Sanyasi Raja (trans... The Monk King) is a 1975 Indian Bengali language period action drama film directed by Pijush Bose and produced by Ashim Sarkar, under the banner of Usha Films. Based on the real life incident of the Bhawal case,[1][2][3] it stars Uttam Kumar in the title role alongside Supriya Devi in lead roles. The film was remade in Telugu in 1977 as Raja Ramesh.

Sanyashi Raja
Directed byPijush Basu
Written byAsim Sarkar
Screenplay byPijush Basu
Based onBhawal Court Case
Produced byAsim Sarkar
StarringUttam Kumar
Supriya Devi
Shambhu Bhattacharya
Sulata Chowdhury
CinematographyBijoy Ghosh
Edited byBaidyanath Chatterjee
Music byNachiketa Ghosh
Production
company
Usha Films
Distributed byChandimata Films Pvt Ltd
Release date
  • 3 October 1975 (1975-10-03)
Running time
142 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Plot

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Zamindar Surya Kishore never looks after his family and estate. Doctor Bijoy Chakraborty is a family friend of Surya and lives in the same house. He plans to kill Surya and forces Surya's wife Indu to keep quiet. In a burning ghat, a monk saves the life of Surya, but, back at his home, he finds that his whole property is already occupied by Dr Bijoy. Surya Kishore now plans to recover his lost estate.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot in Jhargram Palace in Jhargram. Uttam Kumar and the whole cast of Sanyasi Raja used to stay in the ground floor of the palace. But according to the rule, the palace authorities do not permit outsiders to enter the second floor. The descendants of the Jhargram Royal Family stay there.[4] It was also shot in Mahisadal Palace and Gohalpota of Jagatballavpur city where Uttam Kumar stay in film businessman Satyanarayan Khan's house.[5][6]

Soundtrack

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Sanyashi Raja
Soundtrack album by
Released1975
Recorded1974
StudioUsha Films
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length0:28:24
LabelAngel Digital Pvt Ltd
ProducerAshim Sarkar
Nachiketa Ghosh chronology
Nagar Darpane
(1975)
Sanyashi Raja
(1975)
Hotel Snow Fox
(1976)

All lyrics are written by Gauriprasanna Mazumder; all music is composed by Shyamal Mitra Songs become popular specially the Kaharba Noy song become blust hit

Songs
No.TitlePlaybackLength
1."Bhalobasar Agun Jwalao"Manna Dey3:51
2."Thori Bhiksha Karke Lana"Manna Dey5:24
3."Ghar Sansar Sobai To Chai"Manna Dey1:30
4."Se Kotha Ki Jane Indu"Manna Dey1:05
5."Puja Ki Go Theme Jay"Manna Dey0:59
6."Kato Rasik Dekho Bhagaban"Manna Dey1:52
7."Karan Sebay Baran Karo"Manna Dey1:19
8."Hujur Bole Selam Kore"Manna Dey1:20
9."Ogo Beshi Daam Balo Kar"Manna Dey2:09
10."Kaharba Noy Dadra Bajao"Manna Dey4:01
11."Tarana"Manna Dey1:44
12."Ke Tabo Kanta"Hemanta Mukherjee3:10
Total length:28:24

Reception

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Times Of India wrote "This is perhaps one of the most intense Bengali film that have ever been made on real life story. Not only this movie famous for Uttam Kumar's outstanding performance, but it's also a well known Indian court case known as the Bhawal Case."[7] The film was released during Durga Puja and become a major hit and ran for 126 days in theaters.[8] The film become the highest grossing Bengali film in 1975.

Award

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Bengal Film Journalists Association Award 1976[9]

Remake

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The film was remade in Telugu as Raja Ramesh in 1977 where ANR starred in the lead role. In 2018 Srijit Mukherji made another film Ek Je Chhilo Raja based on the Bhawal case of which the story line is related to some extent. Jisshu Sengupta played the role of Raja Ramendra Kumar Roy Chowdhury.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "The man who would be prince". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. ^ "The man who would be king". The Hindu. 6 October 2002. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Prakash Jha to adapt Sanyasi Raja for national TV?". 1 June 2017. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Film shooting in Jhargram".
  5. ^ "Mahishadal shooting pl".
  6. ^ "Uttam Kumar and others shooting in Jagatballavpur".
  7. ^ "'Sanyasi Raja' - 5 all-time great Bengali movies inspired by real-life incidents". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Uttam Kumar puja box office".
  9. ^ FilmiClub. "BFJA Awards 1976: Complete list of Awards and Nominations". FilmiClub. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Ek Je Chilo Raja': Srijit Mukherji reveals how differently he has used Bhawal Sanyasi". The Times of India. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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