Dada Thakur (1962 film)
Dada Thakur (also Dadathakur) is a 1962 Bengali biographical film directed by Sudhir Mukherjee. It is based on the life of publisher, editor and satirist Sarat Chandra Pandit (popularly known as Dada Thakur), starring Chhabi Biswas in the title role. At the 10th National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Plot
The film is based closely on the life of the real-life Dada Thakur, and was made in his lifetime. Dada Thakur (Chhabi Biswas) starts his career with a hand-operated press, with his wife (Chhaya Devi) as his assistant. Later he is joined by Nalini Kanta Sarkar (Tarun Kumar), an underground freedom-fighter. Dada Thakur brings out the newspaper Jangipur Sangbad. He campaigns against social evils and earns the ire of the ruling classes. He saves a girl, Lata (Sulata Chowdhury), from the unwanted advances of Darpanarayan (Biswajit Chatterjee), scion of the local zamindar. Lata joins the ranks of freedom fighters working with Sarkar. Subsequently, a reformed Darpanarayan too becomes an ardent follower of Dada Thakur and joins the struggle for India's freedom. Dada Thakur's greatest success is when he helps an ordinary man, a petty shopkeeper, to get elected as the Municipal Commissioner of Jangipur. Later, Dada Thakur has to close down Jangipur Sangbad but soon starts another publication Bidushak. While hawking the journal on the streets of Calcutta, the British police charge at him. However, he is rescued by Subhash Chandra Bose, the then mayor of Calcutta. The film ends on a tragic note when Dada Thakur witnesses the killing of Darpanarayan by the British. His death brings tears in the eyes of Dada Thakur for the first time. He prays in agony that the soil of Bengal may produce more such devoted young fighters, for ultimate victory is to be achieved through their efforts. 