Chhadmabeshi
Chhadmabeshi is a 1971 Bengali-language comedy directed by Agradoot. Produced by Shib Narayan Dutta and Bibhuti Laha for Chalachitra Bharati, it stars Uttam Kumar and Madhabi Mukherjee, with a strong supporting cast. Based on a story by Upendranath Ganguly, the film centers on Abanish Mitra, a newly married botany professor famous for his pranks.
To prove he isn’t dull and to outwit his brother-in-law Prashanta, Abanish disguises himself as Gourhari Basu, a talkative, perfect Bengali-speaking driver. He travels to Allahabad and becomes the family’s driver, winning over Prashanta and Labanya and making Sulekha, Abanish’s wife, curious about this new, charming driver. Complications arise as misunderstandings and suspicions of an affair grow, especially when Abanish and Sulekha secretly plan a honeymoon in Kanpur.
To keep up appearances, Abanish asks a friend to impersonate him, while another friend’s romance weaves into the comedy. The farce deepens with mistaken relationships and fake identities, eventually leading to a dramatic confrontation. In the end, the truth is revealed, and the characters realize they’ve been fooled, but accept it with humor and good spirit.
Chhadmabeshi was largely shot in Allahabad, with some scenes in Kolkata and Mumbai. The music was composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, with lyrics by Bhaskar Roy and Patita Paban Banerjee. The film released on 26 November 1971, ran for many weeks, and is remembered as a timeless Bengali comedy. It inspired remakes in Hindi as Chupke Chupke (1975) and in Kannada as Joke Falls (2004).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:33 (CET).