The poor but educated Mahim and his childhood friend, the rich but conservative Suresh, both fall in love with the same woman, the liberated Achala. Mahim marries her and they move to a village but she cannot forget Suresh. Her smoldering unhappiness takes the form of resentment towards the orphaned Mrinal, raised by Mahim's father, and receives a dramatic visual embodiment when their house burns down. Mahim falls ill, is rescued by Suresh, and nursed back to health by Achala. On a train (a metaphor for the irreversibly linear course of life) to a health resort where Mahim is supposed to convalesce, Suresh on a rainswept night gives in to temptation and elopes with Achala. At the end of the film, there is a dubious reconciliation as Achala is shown following Mahim's 'good' traditionalism with Sharatchandra's barely concealed hostility towards Achala's liberated Brahmo Samaj upbringing.
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Cast
12 people
P.C. Barua Director · Saratchandra Chatterjee Story Bimal Roy Cinematographer
First release October 10, 1936 · Produced in India · Languages Bangla, Hindi
Production
New Theatres Limited
Production
India
Produced in
Languages
Original title
গৃহদাহ
Original language
Bangla
Spoken on screen
Bangla · Hindi
Release dates
India · October 10, 1936
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
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