Do Bigha Zamin

After watching the Satyajit Ray films, The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and Devi (1960), I decided to check out some of the realistic films directed by other Bengali filmmakers during that same era. One of the films I found was Do Bigha Zamin, which won the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.

Although it's a Hindi-language film, and therefore technically a 'Bollywood' movie, the film's director Bimal Roy is from Bengal, thus the film has more in common with Bengali art cinema than it does with mainstream Bollywood as a result. The film does have a few musical numbers, like a lot of other Hollywood and Bollywood movies of that era, but what sets Do Bigha Zamin apart is its greater sense of realism. Beyond the few musical numbers, the film itself doesn't have much melodrama to it and there isn't much of a background score either, which is a good thing to me as a sappy or sentimental score isn't necessary for a film like this.

Do Bigha Zamin is very much a character-driven drama and the actors did a great job in portraying their respective characters. The performances which stand out most are Balraj Sahni as the farmer Shambu, the protagonist of the story, and the child actor Rattan Kumar as his son Kanhaiya. Nirupa Roy also gave a very good performance as Shambu's wife Paro.

As for Bimal Roy's direction, the film has one of the best depictions of poverty I've ever seen, covering both rural poverty in a Bengali village and urban poverty in Calcutta (now Kolkata), including the plight of street kids living in the city's slums. The film's ending was also powerful and it was overall a very moving film.

8/10

Do Bigha Zamin is one of the pioneering films of 1950's starting the trend of parallel cinema. Bimal Roy like his other contemporary Bengali director in golden period of Indian film industry took an important social problem an converted into a 142min of struggle,misery and poverty. Protagonist Shambu (Balraj Sahni) is forced to sell his land 2 Bigha(unit) by Zameedar who wants to build a factory by demanding debt once given on interest.court ordered Shambu to pay in 3 months for which Shambu goes to Calcutta-the cruel city.city takes test of Shambu and his son Kanhaiya(Ratan Kumar) to save each penny. Balraj as usual looked perfect in his character of Shambu Mahto but for me real surprise was child artist Ratan Kumar who outplayed every other actor. Salil Chaudhary used music very smartly to not make film dramatic and keep it as real as possible.Bimal Roy was inspired from Vittorio De Sica's bicycle thieves which is landmark film in world cinema .2 Bigha Zameen was praised by critics internationally and won first Filmfar and international prize in Cannes. Bimal Roy's magic took our Shambu to the heart of west and still maintained Indian.

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

Post world war II, cinema was deeply influenced by the Italian realist wave. Rosselini and Visconti's hard hitting social commentary and De Sica's day-to-day struggle changed film-making like never before (or since). This wave gave birth to directors like Kurosawa, Fellini and Ray. One of the Indian masterpieces of those days was Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin, which can arguably be termed as the Indian answer to De Sica's The Bicycle Thief.

This film has it's heart in the right place. The indivisible nature of the family, all of whose members work towards the fulfillment of a single objective, which is the fabric of Indian society, is the beauty of the film. All of the members- Shambhu, his wife, his father and son, intend to alleviate his situation and try to contribute in every way possible. The film ends in a sad satirical note, which is the principle characteristic of neo-realistic cinema.

Story apart, the most beautiful aspect of the film is the spirit with which on upholding of one's dignity and self esteem in the most perturbing situations. Though, the protagonist, Shambhu could have executed his task easily many ways, he opts for the most ethical choice of all- hard work. It is quite evident that Do Bhiga Zamin has been influenced by (and has influenced) cinema spanning different geographical, linguistic, and social backgrounds, but it still has a firm foot in its culture.

This movie is a must see. It shows poverty with a humanistic approach in 1953 India. I went to Calcutta in 1999 and people still ride on human rickshaws (a person runs barefoot on streets while pulling the rickshaws for few cents). It is a very sad. It is heart breaking. In this movie get to see a common man problems and how he or she deals with it. It shows how corrupted the rich are and using the poor for their own means. This is how a 1/3 of India lives in today hi tech India. This is how people are suffering with all the economic boom India has. This is how people live in today's Independent and Free India. This movie is a must see.