Top 5 Classic Black & White Bengali Thrillers

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New-age Bengali thrillers have captivated hearts all around. Over the years, filmmakers like Srijit Mukherji with his ventures like Vinci Da and Dawshom Awbotaar, Joydip Mukherji with his Eken Babu Franchise and Arindam Sil with Byomkesh franchise have been very successful with cinegoers. However, thrillers are not a completely new genre that have been explored by Bengali filmmakers. The Black & White era had given us some classic thriller movies that can still attract audiences. Today I am listing 5 such old classic black & white thriller films made in Bengal.

1. Jighansha (1951): This film was almost a pioneer in thriller films when it comes to the Bengali film industry. Based on The Hound of the Baskervilles, this film is about an heir to a princely state where his father is murdered and a mysterious woman roams around the estate at night. The mystery builds up more with some suspicious characters entering the plot. Detective Sen is appointed to solve the whole mystery and overcoming many challenges he finally cracks the case to reveal the real culprit. It is considered as one of the best thriller/mystery Bengali films of all times. The film by Ajoy Kar was later made in Hindi as "Bees Saal Baad" by Biren Nag.

2. Hanabari (1952): Directed by noted author Premendra Mitra, this movie revolves round a haunted house that is visited by a beastly creature who terrorizes the whole area. The police starts investigating the case on the complaints of a young man who is attacked by the beast. A suspicious begger is seen to be roaming around the house who falls under the scanner of the cops. However, things takes a drastic turn with the revealation of who the real culprit and who the real investigator are. The film does not fail to provide surprise elements throughout its runtime. The performance of Dhiraj Bhattacharya, and his iconic dialogues are still loved by all.

3. Chupi Chupi Ashey (1960): A Bengali adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Three Blind Mice", this film was another suspenseful thriller film directed by Premendra Mitra. When a hotel run by 2 friends is visited by guests, Inspector Ghoshal arrives one rainy night to reveal that a suspected murderer has fled and has taken refuge nearby, probably in the same hotel. Mysterious incidents start taking place and everyone present becomes the suspect of Inspector Ghoshal. This film is my favourite among all the other ones, because of the engaging screenplay and wonderful performances by actors like Chabi Biswas and Tarun Kumar. The background track "Chupi Chupi Ashey" whenever the killer is seen in shadows, raises the suspense to a new level.

4. Sesh Anko (1963): A man's wedding is interrupted when a woman appears with a lawyer, claiming to be his wife. The man who was married before tries to prove that his wife was dead by committing suicide. However, one by one he gets entangled in various lies and tricky situations that prove that his wife is still alive. How the mystery is solved at the end and how everything is disclosed is the gripping storyline of this film. Convincing performances of Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Savitri Chatterji & Bikas Roy make this film very interesting.


5. Thana Theke Aschi ( 1965): An industrialist finds himself in deep soup, when he is visited by a cop, Tinkari Halder, who has come to investigate a suicide but gets the former entrapped in his witty questions. This film is a fine example of psychological thriller and matinee idol Uttam Kumar breathes the character of the cop, with his sharp and intelligent presence. If psychological thrillers are your choice this is an unmissable film. The movie was remade later but I missed the sharpness of the original movie.



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