Amanush (1974 film)

For the 2010 film, see Amanush (2010 film).

Amanush
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShakti Samanta
Based onNaya Basat by Shaktipada Rajguru
Written byShaktipada Rajguru
Screenplay by
Bengali:
Shaktipada Rajguru

Hindi:
Kamleshwar

Dialogues byBengali:
Prabhat Roy
Gauriprasanna Mazumder (additional dialogues) Hindi:
Kamleshwar
Produced byShakti Samanta
StarringUttam Kumar
Sharmila Tagore
Utpal Dutt
Anil Chatterjee
Prema Narayan
Tarun Ghosh
Abhi Bhattacharya
Amarnath Mukherjee
CinematographyAloke Dasgupta
Edited byBijoy Chowdhary
Music byShyamal Mitra
Production
company
Shakti Films
Distributed byShakti Films
Release dates
Bengali:
  • 18 October 1974 (1974-10-18)
Hindi:
  • 21 March 1975 (1975-03-21)
Running time
153 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesBengali
Hindi

Amanush (English: Inhuman) is a 1974 Indian bilingual action film simultaneously shot in Bengali and Hindi languages, co-written, produced and directed by Shakti Samanta, under his banner of Shakti Films.[1] Based on Shaktipada Rajguru's novel Naya Basat, which was written being plotted on the Sundarbans, the film stars Uttam Kumar in the titular role, alongside Sharmila Tagore, Utpal Dutt, Anil Chatterjee and Prema Narayan in lead roles, while Abhi Bhattacharya, Amarnath Mukherjee and Asit Sen[2] play other pivotal roles, with Shambhu Bhattacharya in a special appearance. The soundtrack and background score was composed by Shyamal Mitra, with Bengali and Hindi lyrics penned by Gauriprasanna Mazumder and Indeevar respectively. The Bengali and Hindi screenplay was written by Shaktipada Rajguru himself and Kamleshwar respectively, while the dialogues for the former and latter version were written by Prabhat Roy, who was also the assistant director of the film, and Kamleshwar respectively.

Released during the Durga Puja in 1974, the Bengali version of Amanush became an all time blockbuster at the box office with a long run in theatres consisting of 96 weeks in Bengal and became the highest grossing Bengali film of 1974. On the other hand, the Hindi version released in 1975, after 5 months of its release in Bengal, also declared to be a huge hit and became favourable among the Hindi audiences. In Bengal, the massy avatar of Uttam Kumar in the film achieved immense popularity among the masses and featured many iconic songs by Kishore Kumar like "Bipinbabur Karon Sudha" and "Ki Ashay Baandhi Khelaghar".[3] Two years after the film's release, Shakti Samanta made another bilingual film, Ananda Ashram (1977), collaborating with Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Utpal Dutt and Shyamal Mitra for the second time, while it failed to attract audiences from the Hindi belt but became an all-time blockbuster at the Bengali box office.[4]

The film was later remade in Telugu as Edureeta (1977), starring N. T. Rama Rao; in Malayalam as Ithaa Oru Manushyan (1978) starring Madhu and in Tamil as Thyagam (1978), starring Sivaji Ganesan.

  1. ^ "Shakti Samanta was brave, never wanted to compromise: Filmmaker Prabhat Roy". cinestaan.com. 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019.
  2. ^ APS Malhotra (22 August 2013). "Amanush (1975)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Watch: Kishore Kumar's Bengali hit 'Ki Ashay Bandhi Khelaghar' reimagined in 'Kishore Kumar Junior' Kumar Sanu has sung the Kishore Kumar song from the 1975 film 'Amanush', starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore". scroll.in. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  4. ^ Nalin Mehta (2008). Television in India: Satellites, Politics and Cultural Change. Routledge. p. 155. ISBN 978-1134062133. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2021. both Bengali and Hindi versions of Uttam Kumar Shramila Tagore all star Amanush (1975), made by ... were super hits. But Anand Ashram..failed