… not on this blog, but here, on Learning and Creativity’s Silhouette e-magazine.
Highly acclaimed director Tapan Sinha was born on 2nd October, 1924, in Kolkata, and at the height of his career, was considered one of a quartet of top Bengali directors, along with Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak. He was to make some very fine Hindi films too (including Ek Doctor ki Maut and Sagina—the latter a remake of his own Bengali work, Sagina Mahato), but it was in the realm of Bengali cinema that Tapan Sinha made a special mark, with poignant, insightful films like Kabuliwala (which, by the way, Anu from Conversations Over Chai has written about, exquisitely, here).
Khaniker Atithi, made by Tapan Sinha in 1956, was remade by him 16 years later in Hindi as Zindagi Zindagi. The two films are basically the same story, but it’s the details that make all the difference. You get a glimpse of how Sinha’s mind worked, how he tailored his film to suit two different eras, two sets of audiences with probably very different expectations from cinema.
The editors at Silhouette had asked me to contribute a piece on any of Tapan Sinha’s films for their Tapan Sinha centenary celebrations, and I’m grateful to them for giving me this opportunity: I got to see two very interesting films, always a thing of joy.
Click here to read the article.
Dustedoff 
Just read your article again on Silhouette, dear Madhu. And I really love how you have compared and contrasted the original film and its remake so well. Especially how the latter differs in tone and cinematic language from its predecessor.
Thank you for linking to my article as well. :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Anu! You know how much I liked your article, so I had to link to it. :-)
LikeLike
I haven’t seen Zindagi Zindagi but have watched Khaniker Atithi. Your observations are spot on. I have always liked Nirmal Kumar, the actor who plays the doctor. He was never a big star but always managed to leave an impression, no matter the role. In case you are not aware, he was the husband of Madhabi Mukherjee of Charulata fame.
The song “Hey Khaniker Atithi” was an ode to autumn, a fleeting season in Bengal. The phrase “jhora shefali” in the opening stanza refers to the shed shefali flowers (not sure what shefali is called in Hindi) during fall.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hadn’t been at all familiar with Nirmal Kumar before I watched this film, but I liked him enough to go searching for more information, which did lead me to the information that he was Madhabi Mukherjee’s husband! That was a surprise for me. :-)
I missed the jhora shefali lyrics – but I can relate to that. Shefali or shiuli is known in Hindi as harshringar, and I think this time of the year, October, is when it’s pretty much de rigueur to find the flowers littering the ground under the tree every morning. Thank you for telling me about the significance of that song, Soumya.
LikeLike
Nirmal Kumar also played the painter in Chalachal which was remade quite well as Safar in Hindi. Although Rajesh Khanna was excellent he looked too healthy for a dying man. Nirmal Kumar was perfect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Rajesh Khanna looked too healthy to be a dying man – both in Safar as well as Anand! I can imagine Nirmal Kumar would have been far more convincing.
LikeLike