back, her ghost came and appeared before Kali Banerjee. Kali Banerjee looked at her hand full of jewellary which later turned into a skeleton. A road passer told the story to a visitor who was also a ghost. Kali Banerjee’s frightened expression amazed the viewers. Ray was a great artist and his illustration helped him to cast the right actors and actresses at the right roles. The characters came out of classic novels and mesmerized the viewers with conviction and accuracy. The film should be preserved for Tagore’s brilliant literature, Ray’ s powerful direction and the effortless performances of main actors and actresses in the film.

Hire Manik was a noble venture.

Hire Manik was a noble venture.

Director Salil Dutta made a noble venture with the film Hire Manik in the late 70s. The film was related to the story of two small children Hire and Manik and released in 1979.

Their father Asim Kumar and mother were on a drive when a lorry collided with their car and both were spot dead leaving the two children as orphans. But Asim Kumar’s Fixed Deposits earned a lot of interest and his lawyer Ajitesh Banerjee asked his brother Bikash Roy to take care of the two children and use the money.

Bikash Roy’s brother in law Chinmoy Roy hammered the children and their life was in misery. At that point they escaped from the house and went to a Dhaba. The owner of the Dhaba gave them work of washing dishes. But Chinmoy Roy chased them up with his assistant, a dog named Bruno and a car. The two children got on Satya Banerjee’s lorry and escaped into a forest.

They reached the house of Anil Chatterjee and Sabitri Chatterjee. Sabitri Chatterjee lost her own son and loved the two children and treated them when they were sick. But just because she suspected that they stole a toy from a shop she asked them to leave. They were confronted with an elephant in the forest who was looking for the young one. At the end of the film, they were rescued by Anil Chatterjee, Ajitesh and Sabitri and brought back to their house.

Mrinal Banerjee, the music composer composed impressive tunes including “aaj amader jatra shuru” sung by Arati Mukherjee, “jongol er naam jongol” sung by Manna Dey and other songs. The performances of the two children Hire and Manik were excellent along with the effort of Chinmoy Roy, Anil Chatterjee, Sabitri Chatterjee and others.

Salil Dutta made a fruitful venture in the late 70s and the film still remains one of the popular Bengali films made only for children.

Anil Chatterji – the towering actor of Bengali cinema.

Anil Chatterji – the towering actor of Bengali cinema.

Anil Chatterji, on of the towering actors of Bengali cinema had performed in dynamic roles both in the realistic films of Satyajit Ray, Hrithik Ghatak, at the same time had performed in commercial films opposite Uttam Kumar. He played the role of Post Master to perfection in Ray’s film Teen Kanya based on Tagore’s literature. He reached the depth of the character to understand the feelings of as teenage girl who used to work for the post master in a remote village of West Bengal who attached herself with him and when he got transferred became sad and continued with her solitary life in the remote village.


He surprised Tragedy King Dilip Kumar in the Bengali and hindi version of the film Sagina Mahato directed by Tapan Sinha. Dilip Kumar was a union leader who understood the pulse of the northeastern people and became their leader but Anil Chatterji used him for the enhancement of popularity of his own party and after the goal was fulfilled he made him a villain in the eyes of the same people ho made him the leader.

In Hrithik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara, Anil Chatterji, acted as a singer who had faced the pains of partition of Bengal during India’s independence and lived a tragic life. Is sister played by Supriya Chowdhury worked as a teacher and fed the family. Anil Chatterji struggled hard and got success in classical music in the frag end of the film but by that time his sister got infected with tuberculosis and he could not save her life. He displayed the compassionate shades of character and showed his observation in life and displayed the helplessness of a victim of partition.

He played the role of Deshbandhu CR Das in a historical film and was appreciated for his spirited performance. He also acted as a police officer in Shakti Samanta’s successful film Amanush, in both the bengali and hindi version where Uttam Kumar was the leading actor and when required Anil Chatterji even whipped Uttam Kumar to transform his character.


It is difficult to mention the contribution of legendary actor like Anil Chatterji in a small article as his films Komol Gandhar, Mahanagar, Ami Se O Sakha, Nirjan Saikate are milestones of Bengali films, and had Soumitra Chatterji not got the accolade of a powerful character actor in realistic films, Anil Chatterji could have been portrayed as strong competitor of Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of bengali cinema. His films should be restored and preserved.