Ami, Shey O Shakha

Ami, Shey O Shakha
Directed byMangal Chakravorty
Based onAmi, Shey O Shakha by Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay[1]
Screenplay byMangal Chakravarty
Story byAshutosh Mukhopadhyay
Produced byShyamal Mitra
Deepen Bhattacharya
StarringUttam Kumar
Anil Chatterjee
Arati Bhattacharya
Kaberi Bose
Narrated byKaberi Bose
CinematographyBijoy Ghosh
Edited byRabin Das
Music byShyamal Mitra
Production
company
S. D. Productions
Distributed byChandrima Pictures Pvt. Ltd.
Release date
  • 11 April 1975 (1975-04-11)
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Ami, Shey O Shakha (Bengali pronunciation: [ami, ʃe o ʃakʰa] transl.Me, Him and Our Friend) is a 1975 Indian Bengali-language drama film co-written and directed by Mangal Chakravarty. Produced by Shyamal Mitra and Deepen Bhattacharya under the banner of S. D. Productions, the film is based on a novel of the same name by Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay.[2] It stars Uttam Kumar in dual roles, alongside Anil Chatterjee, Arati Bhattacharya and Kaberi Bose in lead roles.

The film plots a deprived person who is indebted for virtually everything he has, lands in a perplexing situation, finding himself in a situation where he has to give up his love and profession. It marks the fifth collaboration between Chakraborty and Kumar, and is also the second film of Kumar and Bhattacharya together. Filming took places in Kolkata, Digha and Lucknow. Music of the film is composed by Mitra himself, with lyrics penned by Gauriprasanna Mazumder. The cinematography and editing were handled by Bijoy Ghosh and Rabin Das respectively.

Ami, Shey O Shakha theatrically released on 11 April 1975, opening to highly positive reviews.[3] It got appraisal for its screenplay, cinematography, score and the specific performance by Kumar in dual roles.[4][5] Gaining a cult status over the years, Ami, Shey O Shakha was remade into Hindi by Hrishikesh Mukherjee as Bemisal (1982), with Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Mehra and Rakhee Gulzar playing the characters originally played Kumar, Chatterjee and Bose respectively. Ravi Kinnagi also felicitated the film in his directorial Premi (2004), starring Jeet and Jisshu Sengupta.

Cast

Music

Ami, Shey O Shakha
Soundtrack album to Ami, Shey O Shakha by
GenreFeature Film Soundtrack
Length6:35
LabelSaregama
ProducerShyamal Mitra
Shyamal Mitra chronology
Phulu Thakurma
(1975)
Ami, Shey O Shakha
(1975)
Rajbangsha
(1977)
External audio
Ami, Shey O Shakha Audio Jukebox on YouTube

Shyamal Mitra composed music of the film in his first collaboration with Chakravarty.[6][7] The soundtrack consists of two tracks, each penned by Gauriprasanna Mazumder.

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Emon Swapna Kokhono Dekhini Age"Haimanti Shukla3:35
2."Ei Hashi Manay Naa To"Shyamal mitra3:11
Total length:6:46

Remake

In 1982, Hrishikesh Mukherjee remade Ami, Shey O Shakha into Hindi as Bemisal.[8] In the film, Amitabh Bachchan stepped into Kumar's shoes,[9][10] while Vinod Mehra and Rakhee Gulzar portrayed the characters played by Chatterjee and Bose respectively.[11][12]

Ravi Kinnagi felicitated the film in Premi (2004), which was an adaptation of Moti Nandi's story Aparajito Ananda.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Uttam Kumar was fond of Ashutosh Mukherjee's novels". Social Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025. Based on the novel 'Ami Se O Sakha', a film was made in both Bengali and Hindi languages.
  2. ^ "Perspectives on Bengali Film and Literature". 21 July 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Uttam Kumar Complimented Anil Chatterjee In Landmark Commercial Films". films.expertscolumn.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025. Significantly Hrishikesh Mukherjee made his film Bemisal as a remake of Bengali film Ami Shey O Shakha.
  4. ^ "Simply peerless: Uttam Kumar, the undying aura of Bengali cinema". The Times of India. 24 July 2019. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  5. ^ Chatterji, Souvik (26 November 2009). "Station Hollywood: Review of Uttam Kumar's Ami Se O Sakha". Station Hollywood. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Uttam Kumar: বাবা বললেন সুপ্রিয়ার বাড়ি থেকে গৌরী দেবীর কাছে না ফিরলে 'দেয়া নেয়া'-র শ্যুট বন্ধ করে দেব". Anandabazar Patrika. 24 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  7. ^ "Uttam Kumar: উত্তম-হেমন্ত বিবাদেই মহানায়কের 'লিপ'-এ গাওয়ার সুযোগ পান মান্না দে, শ্যামল মিত্র?". Anandabazar Patrika. 24 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  8. ^ Ray Chaudhuri, Shantanu (24 July 2023). "6 best remakes of Uttam Kumar's Bengali hits with Hindi filmstars filling in for him". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 July 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  9. ^ Menon, Praveen (10 November 2018). "Is Bemisal one of the best performances of Amitabh Bachchan?". WordPress.com. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Desh Premee: The tumultuous journey of Manmohan Desai's film with Amitabh Bachchan and Uttam Kumar". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Bilingual E-archive Digital Platform for Bengal's Cinema". Bengal Film Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  12. ^ Suman, Abhisek (26 September 2013). "Hindi Films Based on Literary Works". abhisek suman. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  13. ^ Dasgupta, Ranjan (23 July 2015). "Simply peerless". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.