Chaalcitra

by Mrinal Sen

Calcutta. An old building occupied by eleven families and Dipu, a young man with intellectual ambitions. Aiming at freeing himself from his condition of pariah, he applies for a job as journalist. The director likes him and asks him to write an article about the working-class community he belongs to. Dipu starts looking at the community around him with different eyes, but he cannot find a story worth an article. The day after, the director of the newspaper spurs him on writing about the problem of pollution, in particular the use of coal for cooking. Dipu, even though confused, accepts. With the money he earns, he buys a gas kitchen stove for his mother. Sen, specialized in the description of social environments, is considered one of the greatest directors of Bollywood.
Country: India
Year: 1981
Running time: 89'
Genre: fiction
Screenplay: Mrinal Sen
Cinematography: K. K. Mahajan
Editing: Gangadhar Neskar
Music: Aloknath Dey
With: Dhiresh K. Chakraborty, Anjan Dutt, Utpal Dutt, Arun Mukherjee, Jyoti Chatterjee
Produced by: Dhiresh Kumar Chakraborty