Tasher Ghar
1957 Bengali action drama film by Mangal Chakraborty

Tasher Ghar
Theatrical poster
Directed byMangal Chakraborty
Based onThe Scapegoat by Du Maurier
Screenplay byMangal Chakraborty
Story byRashbehari Lal
Produced byGovind Chand Burman
StarringUttam Kumar
Sabitri Chatterjee
Chandrabati Devi
Tarun Kumar
Rabin Majumder
CinematographySuhrid Ghosh
Edited byBiswanath Nayak
Music byHemanta Mukherjee
Production
company
National Films
Distributed byBiswabharati Pictures
Release date
  • 14 June 1957 (1957-06-14)
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Tasher Ghar (Bengali pronunciation: [taser ɡʰor] transl. House of Cards) is a 1957 Indian Bengali-language action drama film co-written and directed by Mangal Chakraborty in his directorial debut.[1] Produced by Govind Chand Burman under the banner of National Films,[2] the film stars Uttam Kumar in dual roles, alongside Sabitri Chatterjee and Sabita Bose in lead roles, with Tarun Kumar, Chandrabati Devi, Rabin Majumder, and Jahar Ganguly in supporting roles.[3][4]

Based on a story by Rashbehari Lal, which shows traces of influence from Daphne Du Maurier’s 1957 novel The Scapegoat.[5] It depicts on a wealthy businessman, who decides to swap his monotonous life with his doppelganger, a poor teacher.

The film marks the first of the frequent collaborations between Chakraborty and Kumar. Music of the film is composed by Hemanta Mukherjee, with lyrics penned by Bimal Chandra Ghosh. Suhrid Ghosh handled its cinematography, while Biswanath Nayak edited the film. The film gained notable recognition for being Kumar's first appearance in dual roles.

Tasher Ghar was theatrically released on 14 June 1957, on the occasion of Ratha Yatra. The film emerged as a hit, opening to huge positive reviews. Generally attaining a cult status, the original print of the film is restored and digitised by the National Film Archive of India.

The film was later remade into Telugu as Iddaru Mitrulu (1961) starring ANR, and into Tamil as Ennai Pol Oruvan (1978) starring Sivaji Ganesan, while it also serves as an inspiration for the Rajesh Khanna starrer Hindi film Sachaa Jhutha (1970).

Plot

Wealth became a curse for Ajay Mitra, a tycoon studied abroad. It eventually robs him of his will to live, when he takes the responsibility of his deceased father's business. During that plight, his malevolent and sly manager, who counterfeits loyalty, throws him into debt to usurp his wealth. Besides, his girlfriend Reba's self-sacrifice, aunt's love and affection, and the huge property seems incapable of fulfilling the wid. It results him being appelite for freedom from that affluence.

One day, in spite of being in a night club, Ajay has no attention towards the party. He leaves the place and drives his car madly. In an attempt to end his life, he crashes his car into another person, who surprisingly turns out to be his doppelganger – Binay Dutta. After noticing his resemblance to Binay, he takes him to another place in order to know about him. Binay opens up about his struggling life in poverty. He is a commerce graduate suffering from unemployment; his in-laws discard his sister Ranu for dowry, and his drunkard father does not support them. Then Ajay also shares his woe on Binay's request and describes his belief on money which cannot be everything for happiness, while Binay saw Ajay's despair as a mental perversion. It leads Ajay to challenge Binay, which Binay also accepts; they temporarily decide to swap lives to test their beliefs, setting their lives on new paths to discover the true nature of reality and fulfillment, obviously with a mutual agreement.[6][7]

Both Ajay and Binay begin to acknowledge each other's behavior as a preparation for exchanging their lives with each other. When Binay reaches Ajay's residence, he gets discerned and raged by Ajay's blind paternal aunt. After learning the reality via Ajay, she aids them. On the other hand, Ajay takes shelter at the home of Binay's student. He is happy with affection and family bondage there. From there, Binay foils the manager's ruses when he detects that he has heisted their hierarchical jewelry and a forge legitimate that Ajay must knit his daughter Reba. To get rid of these puzzling, Binay moves close to Sarala, but understanding her virtue, he truly falls for her.

Ajay joins as a mechanic for livelihood and falls in love with Shipra, the elder sister of Binay's student. Moreover, spotting Binay's own sister Ranu's grief, Ajay threatens his callow brother-in-law to retrieve his wife. Stricken by terror, Ranu's husband secretly visits his in-laws without knowing his greedy father. After a while, Ranu conceives when society suspects her chastity. Forthwith, Ajay negotiates with her father-in-law, but in vain, so he approaches Binay, who moves with Reba to break out the mystery behind the stolen treasure.

A helpless Ajay forges his signature, draws the required amount, and sends Ranu to her in-law's house, but he is apprehended. Meanwhile, Ajay's manager captures the agreement and ploys to clutch Binay and hastens his splice with Reba. Subsequently, Binay astutely counteracts him and confesses to him. At last, Binay is about to quit when Ajay bars him and shares half his wealth. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriages of turtle doves.

Cast

  • Uttam Kumar in dual roles
    • Ajay Mitra, an affluent person
    • Binay Dutta, a deprived person
  • Sabitri Chatterjee as Ranu, Binay's sister
  • Sabita Bose as Shipra, Binay's love interest
  • Rabin Majumder as Bilash, Ajay's friend
  • Tarun Kumar as Ajay's manager
  • Jahar Roy as Priyogopal
  • Chandrabati Devi as Ajay's mother
  • Jahar Ganguly as Shipra's father
  • Aparna Devi as Shipra's mother
  • Tilak Chakraborty as Shipra's brother
  • Bonny Ganguly
  • Haren Mukherjee
  • Devjani
  • Roshan Kumari as dancer
  • Lillian Charter as dancer

Soundtrack

It marked Hemanta Mukherjee's sixth collaboration with Kumar, following Bou Thakuranir Haat (1953), Shap Mochan (1955), Chirakumar Sabha (1956), Trijama (1956), and Prithibi Amare Chaai (1957).

The soundtrack features four tracks, each with lyrics by Bimal Chandra Ghosh.[8]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Shunye Dana Mele"Hemanta Mukherjee1:47
2."Amar Gaane Sur Chhilo"Pratima Banerjee2:09
3."Nirobe Joto Kotha"Alpana Banerjee, Rabin Majumder3:14
4."Jwalinu Michhe Deep"Rabin Majumder3:09
Total length:10:19

Release

Tasher Ghar was theatrically released on 14 June 1957, on the occasion of Ratha Yatra.[9][10] The film gained notable recognition for being Kumar's first appearance in dual roles,[11] and emerged as a hit, receiving highly positive reviews upon release. It has been restored and digitised by the National Film Archive of India.[12][13]

Remakes and influences

In 1961, Adurthi Subba Rao remade the film into Telugu as Iddaru Mitrulu starring ANR.[5][14] It also marked the debut of Sarada in Telugu cinema, in her first significant adult role. Later, it served as an inspiration for the 2017 Telugu film Goutham Nanda starring Gopichand.

Manmohan Desai's 1970 film Sachaa Jhutha was an adaptation of Tasher Ghar, where his wife Jeevaprabha penned its story[citation needed]. In turn, it was remade into Tamil as Ninaithadhai Mudippavan (1975) and into Kannada as Mutthanna (1994).[citation needed]

Tasher Ghar was remade by T. R. Ramanna into Tamil as Ennai Pol Oruvan (1978) starring Sivaji Ganesan.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Tasher Ghar, National Films, retrieved 4 November 2025
  2. ^ "Bilingual E-archive Digital Platform for Bengal's Cinema". Bengal Film Archive. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Taser Ghar (1957)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Tasher Ghar. Tasher Ghar Movie Cast & Crew". www.bharatmovies.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b "IDDARU MITHRULU (1961)". The Hindu. 23 June 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  6. ^ "চিত্র:তাসের ঘর - প্রচার পুস্তিকা (১৯৫৭).pdf - উইকিসংকলন একটি মুক্ত পাঠাগার" (PDF). bn.wikisource.org (in Bengali). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  7. ^ FilmiClub. "Taser Ghar (1957)". FilmiClub. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  8. ^ Tasher Ghar Songs Download: Play & Listen Tasher Ghar Bengali MP3 Song by Robin Majumdar @Gaana, retrieved 4 November 2025
  9. ^ "Bilingual E-archive Digital Platform for Bengal's Cinema". Bengal Film Archive. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  10. ^ "CC BOX OFFICE®". cultcritic.co. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  11. ^ FilmiClub. "Taser Ghar: A cult classic actioner". FilmiClub. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  12. ^ "Digitized and Restored Films List" (PDF). nfai.nfdcindia.com. National Film Archives of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Tasher Ghar (Restored)". National Film Archive of India. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  14. ^ "My Journey through Films and Film songs 44". www.boloji.com. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  • Tasher Ghar at IMDb 
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tasher_Ghar&oldid=1331466268"