Best movies like Chaitali
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Chaitali Starring Dharmendra, Saira Banu, and more. If you liked Chaitali then you may also like: Nishi Padma, Rabindranath Tagore, Aparajito, Apur Sansar, Devi and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Based on the Bengali novel of the same name by Bengali writer Ashapoorna Devi
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Rabindranath Tagore
Docudrama about the life of Rabindranath Tagore, Indian polymath—poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter, who reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art, becoming in 1913 the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The film was released during Tagore's birth centenary year.
Aparajito
Aparajito picks up where the first film leaves off, with Apu and his family having moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Varanasi (then known as Benares). As Apu progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother. This tenderly expressive, often heart-wrenching film, which won three top prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, not only extends but also spiritually deepens the tale of Apu.
Apur Sansar
Apu is a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer. An old college friend talks him into a visit up-country to a village wedding...
A Tale of a Naughty Girl
Based on a short story by Bengali writer Prafulla Roy, the central idea developed by director Dasgupta, tells the story of a girl, Lati, whose mother Rajani is a prostitute living and working in a brothel in rural India. Rajani plans to offer her daughter to an older man, a rich husband and protector to her daughter. Lati, however, wants to return to school and finish her studies. Unwilling to pay such a price for material success, she runs away to Calcutta. The discovery of this new world is described parallel to other stories of emancipation, such as that of three young prostitutes, of an aged couple going nowhere and man's n landing on the moon. In a surrealistic approach typical of the director, a clumsy cat and an intelligent donkey are also present in the film.
Devdas
Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a prostitute. All Indian prints of this Bengali version were destroyed in a fire that ravaged New Theatre’s studios. Today, only one copy of the film survives which belongs to the Bangladesh Film Archives. Of that copy almost forty percent is destroyed.
Devdas
Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a prostitute.
Pather Panchali
Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
The Light of Asia
Living an indolent life in a luxurious palace, Prince Gautama (Rai) is insulated by his family from the harshness of the world outside. But he is destined to learn greater truths: shocked to discover the pain and suffering of so many in his kingdom, he abandons his privileged existence, and his wife Gopa (Seeta Devi), to become a wandering teacher, eventually finding enlightenment and founding Buddhism. Featuring superimposed images and deep-focus shots that were highly impressive for the time, Light of Asia astutely combines a deeply felt spirituality with the surefire attraction of Indian exotica, which helped make it a considerable success in Europe.
Bhrantibilas
Bhrantibilas is a 1963 Bengali film based on the 1869 play Bhranti Bilas by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, which is itself based on William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Although the original play was set in an unspecified, but distant past, the film relocates the story to modern day India. The film tells the story of a Bengali merchant from Kolkata and his servant who visit a small town for a business appointment, but, whilst there, are mistaken for a pair of locals, leading to much confusion.
Shakuntala Devi
Based on the life of Shakuntala Devi who is a well-known mathematical genius and calculating progidy from India. She has been nicknamed 'Human Computer' because of her extraordinary talent and skill in solving complex mathematical problems without any mechanical aid.
Nayika Devi: The Warrior Queen
Nayika Devi, the Warrior Queen is a Historical drama set in the 12th century. The film is about India's first female warrior.
Vidyasagar
This movie is based on the life of a famous Bengali philosopher, academic educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer, and philanthropist named Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
The Switch (Baksa Badal)
A hilarious romantic-comedy where two people have their luggage exchanged during a train journey. One of them (Soumitra Chatterjee) is a psychiatrist, and he develops a keen interest in knowing the other party (Aparna Sen). His experience as a psychiatrist helps him to understand the happy-go-lucky and pampered Aparna Sen and woo her love.
Bengali Variation
She, Sohini, poet and young journalist, decides to look for her childhood love, Sagnik. He, everlasting student, gets mixed up with gambling debts. A lovers' hide and seek game in the crowded maze of Calcutta.
Nagar Darpane
Anupam, a writer, loves his family dearly and besides looking after his mother, he also funds his brothers' education. However, he loses his sanity when his perfect life falls apart.
Antony Firingee
Antony Firingee was a Portuguese-Indian who became a famous Bengali poet musician and fell in love with Shakila. She agreed to marry him after revealing her tragic history. But his fame was not enough to overcome their ostracisation and tragedy struck again.
Baishey Shravana
The tragic story set in the late 1930s, just before famine struck Bengal. It tells of the marriage of a dumpy middle-aged salesman of small goods to a beautiful teenager, and how, after initial days of happiness together, a series of misfortunes strike which slowly embitter the man.
Jiban Trishna
A philanderer, the only son of a wealthy doctor, is attracted to a poor orphaned artist. Her stepbrother loathes rich people, and would go to any extent to get money off them. What would happen if the roles reversed?
The Accepted Defeat
The story revolves around Pratima who pledges to destroy the relationship between Neera and Binu, as she loves Binu.
Our Struggle
A stridently nationalistic story of India’s freedom struggle, presented through the experiences of a Bengali family from 1885, when the Indian National Congress was established, to 1947. Important events incorporated into the plot were Gandhi’s satyagraha (1920), the Simon Commission (1928), Vallabhbhai Patel’s Bardoli satyagraha (1928) and the 1942 Quit India agitations. Krishan Chander’s script, Sachin Shankar’s choreography and the acting styles owed much to the IPTA theatre of the 40s. The film, made at Bombay Talkies, was produced by the distributors of the Chicago Radio PA systems label. Kishore Kumar plays the militant hero of this quasi-documentary. Motwane included old documentary footage purchased from Kohinoor and Krishna Film, as well as a shot of Rabindranath Tagore singing his Jana Gana Mana composition, one of India’s national anthems (Arunkumar Roy’s Of Tagore and Cinema, 1994, traces this footage to Ufa, shot when Tagore visited Munich)
Sukhamo Devi
Nandan (Shankar) an introverted singer from a poor background falls in love with Devi (Urvashi). Their friends Sunny (Mohanlal) and his girlfriend Thara (Geetha) are quite the opposite and are extremely outgoing. When Devi's parents do not approve of her relationship with Nandan, they try to force her into an arranged marriage. Sunny and their other friends decide to help the couple elope. However things go awry when Sunny & Vinod (Jagathy) meet with a horrific accident.
Bilwamangal
Bilwamangal also known as Bhagat Soordas, is a 1919 silent black-and-white film directed by Rustomji Dhotiwala, a Parsi Gujarati based on the story by Gujarati writer Champshi Udeshi. This full length (12000 feet) film was credited as the first Bengali feature film.
Prem Kahani
Two widowed sisters thwart a love match when they try to arrange marriages for their respective children.
Rajbadhu
Raj Badhu is a comical family drama that is based on a traditional Bengali joint-family life. It tells the story of family relations, of love and family values and the importance of society in our lives. It shows the complex story of different love relations and how its complications adversely affect the people involved. It shows the nature of man and how all things work out for the best in the end.
Nishi Padma
'Nishi Padma' is a 1970 Bengali drama film written and directed by Aravinda Mukherjee, based on a short story 'Hinger Kochuri' by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, and starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee as leads. This film was remade in the Hindi as 'Amar Prem' (1972), directed by Shakti Samanta.