काशीनाथ

A New Theatres melodrama based on a Saratchandra Chattopadhyay story. Orphaned young, Kashinath is taken in by the benevolent zamindar Pitambar Chakraborty and grows up amid the household's quiet rivalries and a promise made to a childhood friend. That promise, and the misunderstandings it breeds, send waves of upheaval through his personal life before the tangle resolves in sacrifice and reconciliation.

Nine songs, all composed by Pankaj Mullick to lyrics by Pandit Bhushan. The score leans on the gentle, melody-first New Theatres manner — devotional pieces such as 'Beet rahi pooja ki ghadiyaan' and 'Roti vrishbhan kumaari', the yearning 'O ban ke panchhi tum kit oar sidhaare' and 'Mere dukh ki rain kati', and lighter conversational numbers. Radharani sings several of the female songs; Asit Baran and a debuting Bela Mukherjee handle the duets.

Kashinath is remembered chiefly as the film in which Bela Mukherjee made her playback debut, recording three duets with Asit Baran under Pankaj Mullick. It is also a showcase of Mullick's New Theatres aesthetic — the unhurried, bhajan-and-thumri-tinged Calcutta sound — set entirely to the verse of lyricist Pandit Bhushan, with Radharani carrying much of the female vocal weight.