Kabuliwala

Adaptation of Tagore's short story of the same name. Too much real, and too much important too. I mentioned in somewhere else that Tagore was a great short story writer, and this is considered to be one of his top ten works. Even, as a film, this was pathbreaking because the previous Tagore adaptations were too much stiff and unreal to consume, ever for the old days' standard. This movie treatment was remade by the great Balraj Sahni and had so many beautiful songs in it.

Not too many films of yesteryears have survived the ravages of time. Thus, it was heartening to see that the print quality of this 54 year old Bengali film , an award winner @ Berlin Film Festival in 1962 in a good condition.

Watching the film one felt how the natural school of acting thrived in those days in the films of filmmakers like Tapan Sinha. It is a delight to watch actors like Chabi Biswas, Radhamohan Bhattacharyya, Manju Dey, Jahar Roy and others bring their respective roles alive with such finesse.

Around late 50s-early 60s Bengali filmmakers like Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha made a foreigner in Kolkata as the protagonist of their films. Kali Bannerjee played a Chinese hawker in Sen's NEEL AKASER NEECHEY & Sinha's KABULIWALLAH showcased Chabi Biswas as an Afghani Pathan. Both the films play around with suspicions arising in the minds of people when a bonding develops between the foreigner with a local (the wife in NEEL AKASER NEECHEY & the little girl in KABULIWALLAH). Did the two writers, Mahadevi Verma (Neel Akaser Neechey) & Tagore (Kabuliwallah) ever found any similarities in their works? In both the films the ending finds the protagonist returning to his home country.

The child actor is superlative. Jeben Bose & Nripati Chaterjee act in supporting roles. The director uses a couple of Rabindrasangeet in the film. KHORO BAYU BOY BEGE is one of them. The music of the film was scored by sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. Rating: 3.8 out of 5

Here I was introduced to young Tapan Sinha and the giant of an actor, Chhabi Biswas. Based on a short story of Tagore, this leaves a mark, stupendous direction by someone who went on to become one of the best from his country. A heart-warming tale by the Nobel laureate gets perfect cinematic treatment and drenches your soul leaving you to tears. A must watch again... 9/10.