Do Bigha Zamin (1953)

Director:

Bimal Roy

Writers:

Salil Choudhury (story)
Paul Mahendra (Hindi dialogue)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A small Bengali landowner and his young son are in danger when their two-acre farmland where they live...

Plot Keywords:

Farmer | Court | Rickshaw | Drought | Rain

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Balraj Sahni	...	Shambu Maheto
Nirupa Roy	...	Parvati (Paro) Maheto
Rattan Kumar	...	Kanhaiya Maheto
Murad	...	Thakur Harnam Singh
Rajyalakshmi	...	Nayabji (as Rajlakshmi)
Nana Palsikar	...	Dhangu Maheto (Shambu's dad)
Noor Jehan		(as Noorjahan)
Nasir Hussain	...	Rickshaw puller (as Nazir Hussain)
Rekha Mallick		(as Rekha)
Misra
Chitra
Jagdeep	...	Laloo Ustad, shoeshine boy
Sarita Devi
Dilip Kumar Jr.
Ramayan Tiwari	...	Paro's molester (as Tiwari)

Also Known As:

Do Bigha Zameen (India: Bengali title)
Two Acres of Land (UK) (subtitle)

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

India:U | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Bimal Roy Productions

Trivia:

Originally the film showed Nirupa Roy, the mother, dying in the climax and her husband (Balraj Sahni) gaining his piece of land despite the tragedy in his life. But when Bimal Roy's wife saw the film, she found the climax too regressive and inhumane and asked her husband to change the end. Bimal Roy re-shot the end and this time, Nirupa Roy survived but Balraj Sahni lost his piece of land.

Movie Connections:

References Awaara (1951)

Soundtrack:

ajab tori duniya ho mere raaja

A Cult movie !

Made in 1953, with a socialist theme that was typical of many great bengali directors, this was a great film with superlative performances and very real feel to the film. Balraj Sahni, one of the five greatest actors of India ever, was simply stunning in this movie in terms of his natural acting and superior understanding of the life of a peasant first and then a novice rickshaw (two wheel cart pulled by a human, instead of the horse) puller fresh in the city (He naturally doesn't know that once u take a passenger to the destination, u have to hold it down so that the passenger can alight - he nervously waits for his first dime)..Ill have to come back and write more..sorry