Unquestionably one of the greatest directors that Bollywood has ever seen, Bimal Roy heralded neo-realism in Hindi cinema. When his Do Bigha Zameen (1953) opened to stunned audiences in India and abroad, it was instantly recognized as Hindi cinema’s foray into neo-realism. Awarded at home and at the Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals, this searing portrait of an impoverished farmer battling in vain for his land ranks right up there with de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief (1949) which symbolized the neo-realism of Italian cinema. In a career spanning nearly three decades, Bimal Da, as he was fondly called, gave Hindi cinema some of its most memorable moments. Featured here is a brief profile of his life and his best-remembered works, from Udayer Pathey (1944, Bengali) to his most realized work and his last directorial film Bandini (1963).

Born in a family of landlords in East Bengal, Bimal Da went to college in Dhaka’s Jagannath college. While still in college, he was deeply affected by his father’s death and was cheated of his family wealth. His family consisting of his widowed mother and younger brothers migrated to Calcutta for a living (does the basic plot and starting point of Do Bigha Zameen ring a bell?). His passion for photography got him noticed when legendary filmmaker P. C. Barua assigned him to shot the publicity stills for his movies. Moving on to be cinematographer on Barua’s Bengali films like Mukti Maya, Devdas and Bari Didi, Bimal Da also shot the Hindi version of Barua’s Devdas in the 30s. New Theaters’ Udayer Pathey (1944) in Bengali, about a rebellious writer was Bimal Da’s directorial debut. Critically acclaimed, this film was remade in Hindi as Humrahi a year later. The decline of the Calcutta film industry lured him to greener pastures in Bombay, where he was sought by Bombay Talkies (and legend has it that Ashok Kumar was mainly instrumental in roping in Bimal Da).  

With Bimal Da came a great team of talent: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Kamal Bose, Nabendu Ghose, Asit Sen, and Salil Chaudhry. In less than two years after his arrival in Bombay, he was ready with his first film, Maa (1952) with Leela Chitnis and Bharat Bhushan, for Bombay Talkies. Though overtly sentimental, it did have the flashes of Bimal Da’s genius. The turning point however, was to come…  The Turning Point: With Do Bigha Zameen in 1953, Bimal Da ventured into production to make films that he completely believed in. In a production debut that ranks among the best that Hindi cinema has ever seen, he churned out a movie gem that has several scenes that remain etched in a viewers mind. Balraj Sahni, who admittedly was a reluctant choice, portrays Shambhu Mahato, the poor farmer driven to dreadful consequences, with heartbreaking reality. The scenes with him on the hand-pulled rickshaw are virtually indelible. Drawing from his own experiences from his initial years in East Bengal, Bimal Da depicts the travails of a peasant family (Nirupa Roy as Paro, the wife, in a strongly etched yet understated performance and Rattan Kumar as the son) against the backdrop of rural poverty and brutal urbanization. The tragic hopelessness that finds the farmer’s family come back to the village only to find a factory constructed on their land, was like nothing that Hindi cinema audience had seen. The critical success of this landmark film at home and abroad was supported by only a moderate commercial success

Trilok Kapoor, Jairaj and Nasir Hussain were considered for the role of Shambhu before Balraj Sahni turned it into a never-before tour de force. Nirupa Roy who played roles in mythologicals and was used to being dressed accordingly, was asked to wear used, unwashed clothes from Chor Bazaar for her portrayal of Paro. Meena Kumari who was working with Bimal Da in Parineeta the same year, asked to be in the movie, and appeared in a lullaby, Aa ja ri aa sung soulfully by Lata Mangeshkar. Salil Chaudhary made his Hindi film debut composing the music for Do Bigha Zameen.

In the next ten years, Bimal Da directed at least six classics, a runaway hit, and a blockbuster, demonstrating his immense range and a complete understanding of his medium. Parineeta (1953), based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s story was a gentle look at conventional society, sacrifice and love, starring Ashok Kumar and Meena Kumari. In 1954, he adapted another Sarat Chandra story and made Biraj Bahu with Kamini Kaushal and Abhi Bhattacharya, about female oppression in a patriarchal society. 1955 saw yet another Sarat Chandra classic transformed yet again into celluloid, Devdas. Bimal Da was the cinematographer on both the Bengali and Hindi versions of P. C. Barua’s Devdas, but that was two decades earlier. He now added his own unmistakable touch with Dilip Kumar playing the tragic hero opposite Suchitra Sen’s Paro and Vyjayanthimala’s Chandramukhi. Though it was only moderately successful commercially, it was a critically acclaimed film and positively affected the careers of all involved. In one of Filmfare’s oft-cited examples, Vyjayanthimala declined to accept the award for Best Supporting Actress, saying that her’s was no less a lead role and definitely not a supporting one. In 1958, Bimal Da directed two hits: Yahudi with Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari, and the re-incarnation blockbuster Madhumati (Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala), based on Ritwik Ghatak’s story and featuring perhaps Salil Chaudhary’s most successful musical score. While critics lamented that Bimal Da was pandering to the masses, his wife, in a later interview claimed that it was his most commercially successful film, which kept the money flowing for his later ventures and supported him financially for a long time. The fact that it was a huge box-office success doesn’t take away any credit from Bimal Da who used superb cinematography, great music and a haunting tale that remains a cinematic reference point for the re-incarnation genre. Sujata (1959) featured Nutan (who played a lower caste girl with a touching, understated grace) and Sunil Dutt in an empathetic story of caste discrimination in our society. Bimal Da followed it up with Parakh (1960) with Motilal and Sadhana, and Prem Patra, again with Sadhana. From Do Bigha Zameen in 1953, Bimal Da had built up an enormous body of creative work, which culminated in 1963 with the absolute best, Bandini. 

Bimal Da cast Nutan as Kalyani in Bandini (1963) in what is arguably the strongest performance by an actress seen on the Hindi film screen (in the same league of the quiet, yet raw and volcanic performances of Nargis in Mother India, Shabana Azmi in Ankur and Smita Patil in Bhumika). This film, considered by many (including this writer) as Bimal Da’s peak of his mastery of film, was unfortunately his last as a director (he produced Benazir with Meena Kumari in 1964). Based on a story by Jarasandha who wrote it while in prison during the freedom struggle, Bandini follows the life of Kalyani, a simple young village girl living with her father in 1930s undivided Bengal. Circumstances drive her out of her village and she is forced to find a living as a nurse in a town hospital. Tormented by her fate and the death of her father, she murders the wife of her former lover (Ashok Kumar as the freedom fighter Bikash Ghosh), in a brilliantly executed sequence. Her life as a prisoner takes a turn when she volunteers to look after a TB patient in the same prison, and meets the idealistic doctor Deven (played by an urbane, genteel looking Dharmendra). The choices she makes form the crux of the poignant, yet liberating climax with S.D. Burman’s Mere saajan hain us paar heightening the emotional impact. Clearly, this is cine-magic. A soundtrack with more S. D. Burman classics than in any film (a close second is the soundtrack of Abhimaan), Bandini marked the debut of the inimitable Gulzar as a lyricist (Mora gora ang le le). It also features Ab ke baras bhej by Asha Bhonsle, who apparently burst into tears while singing the song. In the film, this song, which is sung by a young prison inmate and is a telling lyric about the condition of women prisoners, can move anyone to tears. Nutan who made a comeback after marriage, with this film, was as they say, born to play Kalyani. Bimal Da made a grand exit with Bandini. He passed away in 1966, when he was planning his next venture with the Kumbh Mela as the backdrop. Footage from what Bimal Da shot during the actual Kumbh Mela was recently recovered by his son and put together in a beautiful montage of evocative images (can be seen in the DVD version of Bandini). The master had left behind his unfinished work, but the images tell a complete story of their own. Madhumati romanticized re-incarnation, and makes me think, how wonderful it would be if you could be here again, Bimal Da! 

Bimal Da won two Filmfare hat-tricks as best director (in two spells of 3 consecutive years each), and one best picture award (a total of 8 Filmfare awards). When Bimal Da went on stage to accept his Filmfare trophies for Do Bigha Zameen in dhoti, kurta and chappals, Bombay’s upscale film coterie raised a hue and cry. Bimal Da was only underlining his signature: simplicity and minimalism. Do Bigha Zameen won a special mention at the Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals (1955-56).