Thursday, February 17, 2011

Do Bigha Zameen (1953)

Do Bigha Zameen is a Hindi movie (1953) by Bimal Roy which won the Certificate of Merit - National Award in 1954.

Cast :- Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Ratan Kumar, Jagdeep, Murad,
Nana Palsikar, Meena Kumari, Mehmood.
Directed by :- Bimal Roy
Produced by :- Bimal Roy
Written by :- Salil Choudhury (story)
Paul Mahendra (dialogue)
Hrishikesh Mukherjee (scenario)
Music by :- Salil Choudhury

Bimal Roy, one of India’s foremost film-makers, made many great films including Do bigha zamin, which is one of Roy’s best works and is a remarkable film by any standards. This shows Roy’s neo-realist form of Hindi cinema’s melodrama. Roy had deeply felt political concerns which comes upfront in this movie with great study of human values and dignity among the poor.

Do bigha zamin explores the real impact of money-lending on the peasant farmer, as he becomes enslaved by his debts. Driven to try to raise money to pay off his loan, Shambhu (Balraj Sahni) leaves his pregnant wife (Nirupa Roy) and elderly father to head for Calcutta. The city life slaps him and treats him like a proverbial step child. His young son smuggles himself onto the train and helps his father as a shoe-shiner. Robbed on their first day, both soon remake their village ties by finding surrogate families in the city: Dadi as their mother and Rani as an elder sister to the boy. Shambhu’s experience of helping a sick man leads him into rickshaw-pulling. All the terrible things falls one after the other on the family and at the end all the efforts goes in vein and Shambhu Looses his land, which he calls as his Mother. Do Bigha Zameen dives straight into the problems of farmers. A world where farmers not only live on Zamindar’s money but also on their mercies. The stark contrast between the cunningness of rich and naivety of poor is portrayed effectively.

The main strength of this film lies in the performance of Balraj Sahni as Shambhu. He brings Shambhu to life beautifully, in all his many emotions: his affection for his family, his pride and dignity, his love even for others. Sahni is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema, both during his lifetime and with hindsight. This is Balraj Sahni at his best. Interestingly, Bimal Roy faced a lot of scepticism and criticism for having cast Balraj Sahni as a villager. The actor had a very Westernised image, and most people couldn’t imagine him being a convincing peasant. But he is, very much so. Sahni is totally plausible as the desperate but determined peasant, his physical movement accurately reproducing that of a labourer, while his facial expressions are restrained and powerful.

Nirupa Roy’s performance is a delight. Her portrayal of a typical coy Indian housewife is not only accurate, it is heartwarming too. Balraj Sahni is spot on as an idealist farmer, though he gets a bit jarringly repetitive towards the end as he sings paeans of morality every second scene with his son. But, that is just a minor blemish to a very controlled and believable performance.

Do Bigha Zameen has bit parts by a few people who went on to become well-known faces in Hindi cinema. There’s Jagdeep, as Lalu Ustad; there’s Meena Kumari, as the bahu who’s kind to Paro; And there’s Mehmood, in his first film, as the young man who’s always flirting with Rani:

Do Bigha Zameen won the International Award at the Cannes Film Festival; it also won the Filmfare Awards for Best Film and Best Director (incidentally, in the first year the awards, then known as the Clare Awards, were instituted). The beauty of the film lies not in a superb plot, but in the treatment of that plot. The story (by Salil Choudhary) is simple, but the insights it offers into the characters of those who people it, are memorable. Shambhu’s stubborn hold on his dignity in the face of sheer desperation; Kanhaiya’s child-like attempts to help, even if it means doing something he knows, deep down, is wrong—and, miles away, Paro’s growing need for her husband and child—are amazingly touching.

Do Bigha Zameen is a series of vignettes: snapshots of life, both rural and urban. There are little moments of hope and joy: the landlady’s unexpected generosity when she discovers Kanhaiya is ill; the sweetness of a wealthy bahu in the village, who writes letters on behalf of Paro to Shambhu and Kanhaiya; the shy flirtation between Shambhu and Paro before the storm breaks… and the sense of achievement as every anna is hoarded up carefully, added to the till.

This is, ultimately, a film about many things: socialism, the rural-urban divide, the harsh zamindari system—but mostly about human relationships and the will to go on. It isn’t a fluffy, happy film, but it has a certain haunting power that endures.

Watch the film Online on Following link :-

Do Bigha Zameen Part 1/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 2/12


Do Bigha Zameen Part 3/12


Do Bigha Zameen Part 4/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 5/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 6/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 7/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 8/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 9/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 10/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 11/12

Do Bigha Zameen Part 12/12