Agragami and Bengali films.

Agragami Film Sagarika.


Agragami and Bengali films.

In the 50s and 60s, in the list of eminent Bengali directors who had directed refined commercial films other than Ajoy Kar, Agradoot, the team of Agragami was the most prominent team of directors, led by the eminent personality Saroj Dey.
Saroj Dey was born in 1921. In 1956, Agragami directed Uttam Kumar Suchitra Sen’s super hit film Sagarika. The film again bolstered the bond of composer Robin Chatterjee, singer Sandhya Mukherjee and actress Suchitra Sen. All the songs in the film became super hit including Sandhya Mukherjee’s “sei to amar prothomo faguno bela”, “Alpona Banerjee’s “hridoy amar sundoro tobo paye”, Shyamal Mitra’s “amar sopne dekha rajkonya thake”, to name a few. In the same year, Agragami’s film Shilpi did excellent business. Uttam Kumar and Suchita Sen were outstanding in the film and the character artists Kamal Mitra, Asit Boron, and others amazed the viewers. Robin Chatterjee’s music was excellent with Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s song “bondhu re” mesmerizing the audience.

From commercial films, Agragami started making realistic films in the mid-50s like Head Master and Dakharkora. In Head Master, legendary actor Chabi Biswas played the role of Head Master. He brought tears in the eyes of the viewers by depicting the life of a Head Master. Karuna Banerjee played the role of the wife of Chabi Biswas. Kali Banerjee in the film Dakharkora made the viewers spellbound with his rural performance. He played the role of a post-man in the film who travelled by bicycle and carried the postal documents to different destinations. Composer Sudhin Dasgupta was excellent in the film especially in Manna Dey’s song “ogo tomar shesh bicharer ashay” which was written by Tarashankar Banerjee. Sabitri Chatterjee did a great job in the film too.

After making successful films like Kanna, Nishithe in the mid-60s, Agragami again astonished the viewers with Uttam Kumar’s successful film Shankhabela. In the film the progress and decline of a high-earning personality played by Uttam Kumar was projected. His over-drinking habit led to separation with his wife Madhabi Mukherjee who lived with her small son alone. When the son fell ill, Bosonto Choudhury, the great doctor in the film treated him. Bosonto Choudhury helped in the re-union of Uttam Kumar with Madhabi Mukherjee over the recovery of their small child. The music of Sudhin Dasgupta was excellent once again with Manna Dey’s hit song “dekechi ke age ke diyeche sara”, “ami agantuk ami barta dilam” and Lata Mangeshkar’s brilliant song ‘aaj mon cheyeche ami hariye jabo”. Agragami’s film Bilombito Loy in 1970, with Uttam Kumar and Supriya Debi was also successful. Composer Nochiketa Ghosh’s music in the film was impressive.

Saroj Dey made the film Koni in the early 80s, in his own name by not using the banner of Agragami. There Soumitra Chatterjee played the role of trainer of swimming who groomed a female swimmer in Bengal. One article is too small to highlight the achievements of eminent director like Agragami. Articles after articles can be devoted to the genius director. His films and works should be preserved.

Sagarika was Agragami's masterpiece.

Sagarika was Agragami’s masterpiece.

Sagarika was one of the early films of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, which cemented their position in Tollygunge film industry and also displayed the directorial skills of Agragami. Agragami was mainly constituted by a number of directors, among whom Saroj Dey was the leading director.
The film was directed and released in 1956. In the film Uttam Kumar was a doctor who required the recommendation of Principal of Medical College played by Kamal Mitra to get scholarship to furnish post-graduate degree abroad. His poetry relating to Suchitra Sen, was copied by Namita Sinha. She showed it to Suchitra Sen who was also a medical student, who complained before Kamal Mitra and Uttam Kumar lost the recommendation.

He managed the passage money from Jahar Ganguly, who payed his uncle Pahari Sanyal the money and made arrangement to marry his daughter Jamuna Singha with Uttam Kumar after he returned back from abroad.

Namita Sinha later confessed to Suchitra Sen about her mischief and she repented about it. Jahar Ganguly brought Jamuna Singha to Suchitra Sen’s house to learn the city culture of Kolkata. Uttam Kumar while staying abroad, met with an accident and became partially blind before returning back to Kolkata.

His friend Jiben Bose who was a wealthy doctor gave him stay in his house during his treatment. Suchitra Sen treated him. At the end of the film when Uttam Kumar got his vision back through operation by an International doctor, Jamuna Singha was send to him. He recognized it was not Suchitra Sen and accepted Suchitra Sen as his wife.

The music composed by Robin Chatterjee played a great role in the success of the film. All the songs composed by Robin Chatterji in the film became super hit including Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “ei to amar prothomo faguna bela”, Shyamal Mitra’s song “amar sapne dekha rajkonya thake”, Alpona Banerjee’s song “hridoy amar sundoro tobo pay” to mention a few.

The film should be preserved and restored for the excellent direction of Agragami, and powerful performances of Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Jiben Bose, Jahar Ganguly, Pahari Sanyal and others.