Bengali literature in all its richness has been a constant influence on the world of films, both for bengali and hindi films. While some of the adaptations like Devdas, Parineeta or Kabuliwala are more common and widely acknowledged, there are a host of films influenced by bengali literature that are not so commonly recalled. This includes films based on full scale novels, short stories, poems and more. Some of these films credit the source as the official adaptation, some of them do not. But the inspiration behind the story-line is not be be missed, especially when the authors behind the literary references are some of the most illustrious names of Bengali Literature ranging from Rabindranath Tagore to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay to Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay to Ashapoorna Devi to Subodh Ghosh and more.
Here is a comprehensive listing of 50 major Hindi films that got inspired from Bengali literature, with or without attributing credits to the original story:
(Poster images are picked from Wikipedia, IMDB and other sources.)
A World Book Day special…
Original Story: Kabuliwala (By Rabindranath Tagore)
Film Adaptations:
Kabuliwala (1961) | Bimal Roy | Balraj Sahni, Usha Kiran
Bioscopewala (2018) | Deb Medhekar | Danny Denzongpa, Geetanjali Thapa, Adil Hussain
Original Story: Parineeta (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Parineeta (1953) | Bimal Roy | Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari
Sankoch (1976) | Anil Ganguly | Jeetendra, Sulakshana Pandit
Parineeta (2005) | Pradeep Sarkar | Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt
Original Story: Devdas (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Devdas (1936) | P C Barua | K L Saigal, Pahari Sanyal, Jamuna Barua
Devdas (1955) | Bimal Roy | Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Vyajantimala
Devdas (2002) | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit
Dev D (2009) | Anurag Kashyap | Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Kalki Koechlin
Original Story: Shaheb Bibi Golam (By Bimal Mitra)
Film Adaptations:
Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) | Abrar Alvi | Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman
Original Story: Noukodubi (By Rabindranath Tagore)
Film Adaptations:
Milan (1946) | Nitin Bose | Dilip Kumar, Ranjana, Mira Misra
Ghoonghat (1960) | Ramanand Sagar | Bina Rai, Asha Parekh, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan
Original Story: Dui Bigha Jomi (Poem By Rabindranath Tagore)
Film Adaptations:
Do Bigha Zameen (1953) | Bimal Roy | Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy
Original Story: Nurse Mitra (By Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Khamoshi (1970) | Asit Sen | Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna
Original Story: Bindur Chhele (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Chhoti Bahu (1971) | K B Tilak | Sharmila Tagore, Rajesh Khanna, Nirupa Roy
Original Story: Pandit Mashai (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Khushboo (1975) | Gulzar | Jeetendra, Hema Malini
Original Story: Samapti (By Rabindranath Tagore)
Film Adaptations:
Uphaar (1971) | Sudhendu Roy | Jaya Bhaduri, Swaroop Dutt, Kamini Kaushal
Original Story: Biraj Bou (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Biraj Bahu (1954) | Bimal Roy | Kamini Kaushal, Abhi Bhattacharya
Original Story: Anandamath (By Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Anand Math (1952) | Hemen Gupta | Bharat Bhushan, Predeep Kumar, Geeta Bali
Original Story: Jatugriha (By Subodh Ghosh)
Film Adaptations:
Ijaazat (1987) | Gulzar | Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Anuradha Patel
Original Story: Nishkriti (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Apne Paraye (1980) | Basu Chatterjee | Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, Girish Karnad, Ashalata, Utpal Dutt
Original Story: Ras (By Narendranath Mitra)
Film Adaptations:
Saudagar (1973) | Sudhendu Roy | Nutan, Amitabh Bachchan, Padma Khanna
Original Story: Hinger Kochuri (By Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Amar Prem (1972) | Shakti Samanta | Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Sujit Kumar
Original Story: Swami (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Swami (1977) | Basu Chatterjee | Shabana Azmi, Girish Karnad, Utpal Dutt
Original Story: Saat Paake Bandha (By Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Kora Kagaz (1974) | Anil Ganguly | Jaya Bhaduri, Vijay Anand
Original Story: Chalachal (By Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Safar (1970) | Asit Sen | Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Feroz Khan
Original Story: Chhaddobeshi (By Upendranath Ganguly)
Film Adaptations:
Chupke Chupke (1975) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri
Original Story: Uttar Falguni (By Nihar Ranjan Gupta)
Film Adaptations:
Mamta (1966) | Asit Sen | Suchitra Sen, Dharmendra, Ashok Kumar
Original Story: Sujata (By Subodh Ghosh)
Film Adaptations:
Sujata (1959) | Bimal Roy | Nutan, Sunil Dutt, Shashikala
Original Story: Tamasi (By Charu Chandra Chakrabarti)
Film Adaptations:
Bandini (1963) | Bimal Roy | Nutan, Dharmendra, Ashok Kumar
Original Story: Mejh Didi (By Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Majhli Didi (1967) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee| Dharmendra, Meena Kumari
Original Story: Balika Badhu (By Bimal Kar)
Film Adaptations:
Balika Badhu (1976) | Tarun Majumdar| Sachin, Rajni Sharma
Original Story: Hajar Churashir Ma (By Mahasweta Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Hazaar Chaurasi ki Ma (1998) | Govind Nihalani| Jaya Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Nandita Das, Joy Sengupta
Original Story: Akal Basanta (By Samaresh Basu)
Film Adaptations:
Namkeen (1967) | Gulzar| Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Kiran Vairale
Original Story: Khudita Pashan (By Rabindranath Tagore)
Film Adaptations:
Lekin (1990) | Gulzar| Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Amjad Khan
Original Story: Pathik (By Samaresh Basu)
Film Adaptations:
Kitaab (1977) | Gulzar| Uttam Kumar, Vidya Sinha, Raju Sreshtha
Original Story: Paari (By Samaresh Basu)
Film Adaptations:
Paar (1984) | Gautam Ghose| Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri
Original Story: Na Hanyate (By Maitrayee Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) | Sanjay Leela Bhansali| Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan
Original Story: Aami Se o Sakha (By Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Bemisaal (1982) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee, Vinod Mehra
Original Story: Rudali (By Mahasweta Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Rudaali (1993) | Kalpana Lajmi | Dimple Kapadia, Amjad Khan, Raj Babbar, Rakhee
Original Story: Abhimanyu (By Ramapada Chowdhury)
Film Adaptations:
Ek Doctor ki Maut (1991) | Tapan Sinha | Shabana Azmi, Pankaj Kapur
Original Story: Beej (By Ramapada Chowdhury)
Film Adaptations:
Ek Din Achanak (1989) | Mrinal Sen | Shabana Azmi, Sreeram Lagoo, Aparna Sen
Original Story: Telenapota Abishkar (By Premendra Mitra)
Film Adaptations:
Khandhar (1984) | Mrinal Sen | Shabana Azmi, Naseerunddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Annu Kapoor
Original Story: Bhuban Som (By Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Bhuvan Shome (1969) | Mrinal Sen | Utpal Dutt, Suhasini Mulay
Original Story: Satyakam (By Narayan Sanyal)
Film Adaptations:
Satyakam (1969) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore
Original Story: Chaitali (By Ashapoorna Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Chaitali (1975) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Dharmendra, Saira Banu
Original Story: Tapasya (By Ashapoorna Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Tapasya (1976) | Anil Ganguly | Rakhee, Parikshit Sahni
Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi (2008) | Kaushik Ghatak | Sonu Sood, Isha Kopikar
Original Story: Agni Pariksha (By Ashapoorna Devi)
Film Adaptations:
Chhoti si Mulaqat (1967) | Alo Sircar | Uttam Kumar, Vyajanthimala
Original Story: Byomkesh Bakshi (By Sharadindu Bandopadhyay)
Film Adaptations:
Detective Byomkesh Bakshi (2015) | Dibakar Banerjee | Sushant Singh Rajput, Niraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee
