Cinema
Bhuvan Shome
भुवन शोम
Mrinal Sen · 1969
Synopsis
Bhuvan Shome, a widower and senior Bengali railway official, lives in iron discipline: he has just suspended a ticket inspector accused of corruption when he grants himself a holiday to hunt duck in the Gujarat countryside. A jolting bullock cart, a furious buffalo, birds nowhere to be found: the expedition turns into a rout, until a spirited young village girl, Gouri, sets about helping him trap the birds.
Context
The film was shot on a modest budget, thanks to the Film Finance Corporation, from a Bengali short story by Banaphool, and partly in Saurashtra. It was the first Hindi film for both its director and its lead actor, Utpal Dutt; Suhasini Mulay had never acted, even at school, and the cinematographer K. K. Mahajan was making his first feature film. The voice that introduces the character is that of Amitabh Bachchan, paid three hundred rupees: his first fee in cinema.
Who it is for
A short film, ninety-six minutes, in Hindi with passages in Bengali and Gujarati, subtitled.
Prizes and reception
National awards for best film, best direction and best actor; regarded as the film that opened the new Indian cinema.
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