Naata (1955)
A traumatized Mirpur-based woman, Beena, hears the whistle of an in-coming diesel train and recalls the story of her impoverished family – consisting of her widowed father, Lakhibaba; and two sisters, Tara and Radha. The former has been engaged over 3 years ago to Dakya Shravan Kumar, while her very own marriage has been arranged with Lachuram Choudhury. Then everything changes after a new post-master, known simply as Bade Babu, formerly of Sialkot, takes charge. Tara and he are drawn together and she hopes that he will eventually marry her. Then a fire destroys his dwelling and he is quite dramatically rescued by Radha. His grateful mother arrives there temporarily to express her gratitude to the child, and states that she will return soon. Taking this as a positive sign, both Radha and Tara start making plans for the latter’s marriage – not fully knowing that Tara’s fiancé has already made plans to end his prolonged engagement and is all set to head a wedding procession and compel her to marry him at any and all costs.
