Paribartan (1949)

Satyen Bose and (probably) composer Salil Choudhury’s debut is a didactic reformist children’s film elaborating two enduring themes of Bengali boyhood novels: life at a boarding school and the semi-tragic experience of growing up. Prankster Ajoy is sent away from his widowed mother to school where he learns to respect people from a different class and becomes bosom pals with the handicapped Shakti. The boys’ triumphant encounter with the corrupt school superintendent involves the good teacher Sisirbabu (played by director Bose), a nationalist who is popular with all the students except Ajoy. Their feud is eventually called off when Shakti dies in an accident, leaving Ajoy bereft twice over when Sisirbabu also has to leave the school. The producers were known for their nationalist dramas, including Hemen Gupta’s Bhuli Naai (1948).