Usha Films

Pankhiraj is a 1979 Bengali language Indian drama film directed by Pijush Basu, starring Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Nandita Bose, Samit Bhanja, and Utpal Dutta.

The film portrays a charismatic and passionate freedom fighter 'Sabyasachi', taken from the novel 'Pather Dabi' by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, in his repeated struggle against the full might of the colonial British rule.

Zamindar Surya Kishore Chowdhury is a kind-hearted man who loves playing chess and is a fantastic singer. While he cares for his estate and the people, he is careless towards his wife, Indu's feelings. Dr. Bijoy Chakrabarty, who was helped by the zamindar during his student days, lives in his palace and one day, he successfully executes his plot to murder the zamindar while coercing Indu to keep quiet. However, fate takes a different turn and in the cremation grounds, a monk saves the life of the zamindar, who returns to his estate no more as an aristocratic noble but as a monk at heart.