Do Bigha Zameen (1953)

It is well-known that the story of “Do Bigha Zameen” was based on Salil Chowdhury's Bengali short story “Rickshawalah” written around 1951/52.

Ritwick Ghatak showed the story to Bimal Roy when he visited Calcutta in 1952. Deeply impressed, Roy decided to make the film, first inviting Salil to write the script, and later asking him to compose the music as well.

In the famous composition “Dharti Kahe Pukarke”, Salil used a melodic line inspired by the Russian Red Army march “Polyushka Polye” (Meadowlands). He changed just one note — from shudh gandhar (major third) to komal gandhar (minor third) — giving the phrase a distinct Raag Bhairavi flavour.

The Bengali version of the story, “Rickshawalah”, was later filmed in 1955.