Tasher Ghar

Tasher Ghar (Bengali pronunciation: [taser ɡʰor] transl. House of Cards) is a 1957 Indian Bengali-language action drama film co-written and directed by Mangal Chakraborty in his directorial debut. Produced by Govind Chand Burman under the banner of National Films, the film stars Uttam Kumar in dual roles, alongside Sabitri Chatterjee and Sabita Bose in lead roles, with Tarun Kumar, Chandrabati Devi, Rabin Majumder, and Jahar Ganguly in supporting roles.

Based on a story by Rashbehari Lal, which shows traces of influence from Daphne Du Maurier’s 1957 novel The Scapegoat. It depicts on a wealthy businessman, who decides to swap his monotonous life with his doppelganger, a poor teacher.

The film marks the first of the frequent collaborations between Chakraborty and Kumar. Music of the film is composed by Hemanta Mukherjee, with lyrics penned by Bimal Chandra Ghosh. Suhrid Ghosh handled its cinematography, while Biswanath Nayak edited the film. The film gained notable recognition for being Kumar's first appearance in dual roles.

Tasher Ghar was theatrically released on 14 June 1957, on the occasion of Ratha Yatra. The film emerged as a hit, opening to huge positive reviews. Generally attaining a cult status, the original print of the film is restored and digitised by the National Film Archive of India.

The film was later remade into Telugu as Iddaru Mitrulu (1961) starring ANR, and into Tamil as Ennai Pol Oruvan (1978) starring Sivaji Ganesan, while it also serves as an inspiration for the Rajesh Khanna starrer Hindi film Sachaa Jhutha (1970).