In 1954, the Bengali novelist Ashapurna Debi’s book Agni Pariksha was adapted for the silver screen, into a film starring relative newcomers Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen – who had made a mark as an onscreen couple just the previous year, in Shaarey Chhuattar.

Agni Pariksha was the story of a woman caught in a dilemma, torn between the man she loves and the man (whom she hasn’t met for more than a decade) to whom she was married as a 14-year old. The film was a smash hit, with great music, and succeeded in cementing the Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen pairing.

… and then, 13 years down the line, Uttam Kumar produced and starred in a Hindi remake of the film: Chhoti si Mulaqat, opposite Vyjyanthimala. The film flopped miserably.

Why? Why was Agni Pariksha such a hit, Chhoti si Mulaqat such a dud?

I examine these two films for LnC’s Silhouette Magazine, for the ongoing retrospective on Uttam Kumar. Click here to read the full article, and do check out the other articles that form part of the mahanayak‘s centenary celebrations.