Darbaan (2020) – Zee5
‘Darbaan’ is directed by Bipin Nadkarni and is adapted from Tagore’s ‘Khokababur Pratyabartan’. It was first made into a Bengali film in 1961. It has a wonderful performance from the lead Sharib Hashmi and supporting actors like Sharad Kelkar, Flora Saini, Rasika Duggal. It tells the story of a caretaker of a rich man’s son who develops a great emotional bond with the child. However, a very unfortunate incident happens and the life of the caretaker changes forever. It has wonderful songs composed by Rohhan Patel.
Lekin… (1990) – Youtube
‘Lekin…’, directed by Gulzar, is adapted from the short story ‘Kshudhita Pashan’ by Rabindranath Tagore. It had been adapted as a Bengali cinematic marvel with the same name by the legendary director Tapan Sinha in 1960. It has a cast of actors like Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Amjad Khan, Alok Nath and many others. It has wonderful music composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar and the lyrics are written by Gulzar himself. It tells the story of Samir, who is a government employee and is transferred to Rajasthan to take stock of valuable items of a king in an old Haveli. He is trapped between past and present and is confused between reality and dreams when he meets a mysterious woman.
Bioscopewala (2017) – Disney+Hotstar
The impressive retelling of the heart breaking short story ‘Kabuliwala’ is directed by Deb Medhekar. It has a cast of actors like Danny Denzongpa, Geetanjali Thapa, Adil Hussain, Ekavali Khanna and many others. The movie tells the story of a Rehmat, who used to show films to children through the bioscope and used to tell stories to a little girl Minnie. She grows up to be a documentary filmmaker and gets to know that his father died in a plane crash in Afghanistan. She wants to investigate the incident and meets Rehmat after a long time. The story is extended further after the parting of Rehmat in the original story and explores Minnie’s life in more detail.