Do Bigha Zamin

Released in 1953
Genre- Drama
10/10
Main Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Nana Palshikar
Story: Salil Chowdhury, Screenplay: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Music- Salil Chowdhury
Direction- Bimal Roy

BRIEF INTRODUCTION A story about a farmer, his family, and the struggle to save their “Do Bigha Zamin”. One of the most poignant films belonging to the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, a gem by Bimalda. Not only received appreciation and several prestigious awards in India but also the first film from our country to win an International prize, in the Cannes Film Festival (1954).

STORY & THEME The portrayal of stark reality in the film led to the beginning of a new kind of cinema in the Hindi Film Industry, cinema that dealt with more realistic themes.

MUSIC & STORY (Background) Salil Chowdhury gave life to the music of the film. Not only the music but also the story was written by him only, which he also talked about, in one of his old interviews. “Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke” from the film, became a very memorable song, I still remember listening to it on a loop.

Acting Balraj Sahni’s finest performance to date. Nirupa Roy and all the cast members also acted flawlessly. Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy’s equation was very natural in the film (can be observed in all the films, they acted together). The last scene of the film is so moving that it makes you feel the exact emotions experienced by the characters.

My journey with the film
While watching Vittorio De Sica’s magnum opus Bicycle Thieves, 1948 (belonging to the Italian neorealism movement) during the Film Appreciation course (F.T.I.I. Pune), I don’t know, for what reasons, visuals of Do Bigha Zamin (which I had seen back in 2017) started flashing across my mind. So, to end my curiosity, during the discussion of Bicycle Thieves, I asked my course director, Aruna ma’am, if by any chance, Do Bigha Zamin has anything to do with Bicycle Thieves, then ma’am told me that it was inspired by Sica’s film. And it was only after Bimalda saw Sica’s film, decided to make Do Bigha Zamin. Not just, Do Bigha Zamin, but more or less the majority of the movies made (all over the world) at that time were inspired by Bicycle Thieves.

Relation with Bicycle Thieves
The story of Do Bigha Zamin has no connection with Bicycle Thieves but the way it was shot, the use of locations (design), the pathos in the story, and sometimes, somewhere in the background elements, you can clearly observe the inspiration.

P.S. It was my maternal grandmother’s favorite film and this was the initial reason for me to watch the film.