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{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Apanjan<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| director = [[Tapan Sinha]]<br />
| producer = R. K. Kapoor<br />
| writer = <br />
| starring = [[Chhaya Devi]]<br>Swaroop Dutta<br>[[Samit Bhanja]]<br />
| music = [[Tapan Sinha]]<br />
| cinematography = Bimal Mukherjee<br />
| editing = Subodh Roy<br />
| distributor = <br />
| released = 1968<br />
| runtime = 135 minutes<br />
| country = [[India]]<br />
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]<br />
}}<br />
'''''Apanjan''''' (also ''Apan Jan''; roughly translated in English as "One's own people") is a 1968 Bengali film directed by [[Tapan Sinha]]. Set against the backdrop of the political violence that rocked [[India]], and [[West Bengal]] in particular, in the late 1960s, it tells the story of an aged widow in a village who goes to [[Calcutta]] to stay with relatives, but faces only exploitation. She moves to a slum, and finds her "own people" in a group of educated, unemployed youth, who are caught up inexorably in the prevalent violence. The film was a commercial success, and also won the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali]],<ref name="16thawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/16th_nff_1970.pdf|title=16th National Film Awards|publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]]|access-date=5 February 2013|page=2}}</ref><ref name="National Awards Winners 1968: Complete list of winners of National Awards 1968">{{cite news|last1=Times of India|first1=Entertainment|title=National Awards Winners 1968: Complete list of winners of National Awards 1968|work=timesofindia.indiatimes.com|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-awards/national-awards-winners/1968/108|accessdate=11 August 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511142357/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-awards/national-awards-winners/2005/108|archivedate=12 May 2021}}</ref> <br />
as well as several BFJA Awards.<ref name=bfja1969>{{cite web|title=BFJA Awards (1969)|url=http://www.gomolo.com/7/bfja-awards-1969}}</ref> In 1971, it was remade in Hindi as ''[[Mere Apne]]'' by [[Gulzar]] and in 1984, in Kannada as ''[[Benki Birugali (1984 film)|Benki Birugali]]''.<ref>https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/remakes-of-bengali-films-whats-new-in-this-trend/articleshow/72241437.cms</ref><br />
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==Plot==<br />
Anandamoyee ([[Chhaya Devi]]) is a childless widow in a Bengal village. One day a man turns up, claiming to be her nephew. He takes her to live with him and his family in Calcutta. In the city, she experiences something akin to culture shock, as she encounters children begging on the streets and day-to-day violence. She finds the idea of women working at office jobs very strange, and even wearing any kind of footwear is new for her. The couple with whom she lives want her to look after their child, which she does gladly since they are her "own people". However, eventually she realises that she is being exploited as an unpaid nanny. She moves out to a downbeat area of the city, to look after two street children. They are part of the 'family' of Robi (Swaroop Dutta), the leader of a gang of educated young men who are active participants in the street violence that engulfs the city. With these outsiders, Anandamoyee feels a sort of kinship, and even a sense of being in a family, which she never enjoyed with her actor husband. Robi's gang is always at daggers drawn with a rival gang led by Chheno ([[Samit Bhanja]]). The two gangs are enlisted by cynical politicians, to serve their own ends. The gang war continues, albeit with an ostensibly political colour, reaching a melodramatic climax, with a tragic resolution.<br />
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==Cast==<br />
* [[Chhaya Devi]] as Anandamoyee<br />
* [[Swarup Dutta]] as Robi<br />
* [[Samit Bhanja]] as Chheno<br />
* [[Rabi Ghosh]]<br />
* [[Sumita Sanyal]]<br />
* Juin Banerjee<br />
* [[Chinmoy Roy]] as Anandamoyee's husband<br />
* [[Bhanu Bandopadhyay]]<br />
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==Reception==<br />
''Apanjan'' was the first film to deal with contemporary political violence and urban angst in [[West Bengal]], and indeed India. It was a good two years ahead of better known films that dealt with urban issues, such as [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pratidwandi]]'' and [[Mrinal Sen]]'s ''[[Interview (1971 film)|Interview]]''. When it was released in 1968, it struck a chord with urban audiences, and was a commercial success. It gave a boost to the careers of Swaroop Dutta and [[Samit Bhanja]], catapulting the latter to stardom. The use of [[Rabindrasangeet]] in the film was unusual, and added to its popularity with middle-class audiences.<br />
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Critically, too, the film was well received at the time. It dominated the 1969 BFJA Awards, besides winning the National Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.<br />
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Three years later, [[Tapan Sinha]] returned to the problems faced by urban youth in [[Ekhoni]], which was also well received.<br />
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== Preservation ==<br />
''Apanjan'' has been restored and digitised by the [[National Film Archive of India]].<ref name="nfai">{{cite web |title=Digitized and Restored Films List |url=https://www.nfai.gov.in/upload/circleIconPdf/1499148501_Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films%20List.pdf |website=nfai.gov.in |publisher=National Film Archives of India |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630135159/https://www.nfai.gov.in/upload/circleIconPdf/1499148501_Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films%20List.pdf |archive-date=30 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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==Remake==<br />
In 1971, [[Gulzar]] made his directorial debut with ''[[Mere Apne]]'', which was almost a frame by frame remake of ''Apanjan''. It starred [[Meena Kumari]] in the lead role which was successful at Box office.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jha|first=Subhash K.|title=The Essential Guide to Bollywood|year=2005|publisher=Lustre Press|isbn=8174363785|pages=[https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00jhas/page/175 175]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00jhas/page/175}}</ref><br />
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==Awards==<br />
'''[[16th National Film Awards]]'''<ref name=16thawardPDF /> <br />
*[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali]]<br />
'''Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards (1969)'''<ref name=bfja1969 /><br />
* Best Indian film (jointly with 9 others)<br />
* Best Director - Tapan Sinha<br />
* Best Screenplay - Tapan Sinha<br />
* Best Actor In a Supporting Role - Samit Bhanja<br />
* Best Cinematography (Black And White) - Bimal Mukherjee<br />
* Best Editing - Subodh Roy<br />
* Best Audiography - Anil Talukdar and Atul Chatterjee<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* {{IMDb title|0290421}}<br />
{{Tapan Sinha}}<br />
{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Bengali}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Indian films]]<br />
[[Category:1968 films]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali-language films]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali films remade in other languages]]<br />
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]<br />
[[Category:Best Bengali Feature Film National Film Award winners]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by Tapan Sinha]]<br />
[[Category:1960s Bengali-language films]]</div>imported>ZI Jony