Dhanraj Tamang
| Dhanraj Tamang | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Pijush Basu |
| Screenplay by | Pijush Basu |
| Dialogues by | Pijush Basu |
| Story by | Charuchandra Chakraborty |
| Produced by | Asim Sarkar |
| Starring | Uttam Kumar Sandhya Roy Utpal Dutt Anil Chatterjee Dilip Roy |
| Cinematography | Ganesh Ghosh |
| Edited by | Baidyanath Chatterjee |
| Music by | Shyamal Mitra |
Production company | Usha Films |
| Distributed by | Chandimata Films Pvt. Ltd. |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 Minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
Dhanraj Tamang is a 1978 Indian Bengali-language vigilante action film co-written and directed by Pijush Basu. Produced by Asim Sarkar under the banner of Usha Films, the film is based on a story by Charuchandra Chakraborty. It stars Uttam Kumar in the titular role, alongside Sandha Roy, Utpal Dutt, Anil Chatterjee, Dilip Roy and Chhaya Devi in lead roles. Plotted in Simtang tea estate, a faithful worker Dhanraj Tamang, who gets prisoned for discovering the predation of local girls including his wife by his boss, escapes from the jail to take revenge and ultimately goes mad.
Predominantly shot in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar with a sporadic schedule, the film marks the eleventh collaboration between Basu and Kumar, and also the debut of Prosenjit Chatterjee as the assistant director. Music of the film is composed by Shyamal Mitra, with lyrics penned by Gauriprasanna Mazumder. Ganesh Ghosh handled its cinematography, while Baidyanath Chatterjee edited the film.
Dhanraj Tamang theatrically released on 29 September 1978, coinciding with Durga Puja. Opening to positive reviews, the film was a blockbuster at the box office and after a number of commercially unsuccessful films, it redefined Kumar's stardom with a long run consisting of 210 days in theatres. The song "Ekti Sudhu Naam Dhanraj Tamang", sung by Hemanta Mukherjee, became very popular among the masses, upon its release. At the 16th Filmfare Awards East, it received the Best Actor award for Kumar.