| Ogo Bodhu Shundori | |
|---|---|
_film_poster.jpeg) Theatrical poster ofOgo Bodhu Shundori | |
| Directed by | Salil Dutta |
| Adapted from | Pygmalion(British Play) byGeorge Bernard Shaw My Fair Lady(British Film) byGeorge Cukor |
| Screenplay by | Bibhuti Mukherjee |
| Dialogues by | Bibhuti Mukherjee |
| Story by | Kamal Bansal |
| Produced by | Kamal Bansal |
| Starring | Uttam Kumar Ranjit Mallick Moushumi Chatterjee Sumitra Mukherjee Santosh Dutta Bikash Roy |
| Cinematography | Bijoy Ghosh |
| Edited by | Baidyanath Chatterjee |
| Music by | Bappi Lahiri |
Production companies | R. D. B. & Co. |
| Distributed by | R. D. B. & Co |
Release date |
|
Running time | 132 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
Ogo Bodhu Shundori (Bengali pronunciation:[ˈoɡoˈbɔd̪ʱuʃunˈd̪ɔri]transl. Hey Beautiful Bride) is a 1981Bengali-languagemasala film directed bySalil Dutta. Produced and conceptualized by Kamal Bansal under the banner of R. D. B. & Co.,[1] the title of the film is taken from aRabindra Sangeet of the same name. It starsUttam Kumar,Ranjit Mallick,Moushumi Chatterjee andSumitra Mukherjee in lead roles, with a supporting cast includingSantosh Dutta,Bikash Roy,Haradhan Banerjee andChinmoy Roy. It depicts Gagan, a phonetics professor who casually wagers his socialistic wife of teaching a poor monkey-showwoman to speak Bengali and English and also making her cultured with the society.
Written by Bibhuti Mukherjee, the film is an adaptation ofGeorge Bernard Shaw's playPygmalion (1913) andGeorge Cukor's American filmMy Fair Lady (1964).[2] It marks the seventh collaboration between Dutta and Kumar.[3] Music of the film is composed byBappi Lahiri, with lyrics penned by Mukherjee. The cinematography of the film is handled by Bijoy Ghosh, while Baidyanath Chatterjee edited the film. It was predominantly shot inKolkata andMumbai, and is also known for showing theKolkata Book Fair in a sequence.
In July 1980, when the filming was in the process, Kumar died suffering from heart attack and his lookalike Prabir Kumar was brought in to stand in for him for the final sections of the film and for the song "O Daddy, O Mummy".[4] Because of the incompletion of dubbing his portions, Kumar's voice from the original footages was kept intact in the film,[5] and his brotherTarun Kumar dubbed for him due to mechanical glitches in some scenes.[6][7]
Ogo Bodhu Shundori theatrically released on 6 February 1981, after the languishment inproduction hell for seven months. It opened to highly positive response both critically and commercially. The soundtrack album of the film sold 8 million copies inWest Bengal, also generally gaining acult status among the audiences. It emerged as thehighest-grossing Bengali film of 1981, running for over 26 weeks in theatres.The Times of India included the film in their list of "Bengali cinema's greatest comedy films".[8]
In Kolkata, Professor Gagan Sen, a scholar of phonetics, gets honoured by the Indian Languages Council for his phonetic research on the Bengali language, accompanied by his assistant Abalakanta Dutta. He believes that a person's accent determines their prospects in society. Despite not liking to socialise, Gagan's wife Chitra, always loves attending parties and functions. She always fails to interpret Gagan, and claims him to be "Old-school", because of his time in reading various books and researching the literature. As a result, detractors in society mock her, saying that she has completely failed to subdue Gagan.
While visiting theKolkata Book Fair one evening, Gagan observes Sabitri, a monkey-showwoman with a unique tribal accent, and notes the words down. He observes her trying to buy books and understands that she is keen to learn the language. Though he approaches her to get tutored, she doesn't believe Gagan and turns him down. On the other hand, her uncle, with whom she lives, allows a lustful drunkard to enter Sabitri's room. This leads her to come out of her room. Feeling disoriented, she roams here and there and all of a sudden notices Abalakanta. She identifies Gagan's residence by following Abalakanta to seek lessons the following morning.
Gagan agrees and describes how women ruin lives ("I'm an Ordinary Man"). He boasts he could teach even someone like Sabitri to speak so well that he could pass her off as a duchess at an embassy ball.
Escaping from there, she takes shelter in Gagan's house. When Gagan's wife sees Sabitri in their reading room, she leaves for her grandfather's house.
Gagan and Abalakanta help Sabitri learn etiquette and the ways of genteel society. Gagan plans an alliance between Sabitri and Abalakanta. But Sabitri does not agree. Gagan finds out that Sandeep loves Sabitri and arranges for their wedding. Chitra's servant tells her that Gagan is marrying Savitri. Chitra is back home along with her grandfather and realises that the bridegroom is Sandeep, who happens to be her brother. The film thus ends on a happy note.
The film was based on the 1913 English playPygmalion ofGeorge Bernard Shaw which is it'self based on the super hit British musical comedy film calledMy Fair Lady. The legendary actor and the matinee idol of BengalMahanayak Uttam Kumar died during the production.[15]
DirectorSalil Dutta remembering the last two days of Uttam Kumar shooting. In the day July 22 There was a shot after lunch break. Suddenly Uttam closed his eyes with his hand on his forehead. All eyes were on Uttam. Blood was seen coming from the forehead. Director Salil Dutta quickly went ahead and seated Uttam. That scene was scene of throwing a Jaipuri ashtray. A piece of it stuck on the door and hit him on the forehead. Director quickly packed up and called the doctor, who was. a private doctor of Uttam. The doctor came in time, checked him and said that it was nothing and left some medicine. Then director wanted to stop the shoot for that day but Uttam protested against stopping the shooting. Uttam saidDuring a work, such small and big incidents will happen. Then Uttam starts the shooting again.[16][17]
On 23 July, while going for the shooting, Uttam noticed that his favorite tap recorder was not in the car. Everyday in his free time, he used to listen to songs and recorded speeches by thattape recorder. It couldn't be found even after searching every place. This incident hurt him a lot. He came to the shooting spot with a lot of sadness. The last scene of the film which he shot that day was as follows-Sumitra Mukherjee, who played the role of his wife, was going to his father house in anger and Uttam was repeatedly trying to stop his wife by shaving his beard and saying his last dialogue,Amio Dekhe Nebo Amar Naam Gogon Sen. At that time he was having a heart at his hand going between his chest while speaking the dialogue.[18][19]
| Ogo Badhu Sundari | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Bappi Lahiri | ||||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Studio | Bansal & Company | |||
| Genre | Feature Film Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 0:33:25 | |||
| Label | SA RE GA MA | |||
| Producer | Kamal Bansal | |||
| Bappi Lahiri chronology | ||||
| ||||
All lyrics are written by Bibhuti Mukherjee; all music is composed byBappi Lahiri.
| No. | Title | Playback | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ei To Jiban" | Kishore Kumar | 4:23 |
| 2. | "Shikhte Tomay Hobei" | Kishore Kumar | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Ami Ekjon Shanto Shishto" | Kishore Kumar | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Nari Charitra" | Kishore Kumar | 2:34 |
| 5. | "O Daddy O Mummy" | Preeti Sagar,Chandrani Mukherjee,Poornima | 5:30 |
| 6. | "Ei Duk Duk" | Asha Bhosle | 3:32 |
| 7. | "Malabika Anamika" | Bappi Lahiri | 5:31 |
| 8. | "Tui Joto Phool" | Asha Bhosle | 3:37 |
| Total length: | 33:25 | ||
The film was made in 1980 but released in next year 1981 February. There was a huge craze for the film because this was Bengal's favorite matinee idol Uttam Kumar's one of the last films, who died during filming on 24 July 1980. There was not much promotion for the film but still there was huge hype.[21]
The film received overwhelming response from the critics and it is regarded as one of the best comedy Bengali films.The Times Of India kept this in theirBengali Cinema's all time greatest comedy films list.[8][22]
The film was also remembered for its song and Uttam Kumar-Kishore Kumar combination.[23] This was only the second Bengali film and only Uttam Kumar film whereBappi Lahiri composed the music. The album became huge hit and is still popular today.[24]
When the film was released, there was huge craze in theaters for the tickets and police charged lathi. The Bengali audience filled up all the theaters to see their idol one of the last work on screen. The film generally became blockbuster hit and is often regarded as one of the major hits in the history ofBengali Cinema. and ran for 26 weeks constantly in theaters. The film also became one of the highest grossers in that year.[25]
In 2010 a Bengali film was made in a same title directed by Sunanda Mitra. The film starringShreelekha Mitra,Sabitri Chatterjee,Babul Supriyo,Monami Ghosh andKharaj Mukherjee.[26][27] This is not a remake film of original. It's a tribute to Uttam Kumar and original Ogo Badhu Sundari film. In this filmBabul played same name of Uttam Kumar as Uttam Kumar Chatterjee who is a die hard Uttam Kumar fan. There is also three song used in the movie from Uttam Kumar's film.[28]
Apart from the Ray movies, Bansal produced at least 29 other Bengali films, which include Salil Dutta'sOgo Bodhu Shundori (1981).
Uttam Kumar finished his dubbing for 'Plot No. 5' in 1980 and then came back to Kolkata for his commitments to few other Bengali projects.
The most popular on-screen pairing in the Bengali film industry after Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen had fizzled out when Prosenjit and Rituparna Sengupta parted ways on screen at the turn of the millennium.
"I had about 60 per cent of these booklets at home. The rest I acquired from Prof Dipankar Chatterjee — he had sung songs composed by Uttam Kumar — and two other people," says Pal.
Mousumi Chatterjee spoke about her celluloid trip from Balika Bodhu to Ogo Bodhu Sundari in her appeal for votes.
Kamal Bansal, son of RD Bansal who had produced the 1981 Uttam Kumar hit, had moved court accusing director Sunando Mitra of copying three songs and the logo of his father's film.
The three songs lifted from the Uttam Kumar-starrer — Ei toh jibon, Nari charitra and Tui joto phool dishna kine — stay, thanks to the out-of-court settlement.
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