Dena Paona

Dena Paona
A scene from Dena Paona, 1931 - the first Bengali talkie
Directed by	Premankur Atorthy
Produced by	New Theatres
Written by	Saratchandra Chattopadhyay
Starring	Bhanu Bannerjee Durgadas Bannerjee
Music by	Nripen Majumder Rai Chand Boral
Cinematography	Nitin Bose
Release dates	30 December 1931
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Dena Paona ^[1][2](Bengali: দেনা পাওনা) is a 1931 Bengali film directed by Premankur Atorthy, starring Amar Mullick, Durga Das Bannerjee, Jahar Ganguly, Nibhanani Devi and Bhanu Bandyopadhyay. Based on a novel by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay and produced by New Theatres, it is credited as the one of first Bengali talkies, and along with Alam Ara, was one of the first sound films produced in India. The film explored the ills of the dowry system and touched on the problems of female oppression in 19th century Bengal.

Plot

Jibananda is a drunkard zamindar. Ekkari is his companion in all his sinful deeds and greed for money. Sorashi is the priestess in the local Chandi temple and the ex-wife of Jibananda. She is adamant and responsible, but stubborn and honest. She has immense influence in certain sections of local society. When Sorashi was young, she was known as Alaka. Circumstances force Sorashi to stay whole night in the drunk Jibananda's house. This created a ripple amongst the local villagers when they come to know about this incident. But Sorashi gave a legal statement to the police and magistrate that she went to the zamindar's house willingly. Jibananda was freed from all offences due to this statement. But the village leaders were very strict about their decision. Sanbeswar Shiromani, Mr Chowdhury, and Janardan Bapu decided not to assign the responsibility of a priestess of the temple to Sorashi any more. Nirmal, the son-in-law of Sabeswar Shiromani, is very impressed by the attitude and intelligence of Sorashi. Jibananda later tries to make advances on Sorashi but she refuses him, making him angry. He attempts to evict her from her shelter. Sagan and his team wait for Sorashi's order to fight against Jibananda. But Sorashi is totally dispassionate. She leaves the temple. In the end Jibananda realises his mistakes and surrenders to Sorashi.

Cast

• Bhanu Bannerjee as Nirmal
• Durgadas Bannerjee as Jibananda
• Nibhanani Devi as Shoroshi
• Jahar Ganguli as Sagar Sardar
• Amar Mullick as Ekkari
• Bhumen Roy as Nirmal
• Shishubala as Haimabati
• Umasashi in a crowd scene

References

External links

• Dena Paona at the Internet Movie Database

See also

• Alam Ara
• Jamai Shashthi