Krishna Chandra Dey

Devdas

Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a prostitute. All Indian prints of this Bengali version were destroyed in a fire that ravaged New Theatre’s studios. Today, only one copy of the film survives which belongs to the Bangladesh Film Archives. Of that copy almost forty percent is destroyed.

Tamanna

The story of Uma and Ramesh, who share a platonic love. Ramesh, an engineer, is dedicated to his villagers' welfare. Their relationship is tested when Ramesh's social ideals conflict with the realities of capitalism. To help Ramesh, Uma sacrifices her fortune and marries another man. However, Ramesh tragically misunderstands her immense sacrifice, leading to a deep emotional crisis in their relationship.

Chandidas

This film is about Chandidas, a legendary 15th-C. Bengali Vaishnavite poet whose biography remains obscure but was an influence on the better documented Chaitanya (1486-1533), a school teacher who promoted the Vaishnavite ideology in Bengal, mostly through hymns about the Radha-Krishna legend.

The Devoted

The legend of Prince Puran, born under King Silwan of Sialkot's curse which binds his parents never to set eyes on him until he is 16. Accused of leading a debauched life by an evil general and by the king's second wife, Puran is sentenced to death. Rescued by the mystic Gorakhnath, he becomes an ascetic. When the king is overthrown, Purna rises from his meditations to depose the general who has seized power, before returning to his life of renunciation.

The Lure of the City

Sundarlal abandons his wife, Lalita, and children to pursue a living in the city, where he succumbs to a life of depravity. After their son dies, their daughter, Saju, defends her virtue and supports her mother in extreme poverty. Disguised as a man, she searches the city for her father with the help of a blind man, Baldev. Saju falls in love with a drunken millionaire she rescues, who mistakes her for a boy.

Devdas

Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a tawaif.

Inquilab

A drama set amid an earthquake in Bihar. Miss Renee (Khote) looks after the victims while her lover, the businessman Sardar (Mohanned), wants to make money from the disaster.

Sapera

Adapted from a story by Kazi Nazrul Islam this film concerns love and revenge among a tribe of snake charmers led by Jahar (Nawab) who is searching for his 100th poisonous snake so as to show how he can magically cure its deadly bite.

Dhoop Chhaon

A remake of the Bengali film Bhagya Chakra, it was the first Hindi film to use playback singing. It was director Nitin Bose who came up with the idea of playback singing.

Milap

A social drama by A. R. Kardar, was a hit for Rampyari and Moti Mahal Pictures. It's famous for introducing Indian cinema's first "vamp" prototype, with Rampyari seducing Prithviraj Kapoor in an off-shoulder dress and using a cigarette-holder. Music by K. C. Dey.

Maya

Maya (Jamuna) is the poor cousin of rich socialite Shanta (Azoorie). Shanta is supposed to marry the equally rich Pratap (P. Sanyal), but he falls in love with Maya and fathers her child before going abroad. Shanta causes a seperation by intercepting Pratap's letters to Maya. When he returns, a successful lawyer, he us unable to trace her, while her efforts to meet him are foiled.

Grihadaha

The poor but educated Mahim and his childhood friend, the rich but conservative Suresh, both fall in love with the same woman, the liberated Achala. Mahim marries her and they move to a village but she cannot forget Suresh. Her smoldering unhappiness takes the form of resentment towards the orphaned Mrinal, raised by Mahim's father, and receives a dramatic visual embodiment when their house burns down. Mahim falls ill, is rescued by Suresh, and nursed back to health by Achala. On a train (a metaphor for the irreversibly linear course of life) to a health resort where Mahim is supposed to convalesce, Suresh on a rainswept night gives in to temptation and elopes with Achala. At the end of the film, there is a dubious reconciliation as Achala is shown following Mahim's 'good' traditionalism with Sharatchandra's barely concealed hostility towards Achala's liberated Brahmo Samaj upbringing.