Anmol Tasveer (The Precious Photograph)

(The Precious Photograph)

Director: Satyen Bose
Hindi/1978/Colour/80mins (Also available in: Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada)


Mrs. Bhatia, a porty woman, hates children and scolds them whenever she sees them. The kids dislike her in turn and take delight in scribbling over the walls of her bungalow to irritate her. One day, Mrs. Bhatia sees a new boy drawing on her wall and by the force of habit chases him away. Later she is surprised when a wealthy art lover Mr. Ganguly pays her handsomely to photograph the wall painting. When she finds out that Mr. Ganguly has sold the photograph for 10 times what he paid her, she is furious. Overcome by greed, she tries to find the boy with the help of a bungling journalist. Who is the boy that drew the painting? Will Mrs. Bhatia manage to find and exploit him?


Director’s Biography: Satyen Bose
One of the most successful and experimental filmmakers of India, Satyen Bose had no formal training in cinema but rose to become a prominent director and a master of the cinematic medium. His off-beat Bengali film ‘Parivartan’ in 1949 was a trailblazer and was remade into the immensely popular Hindi film ‘Jagruti’. He worked in many films in his career as writer, director as well as actor. His film ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ is an eternal comedy-classic of Indian cinema. ‘Dosti’ in 1964 won him global recognition. His other notable films include ‘Bandi’ (1957), ‘Aasra’ (1966) and ‘Raat Aur Din’ (1967).