Celebrating the cinematic legacy of the Kobiguru’s works

Noyon Tomare Payna Dekhite, Royecho Noyone Noyone – Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore

Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore was an immensely talented poet, essayist, writer, spiritualist, painter, composer, educationist and novelist. He was felicitated with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. His works have been translated in many languages and serve as an inspiration to millions even today. Even decades after his death, his legacy lives on through his words. On Tagore's 159th birth anniversary, we take a look at some successful movies that were inspired by his creations.

Chhabi Biswas and Oindrila Tagore in Kabuliwala.

'Kabuliwala' is one of Tagore's most widely admired collections of short stories. The film, Kabuliwala (1957), helmed by Tapan Sinha and starring Chhabi Biswas, won two National Film Awards, along with a Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. The music of the film is composed by the legend, Pandit Ravi Shankar. Kabuliwala portrays the story of an Afghan dry-fruit vendor and a young girl named Mini. The vendor shares a beautiful bond with the girl as she reminds him of his own daughter, whom he misses. The film features Oindrila Tagore from the illustrious Tagore family in the role of Mini.

Madhabi Mukherjee and Soumitra Chatterjee in Charulata.

Based on Tagore's short story, 'Nashtanirh' (The Broken Nest), Satyajit Ray's Charulata (1964) tells the tale of a lonely housewife. Featuring Madhabi Mukherjee as Charu and Soumitra Chatterjee as Amal, the film is considered to be one of Ray's best works. The director won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival in 1965 for the film. The iconic Rabindra Sangeet, Ami Chini Go Chini Tomare, sang by Kishore Kumar, became an instant hit, from the film's album.

On the other hand, eminent director Rituparno Ghosh's cinematic brilliance brought Tagore's acclaimed novel, 'Chokher Bali', to life in 2003. Featuring Aishwarya Rai as Binodini in her Bengali film debut and Raima Sen as Ashalata, Chokher Bali is a complicated tale of love, mistrust and adultery, shining a light on the friendship of two women. These women refer to each other as 'Chokher Bali', which means 'best friend'. The film also features Prosenjit Chatterjee as Mahendra and Tota Roy Chowdhury as Behari, among others. After winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, Chokher Bali was showcased in over 25 international festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival, among others.

Prosenjit Chatterjee and Raima Sen in Noukadubi.

Noukadubi (2011), another masterpiece helmed by Ghosh, is based on Tagore's acclaimed novel of the same name. The star-studded cast of the film features Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Raima Sen and Riya Sen, among others.  The film was highly appreciated by audiences and critics alike.

For the first time in the history of Bangladeshi cinema, a feature film, Shasti (Punishment), based on a short story of Tagore, was made by Chashi Nazrul Islam.  The film, featuring Ilyas Kanchan as Dukhiram, Champa as Radha, Riaz as Chhidam and Purnima as Chandra in the lead roles, was released in 2004. Champa and Ilyas Kanchan won the National Film Award for their performances.

Rahul Bose and Konkona Sen Sharma in Shesher Kabita.

 'Shesher Kabita' is undoubtedly one of Tagore's most popular literary works. Suman Mukhopadhyay adapted the novel into a feature film of the same name.  In this timeless love story, Rahul Bose plays the role of Amit and Konkona Sen Sharma plays the role of Labanya. Shesher Kabita (2013) portrays the deep, yet complicated romance between Amit and Labanya, when they meet on a vacation in Shillong.

The short stories, novels and poems written by Tagore are truly assets of literature across the globe. We hope that directors and producers will continue to adapt his works for the screen, for years to come.