Do Bigha Zamin (Two Acres of Land) is 1953 Bollywood film, directed by Bengali director Bimal Roy and star Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy in lead roles. The film is known for its socialist theme, and is an important film in the early parallel cinema of India and is rightly considered a trend setter

Like most of movies by Bimal Roy, art and commercial cinema are merged to create a movie that is still looked upon as a benchmark and paved way for future cinema makers in the neo-realist movement, which was about to start in the 70s .

In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.

Plot

The story revolves around a farmer, Shambhu (Balraj Sahni), who has been hit badly by a famine in Bengal. The real reason of his sorrow is that the Zamindar (land owner) wants to acquire his land on the pretext that Shambhu had taken some loan from him. Shambhu has to pay back the landlord and hence moves to the city to look for some other source of money.

The most famous scene from the movie is when Shambhu pushes himself to the limit pulling a rickshaw. The rider on the rickshaw offers Shambhu more money to pull faster because he is chasing (probably) his girlfriend who is in a horse pulled carriage. Shambhu can not resist the temptation, and he keeps smiling in anticipation of getting more money. However, his wealthy customer is not worried the least about the lower class' plight. In this race, rickshaw loses a wheel and Shambhu is injured.

However, through all these hardships Shambhu does not lose his righteousness, which is the moral of the movie. Shambhu's son steals money to help his father, only to be reproached by his father later. Shambhu's morality is the only thing that remains his own till the end.

The movie ends with Shambhu returning to his village, only to see his land sold and a factory being constructed over it.

Critical acclaim

Do Bigha Zamin won the Prix Internationale at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and the Prize for Social Progress at the Karlovy Vary film festival. The movie won the first ever Filmfare Best Movie Award in 1954. Bimal Roy won the Filmfare Best Director Award. The movie also won the Certificate of Merit at National Film Award of India.

The Title

In the name of the movie "Two Bigha of Land" or Two Acres of Land, Bigha or Acre is a unit of measuring land. Bigha varies from state to state. In Bengal, where the movie is based, 3 bigha is one acre (4,000 m²). Therefore, Shambhu owns only 2,700 m².

References

External links

• Review from Rediff.com's Classics revisted series
• upperstall.com review