Bengali cinema is one of the few regional language cinema industries for which it’s relatively easy to find subtitled copies. Even when the film in question is an old one.
Over the years, several Bengali readers have recommended Shaarey Chuattar to me. I had been under the impression that I should watch this film for the Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen pairing (it was the their first film together, the first of many films in which they were co-stars). But, now that I’ve seen it, I can safely say that this is a film you should watch not for these two, but for the film itself. True, Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar provide some eye candy and are a likable romantic couple, but the romance in Shaarey Chuattar is not the main thing.
The focus of the story, instead, is Rajani (Tulsi Chakraborty). Rajani Babu owns and runs the men-only Annapoorna Boarding House in Calcutta, and on the weekends, goes home to his family, who live in a house in the suburbs. Rajani Babu has a large brood, and his perpetually harassed wife (Molina Devi) is not reassured by the fact that her husband’s work in Calcutta keeps the home afloat. She is constantly cribbing and griping, and on many weekends, Rajani Babu cuts his stay at home short and rushes back to Calcutta on an early train.
The population at the Annapoorna Boarding House consists almost entirely of young college-going bachelors. Among the main ring-leaders (so to say) of this lot is Rampreeti (Uttam Kumar), who is—when the story opens—currently away from the boarding house, visiting his own home; and Kedar (Bhanu Bannerjee). These young men are a rambunctious lot, jumping about, dancing and singing…
… and generally getting on the nerves of at least one of the older denizens of the boarding house, Shib Babu (Haridhan Mukherjee), who can’t hear himself think. The two other older men who live at Annapoorna are rather more accommodating.
Little do they know that their lives are going to be turned topsy-turvy very soon. For one day, there arrives at Annapoorna Boarding House a trio who are known to Rajani Babu. Romola (Suchitra Sen) and her parents don’t have a home to stay in, and while they’re looking around for a house, they would like to stay at Annapoorna. If Rajani Babu could make arrangements…?
Rajani Babu, well aware of what is likely to happen, yet not wanting to be unkind and say no, agrees to let them stay for a day or two. He gives Romola and her parents the room next to that of the absent Rampreeti.
Of course, the presence of Romola soon has all the young men in a flutter. They’re all so keyed up and excited that it’s decided that a meeting be called at once to decide whether this young lady and her parents should be allowed to stay. Everybody’s very excited, talking at the tops of their voices, contradicting each other and so on, until Shib Babu remarks that it’s better if the young woman left. For her own good; these young men—what, they’re characterless? Shib Babu suggests Romola is not safe here amidst these young men? The young men are very indignant indeed; their characters are being questioned.
Well, Romola and her parents have to stay here! If only to prove that these young men are good, upright men with irreproachable morals.
So the matter is settled. Which is just as well for Romola’s father (Gurudass Bannerjee), who would rather loll around in bed and snooze than go searching for accommodation.
Then, one day, the long-absent Rampreeti (Uttam Kumar) returns to Annapoorna. He has a few run-ins with Romola (beginning with when he phones the boarding house and she picks up the phone, leading him to think this is a wrong number, since there are no women at Annapoorna). But it’s not long before the two of them, Rampreeti and Romola, are on rather more friendly terms.
This, then, is the set-up.
It may not sound very funny, and in fact what happens is by no means a complicated plot that could plausibly be milked for lots of laughs.
Yet, this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable films I’ve seen in a long time. Simply because the acting is overall so exceptionally good. Just watching the sparring between Molina Devi and Tulsi Chakraborty—or Bhanu Bannerjee’s Kedar trying all he can to woo Romola (and being utterly convinced that he’s succeeding): Shaarey Chuattar really has to be seen to be believed.
What I liked about this film:
The acting. The story is good, but what really elevates it is the acting of all concerned. I must admit that while I was watching this, I kept thinking, “1953? Really?”—because, if you compare Shaarey Chuattar to most of its contemporary Hindi films, the difference in the level of acting becomes painfully apparent. This was a period when in most Hindi films, barring a handful of leads, almost everybody was still hamming away to glory, still hungover on the theatrical acting that had been the hallmark of the nascent film industry.
In Shaarey Chuattar, on the other hand, there’s not a single actor who comes across as hammy. Everybody, from the bunch of boisterous young men who inhabit Annapoorna to the tantric/ojha/whatever who comes to Rajani Babu’s wife’s aid—is very believable, and that believability is what makes them so funny.
Plus, the music (by Kalipada Sen, to lyrics by Sailen Roy) is excellent. I especially loved Amar ei jouban and E maya prapanchmay.
Ultimately, it’s the entire package—the acting, the situation, the dialogues, and the way all of it is handled (by director Nirmal Dey, who also wrote the screenplay based on a story by Bijon Bhattacharya)—that makes this such a delightful film.
And no, there’s nothing I didn’t like about Shaarey Chuattar. This was so very watchable, I’d recommend it for anybody who likes a light, fun frolic of a film. Also, it’s easily available with English subtitles; here’s one copy on Youtube.
Dustedoff 
Sounds absolutely delightful! Will watch… thanks for this review, Madhu. Good to read, as always :)
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Thank you, Harini! And yes, do watch. It’s a delightful film. :-)
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Ooh, nice! Thanks, Madhu. Will definitely watch this one.
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Do, Anu! Just the thing for the sort of bleak days we’re finding ourselves in. This was a real cheerer-upper. :-)
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A brief review….just leaves the reader with enough curiosity to watch the film 😃. I also feel that Bengali cinema has always been ahead in terms of acting or directing.and it’s the Hindi audiences luck that some of their craftsmen directed a few gems in Hindi too….like Bimal Roy
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Very true. Hindi cinema was lucky indeed that Bengalis like Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee made films in Hindi too.
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Have you watched Ekti Raat?…it’s another delightful Uttam-Suchitra film
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No, I haven’t, but I’ve found it on Youtube with English subtitles, so thank you very much for the recommendation! I’m looking forward to watching it.
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I agree wholeheartedly with what Narmadaji said, though it must be pointed out here that my views are more fact and stat based than anything else. For example, the period from the advent of talkies till 1980, saw atleast 200 Bengali films being remade in Hindi, South and at times even Marathi. But Bengali remakes from other languages hardly number more than 4-5 in that period. Again the national and international accolades that bengali cinema won during this period is far far ahead of what Hindi cinema achieved during the same period ( Ex- 12 Bengali films won the National award for best film to Hindi cinema’s 8. Of Hindi films 8 awards, 5 were made by Bong filmmakers). Also it must be pointed out here that a big chunk of such accolades were won by Bong makers outside of the famed trio of Ray, Ghatak and Sen.
Even in Hindi cinema itself, not many people are aware of the fact that if a list of top 10 grossers of Hindi cinema is made for every year, starting from 1933 till 1980 ( i.e the Vintage and Golden eras), about 35% of those films have a Bengali as a director, story writer or a screenplay writer ( Direction, story and script together make for the 3 most important elements of any good film). Again, If a list of 10 best hindi movies of each year is made for the same period, the percentage rises to a staggering 50%!! Yet, I feel the writings and talks on Hindi cinema hasn’t given this Bengali influence its due credit, which I feel is tragic and unjustified, and needs rectification.
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“Shaarey Chuattar” is a family favorite of ours. This movie, along with Satyajit Ray’s “Mahapurush”, remain two of the Bengali movies that always manage to put a smile on my face.
BTW, legendary Bengali singers Shyamal Mitra and Manabendra Mukhopadhyay make rare on-screen appearances as two of the boarding house members. It’s fun to see these two as young men in their prime.
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I can well understand why this film should be a favourite. I loved it – it was really delightful. I like Mahapurush too; such a brilliant satire.
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Little trivia for you and our readers. In vanu banerjee’s acting comedy lies in his bengali accent. He used to talk in “East bengali”(Bangladeshi) accent which is completely different from the accent of people of west bengal. Another thing I must say. Unlike bollywood there was no concept of “comic side plot” in old bengali movies. Here the comedians were real characters, a part of the story, not forcefully included. Comedy lied in their natural behaviour. In bollywood bengali directors like hrishikesh mukherjee, asit sen, bimal roy, basu chatterjee also followed it.They used comedians as a charecter, not a joker. I eagerly awaiting for more bengali movie reviews from you.
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Yes, it’s easy to see that those Bengali directors who also made films in Hindi have carried this concept through into Hindi cinema. I think some of the best comedies made in Hindi cinema are those made by Bengalis, and that’s probably their sense of comedy is more refined than the otherwise used slapstick (often, as you’ve mentioned, taking the part of a comic side plot which has nothing to do with the main story).
I have reviewed several other Bengali films, though offhand I can’t recall any outright comedies. I have another Bengali film lined up to be watched, Rajat Jayanti.
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Yes, it is indeed true that bengali filmmakers carried their comic sensibilities into Hindi cinema too. But I guess it’s got more to do with the fact that most Bengali filmmakers, Barring one or two, shared similar attitudes and outlook towards filmmaking, irrespective of the language they made their films in. The exchange of ideas between the two industries was anyways deep, as many of the prominent bong filmmakers of Bollywood like Bimal Roy, Satyen Bose, Hrishikesh Mukherjee , Asit Sen etc; started their career making or working in Bengali films. Why even this film’s director – Shri Nirmal Dey, wrote the script for the 1967 smash bolly hit Shagird, which while being a hindi commercial film, shows a clear and distinct Bengali influence, esp in its comic and family interaction sequences.
Again, I agree that many of Hindi film’s best comedies were made by Bengali directors, but it’s interesting to note that even some of Hindi films cult comedies that weren’t made by bongs, showed a clear Bengali imprint. For example, Padosan and Miss Mary, though not made by Bengali filmmakers, were both Bengali film remakes.
PS: As an aside, the story writer of Sharey Chuattor- Shri Bijon Bhattacharya, was also the story writer of the smash bolly hit Nagin!! It is said that he would often joke that he wrote Nagin for money 💰💰💰😂😂 Interestingly he was also a very prominent IPTA figure and was married to India’s only Magsaysay winner in literature- Mahashweta Devi.
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So many interesting bits of trivia in that one comment! I hadn’t known. Thank you so much.
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thanks will surely watch
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You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it.
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Brilliant revisit Madhulika, this film is a repeat watch for me… many times over. I first watched it as a school kid in a Bengali films retrospective held in Mavlankar Hall in those internet-less, cable TV-less days… when we Probashis used to be starved for Bengali films. The only recourse was the Durga Puja late night projector shows and those occasional Uttam/Suchitra/Ray etc retrospectives.
About the film – you have captured the essence beautifully. In fact, Tulsi Chakraborty, Molina Devi and Padma Devi take the wind out of the sails of the others.
In that boarding house, those young men are all famed actors / singers.
Singers include Manabendra and Shyamal (as wutheringwillow pointed out) and Sanat Sinha in a rare guest appearance. And there are the super comedians Shyam Laha (the plump one) and Nabadwip Haldar (the irrepressible boarding house servant) – such a galaxy!
Enjoyed this lovely break! Thanks so much!
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You’re very welcome, I’m so glad you enjoyed this review. I loved this film. :-) Anyway, I have a soft spot for Bengali cinema, and as someone else also mentioned, the Bengali directors were superb at comedy.
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First of all a big thanks for pointing out about the ‘acting’ bit. Actually the high quality of acting of almost everyone in the old Bengali films, irrespective of their role length, played a major part in ushering the golden age of Bengali cinema. Of course good direction and and the unwavering focus on having a solid storyline helped no less.
About the acting, it must also be pointed out that most of the Bengali actors of that time could easily switch from playing the lead role to supporting character roles quite effortlessly. For example most of the actors of this film like Bhanu Banerjee, Jahar Roy, Tulsi Chakraborty, Molina Debi, Padma Devi etc; could play a 10 minute role with as much elan as they would play a major leading role. Even Uttam Kumar possessed this trait where he would play even side characters with as much conviction as a hero’s role ( Chitta Basu’s Maya Mriga is a fine example of the same).
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I think that is the crux of the matter – when even your character actors can carry a lead role, then you can be assured of all-around good acting (sadly, not always true for Hindi cinema, in that even many of Hindi cinema’s lead actors weren’t good actors!)
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True.. Actually such is the class of actors like Tulsi Chakraborty, Bhanu Banerjee and co that it becomes difficult to classify them as either character or lead actors!! Good actors is the best way to define them or the likes of Utpal Dutt, Robi Ghosh, Anup Kumar, Bikas Roy etc 😊
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