Birju Maharaj

A 1973 Bengali Comedy Film directed by Chidananda Dasgupta. The remake of the Silent Comedy Bengali Film Bilet Pherat (1921), directed by Nitish Chandra Lahari.

Uma, a mute Brahmin girl, lives with her uncle's family as she is an orphan. Since Uma has a faulty horoscope which indicate widowhood, the family finds it impossible to get her married off. According to a custom prevalent at the time, Uma is given in marriage to a tree.

Amodini is a rich landowner's daughter. Unable to face social stigma, her father arranges her marriage to a much older person, who fails to turn up on the wedding day. To save the situation, she is forced to marry a 15-year-old boy.

The tragic story set in the late 1930s, just before famine struck Bengal. It tells of the marriage of a dumpy middle-aged salesman of small goods to a beautiful teenager, and how, after initial days of happiness together, a series of misfortunes strike which slowly embitter the man.

The film shows the role of school teachers and the importance thereof.