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Atanka

Atanka is a 1986 Indian Bengali language political crime thriller film directed by Tapan Sinha. The film stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Prosenjit Chatterjee, and Satabdi Roy in her debut film. The film was known for its dark-tone and outstanding performances of the cast. The film ran for around 90 consecutive days at Mitra cinemas, west Bengal. The film was both critically and commercially successful and won 7 awards, and got an official entry at the Indian Panorama Section.

Last revised
Jun 22, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
365 w
Citations
9
Source
Atanka
Directed byTapan Sinha
Written byTapan Sinha
Screenplay byTapan Sinha
Story byTapan Sinha
Produced byCharu Chitra
StarringSoumitra Chatterjee
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Satabdi Roy
Anil Chatterjee
Nirmal Kumar
Edited bySubodh Roy
Music byTapan Sinha
Distributed byNew Theatres No.1 Studios
Release date
  • 30 January 1986 (1986-01-30)
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Atanka is a 1986 Indian Bengali language political crime thriller film directed by Tapan Sinha.123 The film stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Prosenjit Chatterjee, and Satabdi Roy in her debut film.456789 The film was known for its dark-tone and outstanding performances of the cast. The film ran for around 90 consecutive days at Mitra cinemas, west Bengal. The film was both critically and commercially successful and won 7 awards, and got an official entry at the Indian Panorama Section.

Plot

Prosenjit Chatterjee and Satabdi Roy in a sequence source ↗

The story revolves around a school master who witnesses a murder by his students, but the students threaten him not to speak a word, but he goes beyond the line and courageously punishes the students by the help of the law.

Cast

  • Soumitra Chatterjee as Sudhanshu Mukherjee / Master Moshai, a teacher
  • Prosenjit Chatterjee as Prabir
  • Sumanta Mukherjee as Mihir Samanta
  • Satabdi Roy as Subrota, Sudhanshu's daughter
  • Ranjan Bhattacharya as Subinoy, Sudhanshu's son
  • Nirmal Kumar as Nabin
  • Manoj Mitra as Suresh
  • Anil Chatterjee as Aloke Chatterjee
  • Bhishma Guhathakurta as Hebo
  • Amar Ganguly as Dhurjati Prasad Maiti
  • Shailen Mukherjee as Dr. Banerjee
  • Arijit Guha as the SI of Tollygunge Police Station
  • Ramen Roy Chowdhury as the ASI of Tollygunge Police Station
References

References

  1. https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/tapan-sinha-one-of-indias-finest-filmmakers-but-often-overshadowed-by-ray-and-ghatak/349241/
  2. "Posto to Atanka: Soumitra Chatterjee's best 'Non- Satyajit Ray' films". Asianet. 15 November 2020.
  3. https://www.thestatesman.com/supplements/marquee/ahead-of-its-time-1502652117.html
  4. Nag, Amitava (31 January 2020). 16 Frames. Doshor Publication. ISBN 978-81-944429-0-5.
  5. "'Sanyasi Raja' - 5 all-time great Bengali movies inspired by real-life incidents". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  6. Ghosh, Suman (7 January 2022). Soumitra Chatterjee : A Film - Maker Remembers. Om Books International. ISBN 978-93-92834-17-2.
  7. Mukerji, Victoria Maya (1994). Bengali Film Practitioners: Art, Intellectualism and Morality. University of California at Berkeley.
  8. Dasgupta, Sanjukta; Sinha, Dipankar; Chakravarti, Sudeshna (7 December 2011). Media, Gender, and Popular Culture in India: Tracking Change and Continuity. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-81-321-1904-3.
  9. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9.
External links