Basant (1942): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1942, Basant is a drama and music film directed by Amiya Chakrabarty, running about 145 minutes.

What it’s about. Uma (Mumtaz Shanti) and Babul (Suresh) are poor and homeless siblings. Both of them have got singing talent but are unable to find any job. Then they meet Nirmal who is younger brother of theater owner Janki Babu. Nirmal persuades his brother to give them a chance. After seeing their talent, Janki Babu also admires Uma and gives her leading role at his theater. Then Nirmal and Uma fall in love with each other and get married. However, Nirmal has a misunderstanding that his elder brother also likes Uma and wanted to marry her. He does not approve of Uma's job in theater but himself is struggling to find a job. Uma leaves the job and they also also leave Janki babu's house. Now they have a small baby daughter, Manju. But soon they see the true face of poverty and struggle to cope with it.

Who’s in it. Basant stars Mumtaz Shanti as Uma, Mumtaz Ali as Babul, Suresh as Babul and P.F. Pithawala as Janaki Prasad, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.0/10, Basant has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Basant page.

If you liked it. Fans of Basant tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.