https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Komal_GandharKomal Gandhar - Revision history2026-07-31T11:39:14ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Komal_Gandhar&diff=471563&oldid=prevSovrenn at 06:42, 7 March 20262026-03-07T06:42:04Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Komal Gandhar <br />(A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale)<br />
| image = Komal Gandhar DVD cover.jpg<br />
| alt = Komal Gandhar DVD cover<br />
| caption = Poster<br />
| director = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]<br />
| writer = <br />
| screenplay = Ritwik Ghatak<br />
| story = <br />
| based_on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} --><br />
| producer = Ritwik Ghatak<br />
| starring = <br />
| narrator = <br />
| cinematography = Dilip Ranjan Mukhopadhyay<br />
| editing = Ramesh Joshi<br />
| music = Jyotirindra Moitra<br />'''Lyrics''': [[Rabindranath Tagore]]<br />
| studio = <br />
| distributor = <br />
| released = {{Film date|1961|03|31|df=y}}<br />
| runtime = <br />
| country = [[India]]<br />
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]<br />
| budget = <br />
| gross = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''Komal Gandhar''''' ({{langx|bn|কোমল গান্ধার}} ''Kōmal Gāndhār''),<ref name="Jain2009">{{cite book|author=Manju Jain|title=Narratives Of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORE9TDOoU1IC&pg=PA81|access-date=8 July 2012|date=1 August 2009|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-81-908918-4-4|pages=81–}}</ref> also known as '''''A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale''''', is a 1961 [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali]] film<ref name="Burgoyne2009">{{cite book|author=Robert Burgoyne|title=The Epic Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z9D1ShFrtkC&pg=PT394|access-date=8 July 2012|date=1 August 2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-99017-2|pages=394–}}</ref> written and directed by legendary film maker [[Ritwik Ghatak]].<ref name="E-Flat (1961)">{{cite web|title=E-Flat (1961)|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/152410/E-Flat/credits|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514084830/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/152410/E-Flat/credits|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 May 2013|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2013|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2420/stories/20071019507309300.htm |title=Jinxed legacy |publisher=Hinduonnet.com |access-date=2010-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606115549/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2420/stories/20071019507309300.htm |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231934 |title=Of Time And The River… |publisher=www.outlookindia.com |date=2006-07-21 |access-date=2010-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214015451/http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231934 |archive-date=14 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The title refers to the [[Hindustani classical music|Hindustani]] equivalent of "[[E♭ (musical note)|E-flat]]". It was part of the trilogy composed of ''[[Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960 film)|Meghe Dhaka Tara]]'' (1960), Komal Gandhar and ''[[Subarnarekha (film)|Subarnarekha]]'' (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the [[Partition of India]] in 1947 and the refugees coping with it, though this was the most optimistic film of his oeuvre.<ref>{{cite book |title=Global Art Cinema: New Theories and Histories|author=Rosalind Galt|author2=Karl Schoonover |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-538562-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UkmrQYWaYTYC&q=Komal+Gandhar+film&pg=PT431 }}</ref> The film explores three themes juxtaposed in the narrative: the dilemma of Anusuya, the lead character, the divided leadership of [[Indian People's Theatre Association|IPTA]], and the fallout from the partition of India.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ritwik Kumar Ghatak: a monograph|author= Haimanti Banerjee|publisher=National Film Archive of India |year=1985|isbn=81-201-0001-8 |pages=62–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmUeAQAAMAAJ&q=Komal+Gandhar }}</ref><br />
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==Overview==<br />
The film title was taken from the line of a poem<ref group=lower-alpha>Book: Punascha, poem: Komal–Gandhar; {{langx|bn|নাম রেখেছি কোমল গান্ধার, মনে মনে।}}</ref> by [[Rabindranath Tagore]] that meant a ''sur'' or note, [[E♭ (musical note)|E-flat]]. As in other films by Ghatak, music plays a pivotal role in the movie.<br />
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Through the microcosmic perspectivising of a group of devoted and uncompromising [[Indian People's Theatre Association|IPTA]] workers, Ghatak with his signature style touches on varied issues of [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|partition]], idealism, corruption, the interdependence of art and life, the scope of art, and class-struggle. Unlike his other films, this one runs along an upbeat mood with the lead pair of lovers (Vrigu and Anusua) being reunited.<br />
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==Cast==<br />
* [[Supriya Devi]] as Anusuya<br />
* Abanish Bannerjee as Bhrigu<br />
* [[Bijon Bhattacharya]] as Gagan<br />
* Satindra Bhattacharya as Shibnath<br />
* [[Debabrata Biswas]]<br />
* [[Chitra Sen]] as Jaya<br />
* [[Anil Chatterjee]] as Rishi<br />
* [[Gyanesh Mukherjee]]<br />
* Satyabrata Chattopadhyay<br />
* [[Gita Dey]] as Shanta<br />
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==Soundtrack==<br />
Music was by Jyotirindra Moitra, from [[Indian People's Theatre Association|IPTA]], and a noted [[Rabindra Sangeet]] exponent who had previously given music in Ghatak's ''[[Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960 film)|Meghe Dhaka Tara]]'' (1960), and had song by singers like, [[Bijon Bhattacharya]], [[Debabrata Biswas]], [[Hemanga Biswas]]. [[Bahadur Khan (musician)|Bahadur Khan]] played [[sarod]] in the soundtrack. The film is noted for its wedding songs and also [[contrapuntal]] use of sound.<ref>''Indian horizons'', Volume 44. [[Indian Council for Cultural Relations]]., 1995. ''p. 127''.</ref><br />
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== Screening of Komal Gandhar aka E-Flat in different festivals ==<br />
*2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK [http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/e-flat]<br />
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== See also ==<br />
* [[List of works of Ritwik Ghatak]]<br />
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==References==<br />
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===Citation===<br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
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===Notes===<br />
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{IMDb title|0055055}}<br />
* [http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc47.2005/ghatak/ A Review by Erin O'Donnell]<br />
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{{Ritwik Ghatak}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:1961 films]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]<br />
[[Category:1961 Bengali-language films]]</div>Sovrenn