Akash Kusum (1965)
A young man, Soumitra Chaterjee, wants to move up in life and ventures on a risky business deal. In a bid to keep up appearances that he’s rich, he borrows the car and apartment of his rich friend Subhendu Chatterjee. He falls in love with a rich girl, Aparna Sen, fails to tell her the truth and suffers for his deception in the long run.
Bhuvan Shome (1969)
Uttpal Dutt starred as a strict, westernized railway officer who learns there is life beyond bureaucracy when he goes duck hunting in Gujarat. Suhasini Mulay acted as a young tribal woman who helps Dutt get in touch with the simple joys of life. The film’s other highlight was KK Mahajan’s cinematography which captured the wide open vistas expertly. Bhuvan Shome won for Mrinal both the National Film Award for Best Director and Best Film too.
Mrigayaa (1976)
Mrigaaya starred Mithun Charaborty as a tribal who is considered one of the finest hunters around, even by the British. He’s sent to gallows after he’s found guilty of killing the moneylender who had kidnapped his wife. His death, however, sparks a streak of revolt among the common folk who unite against both the British as well their zamindar oppressors. Mithun carried the film on his shoulders and deservedly won the National Award for Best Actor for the film. It also won Mrinal Sen a National Award for Best Film.
Ek Din Pratidin (1979)
The film challenged gender norms in the sense that it had the eldest daughter of the house earning money and the male folk, among them her jobless elder brother, dependent on her for their day-today needs. She doesn’t come home one day from work and that sends the family into a cycle of grief and anxiety. Though whether it’s a reaction out of love or out of a fear of losing their means of livelihood remains an open question. The film won him a National Award for Best Direction.
Khandahar (1984)
Styled like a Maupassant story, it revolves around a group of friends stepping out for a picnic in some ruins, only to find a mother-daughter duo living there. The mother is blind and bedridden and under the delusion that one among the visitors is a young man betrothed to the daughter, though it isn’t so. The photographer among the group (Naseeruddin Shah) takes pity on the girl (Shabana Azmi) and decides to play along. However, the charade leaves all of them with some tense situations and they spent some dark, brooding days in the ruins. The film won him another National Film Award for Best Director.