Sesh Anka

Sesh Anka (transl. The final act) is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language thriller film directed by Haridas Bhattacharya and made by Kalpana Movies, Kolkata.^[1] This film was loosely inspired by the 1958 film Chase a Crooked Shadow.^[2][3] The film starred Uttam Kumar in lead with Sharmila Tagore, Sabitri Chatterjee, Pahadi Sanyal, Bikash Roy, Kamal Mitra and others in supporting role. Critics stated this movie as one of the best thrillers in Bengali Cinema.^{[citation needed]} The film was remade in Tamil in 1964 as Puthiya Paravai and was an inspiration for the Hindi movie Khoj (1989).^[4]

Sesh Anka
Directed by	Haridas Bhattacharya
Written by	Shyamal Gupta (dialogues and Lyrics)
Screenplay by	Rajkumar Moitra
Story by	Rajkumar Moitra
Based on	Chase a Crooked Shadow a 1958 film
Produced by	Narendranath Chattopadhyaya
Starring	Uttam Kumar Pahari Sanyal Sharmila Tagore Bikash Roy Kamal Mitra Sabitri Chatterjee Utpal Dutt
Cinematography	Kanai Dey
Edited by	Santosh Ganguly
Music by	Pabitra Chatterjee, Sailen Roy
Production company	Kalpana Movies Pvt Ltd
Distributed by	Kalpana Movies
Release date	1963 (1963)
Running time	131 min
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Plot

Widower Sudhangsu is going to be married to Soma, daughter of Sir Haraprasad. Sudhangsu is presented as a cheerful person who loves his would-be partner Soma and adores her with all his heart, occasionally gifting her with ornaments. He already declares that his first wife Kalpana committed suicide on a railway track in Burma, stating that she was mentally challenged. At the time of Sudhangsu's second marriage, a local senior advocate, Suren Banerjee comes with a lady who claims herself as Sudhangsu's first wife. Sudhangsu strongly denies and alleges that she is an imposter. In the meantime, a mysterious person named Samadder invades Sudhangsu's house and steals some ornaments of the deceased Kalpana. The case goes for a trial to determine whether the unknown lady is really Kalpana or not. Advocate Suren Banerjee examines all the witnesses attached to the case. The courtroom drama wrestles to defend the unknown lady's position against her proclaimed husband. Sudhangsu starts losing his sanity with time growing out of his hands. Having no other witness to support his case, Sudhangsu's Barrister Mr. Mitter compels his client to telegram Deben Sen, brother of Kalpana to determine the identity of his sister. The story revolves around the activities of Sudhangsu and his past in the courtroom drama. Deben, however, recognizes the unknown lady as his sister without an air of doubt. Finally, Sudhangsu having lost all his reasons confesses how the lady couldn't be Kalpana.^[5]

Cast

• Uttam Kumar as Sudhanshu Gupta
• Bikash Roy as Karanjakkho Samadder
• Sharmila Tagore as Soma
• Kamal Mitra as Adv. Suren Banerjee
• Utpal Dutt as Barrister Mitter
• Sabitri Chatterjee as Lata Bose/ Fake Kalpana
• Pahari Sanyal as Sir Haraprasad
• Tarun Kumar Chatterjee as Deben Sen
• Jiben Bose as Mamababu^[5]
• Dipak Mukherji as Assistant Police Commissioner

Soundtrack

Sesh Anko
Soundtrack album by Pabitra Chatterjee, Sailen Roy
Released	1963
Recorded	1962
Studio	Kalpana Movies Pvt Ltd
Length	0:09:39
Label	Angel Digital Pvt Ltd
Producer	Narendranath Chattopadhyay

Songs

No.	Title	Playback	Length
1.	"Aami To Jani"	Hemanta Mukherjee	3:13
2.	"Ankhi Jage Shyamrup Raage"	Sandhya Mukherjee	3:13
3.	"Chand Jage Batayane"	Hemanta Mukherjee	3:13
Total length:			09:39

All lyrics are written by Shyamal Gupta, Pranob Roy; all music is composed by Pabitra Chatterjee, Sailen Roy.

Reception

Uttam Kumar played an unusual role as a murderer.^[6] The Times Of India wrote ‘Sesh Anka’ which is yet another criminally underrated film. ‘Sesh Anka’ delivers a different side of Uttam Kumar’s usual portrayal of heroism or a romantic hero.^[7]

Remake

The film was remade in Tamil in 1964 Puthiya Paravai starring Sivaji Ganeshan, Sowcar Janaki and B. Saroja Devi. In 1989 the film was remade in Hindi as Khoj.