Dhanraj Tamang

Dhanraj Tamang is a 1978 Indian Bengali language vigilante action film co-written and directed by Pijush Bose based on the story of Charuchandra Chakraborty alias Jorasandha. The film was released under the banner of Usha Films starring Uttam Kumar, Sandha Roy, Utpal Dutta, Anil Chatterjee, Dilip Roy and Chaya Devi in lead roles. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Shyamal Mitra, with lyrics penned by Gauriprasanna Mazumder. Plotted in Sittong tea estate, Darjeeling, it revolves around Dhanraj Tamang, a tea estate worker who always fights against the predators who try to rape the women instead of job in the estate. All on a sudden, he gets prisoned for being falsely alleged of raping his wife, Phoolmaya. He escapes from the jail to look into the matter and unfortunately discovers his boss to be the mastermind of all the rapes, including of his wife. After taking the revenge, Dhanraj becomes mad and dies in the Ranchi mental asylum.

Dhanraj Tamang marks the 8th collaboration between Uttam Kumar and Pijush Bose. Released on the auspicious occasion of Durga Puja, the film was an all-time blockbuster at the box office and after a number of flops, it redefined Uttam Kumar's stardom with a long run consisting of 210 days in theatres. The song  'Ekti Sudhu Naam Dhanraj Tamang', sung by Hemanta Mukherjee, became very popular among the masses, upon its release.

Plot
In a tea estate close to Darjeeling, Dhanraj Tamang is a well-liked and trustworthy worker. He is always willing to assist and encourage locals. He defends women from sexual predators but is unable to save his own wife. His tea estate boss allegedly sexually assaults his wife, leading to the sentencing of the man to prison. Dhanraj comes back to exact revenge.

Cast

 * Uttam Kumar as Dhanraj Tamang, the leader of the workers of Sittong tea estate
 * Sandhya Roy as Phoolmaya, Dhanraj's wife
 * Utpal Dutt as Mr. Mackengy, the asst. manager of Sittong tea estate
 * Anil Chatterjee as Dr. Nibaran Majumder
 * Dilip Roy as Deputy Jailer Moloy Chakraborty
 * Chhaya Devi as Burima
 * Tarun Kumar as Ghosh Da, owner of local wine shop
 * Shambhu Bhattacharya as Naga, a local goon
 * Tarun Mitra as Kishan Thapa

Award

 * Filmfare East Awards
 * 1979: Filmfare East Awards - Best Actor - Uttam Kumar.

Shelved remake
Superstar M.G Ramachandran, initially wanted to remake it in Tamil starring himself in lead, but got shelved. Later K. Raghavendra Rao showed his interest to remake it in both Hindi and Telugu language starring Amitabh Bachchan and NTR in the titular role respectively, but due to rights issues, it also couldn't come to the board.