Monday Trivia: Mrinal Sen’s ‘Raat Bhor’ was Uttam Kumar’s debut film

Mrinal Sen's first directorial ‘Raat Bhor’ was released in 1955. But did you know Bengal's matinee idol Uttam Kumar made his debut in this Mrinal Sen film? Sadly, it failed at the box office. Even the legendary filmmaker had mentioned many times that it was not at all a memorable film of him by any standards. It had taken Mrinal Sen two more films to cause a blip in the international film radar with ‘Neel Akasher Neechey’ and ‘Baishe Srabon’.

Starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee in the lead, the romantic drama had an ensemble cast including Chhaya Debi, Sobha Sen, Chhabi Biswas, Keshto Mukherjee,

Kali Banerjee

and Jahar Roy among others. Gauri Prasanna Majumdar and

Salil Chowdhury

joined hands to direct the music of ‘Raat Bhor’.

However, the film fraternity still laments the loss of any viewable print of this film despite its box office failure. Though the film itself was apparently nothing to write home about, you can’t deny the historical value associated with it, especially after the iconic director’s demise.