The music of the film was composed by Babul Bose, with cinematography and editing by Swapan Guha. It ran more than 90 week in theatres and created a box office record by becoming the highest grossing Bengali film ever at the time. Sasurbari Zindabad marks the 6th collaboration between Prosenjit Chatterjee and Haranath Chakraborty. The song "Chokh Tule Dekho Na Ke Esechhe", sung by Babul Supriyo was a chartbuster during its release. The movie is a remake of 1990 Hindi movie Jamai Raja which itself was a remake of 1989 Telugu movie Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu.
Plot
Mrs. Binodini Roy, a renowned industrialist, wants to marry off her elder daughter Rupa to her business partner's son (Majumdar). Rupa is against the marriage and hence she escapes from her house with the help of her father. On the way to her uncle's house in Narayanpur, a cabbie tries to rob her of her belongings. But she is saved by a handsome motor-mechanic named Somu. Somu takes her to her uncle's house, and it is revealed that he is one of her uncle's acquaintances. Gradually, Rupa and Somu grow close to each other. One day they have a heated argument on her modern dressing, but it is precisely after this that they realize their love for each other. They make up and even get secretly married without informing Rupa's mother. Soon, on her father's request, Rupa returns home. Her mother refuses to acknowledge her marriage; instead, she decides to marry her off to her former match. On the day of the wedding, just when Rupa had given up all hope, Somu makes a dramatic entry to take charge of his ‘sasurbari’ (in-laws’ house). But is it only his love for Rupa that has brought him here, or does Somu have a secret of his own?
Sasurbari Zindabad created box office history by becoming the first Bengali film to cross the ₹2 crore mark in West Bengal. Made on a large budget of ₹60–70 lakh,[1][2] the film's final box office collections reached a staggering ₹2.50 crore;[3] thus fulfilling all criteria to be adjudged an ‘All-Time Blockbuster’. In the process, it went past previous Prosenjit-Rituparna blockbusters like Sudhu Ekbar Bolo, Baba Keno Chakor and Moner Manush, to become the highest grosser ever.[3] It eventually completed a ‘Golden Jubilee’ by running for a period exceeding 50 weeks in the Bengal districts.[4] It held the highest grosser record for 2+1⁄2 years until another Haranath Chakraborty directorial, Sathi, overtook its tally.[5]
Satellite rights
The film's satellite rights were initially awarded to the Bengali GEC ETV Bangla. In 2009, the rights were transferred to the leading Bengali GEC, Star Jalsha. But in 2023, the rights were re-transferred to Bengali GEC, Colours Bangla. At present only two channels, Colours Bangla and Colours bangla Cinema, have the right to officially broadcast the film worldwide.
Video rights
The official video rights of this film have been purchased by Eskay Video, the most reputed video company in West Bengal. As of May 2013, the MRP is ₹49.[6]
Legacy
Sasurbari Zindabad introduced a number of new trends in Bengali cinema which were attributed as the main factors behind the film's smashing performance. The factors were:
Big budget
Previously, the average budget for a Bengali film was around 10 to 15 lakhs. But this film changed the trend by costing nearly ₹70 lakhs. A substantial amount of this budget was spent on improved picture quality, technology, grandeur, sets, costumes, and shooting locales, which increased the attractiveness of the film. Buoyed by the film's humongous success, producers became more confident and budgets of Bengali films gradually picked up.[2][5]
Use of CinemaScope
Barring a few exceptions, CinemaScope was non-existent in Tollywood. This film re-introduced CinemaScope, which lends a brighter, more colourful and more attractive visual appeal to the film. Soon, CinemaScope became a regular feature in Bengali films.[5]
Bollywood art director
Kaushik Sarkar, art director of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Yes Boss was roped in to do the production designing of this film. High-quality colourful sets made it the most glamorous Bengali film at that time. As a result, other filmmakers were forced to abandon the degraded production quality prevalent then in Tollywood.[7]
Designer clothes
Fashion designers were approached to do the costumes of Prosenjit and Rituparna. Hence, both of them looked their best in this film and their scorching chemistry set the screens on fire. Down the decade, designer clothes are the norm in Tollywood now.[8]
Liplock
Prosenjit and Rituparna did a full-blown liplock in this film which lasted for nearly 30 seconds. This was one of the first such instances of a couple kissing each other on the lips in the history of mainstream Bengali cinema.[9] Before this, the only other film for which the incredibly popular pair of Prosenjit and Rituparna locked lips (in multiple sequences) was Rituparno Ghosh’s cult-classic Utsab, which had its festival premiere just 3 weeks earlier.[10] In that film they had gone one step further and performed a bold sex scene as well.[11] After Sasurbari Zindabad, both Rituparna and Prosenjit engaged in quite a few intimate sequences with other heroes and heroines, but they never locked lips with each other onscreen again.
Trivia
The title of the film is missing from its entire opening credits.
This remains the highest-grossing Bengali film of Rituparna Sengupta's entire career. It was also her last association with Shree Venkatesh Films, the biggest production house in Tollywood. Before this, she had collaborated with them in Mayar Badhon and Tumi Ele Tai; both of which were also opposite Prosenjit. She also never worked with Haranath Chakraborty again except for a song-sequence in Chhayamoy (2013)[9][12]
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