Movies like Charulata (1964)
The best movies like Charulata (1964) are The World of Apu (1959), Aparajito (1956) and Pyaasa (1957). If Charulata hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe World of Apu (1959)8.1/10 from 299 votes
- NewestAntaheen (2009)Released 2009
- In BengaliThe World of Apu (1959)Also in Bengali
The World of Apu (1959)
Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAparajito (1956)
Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPyaasa (1957)
Vijay, a destitute poet, searches for true love while attempting to get his work published. With the assistance of two women in his life, his dream comes true - but at a cost that causes Vijay to rethink his worldview.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPather Panchali (1955)
Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. Alone, his wife, Sarbojaya, looks after her rebellious daughter, Durga, and her young son, Apu, as well as Harihar's elderly aunt Indir. The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life, while their parents suffer the daily indignities heaped upon them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nightingale's Prayer (1959)
This compelling tale of love and betrayal, set in the upper Egyptian countryside, follows the story of Amna as she plots her revenge on the engineer who destroyed her family's honor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
The Chess Players (1977)
In the year 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the King of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British intend to control this rich land and send General Outram to clear way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political maneuvers, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either — noblemen Mir and Mirza ignore all duties and spend their days playing endless games of chess.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Coward (1965)
Amitabha Roy is a Calcutta-based scriptwriter, driving around in the country to collect material for a film. His vehicle breaks down in a small town. A tea planter, Bimal Gupta, offers hospitality for the night. Amitabha is forced to accept the offer as he has no alternative.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Adversary (1970)
Siddhartho Chowdhury, a brilliant young medical student, is forced to leave his studies after his father's sudden demise. He is forced to navigate the high unemployment rate and the communist socio-political climate of 1960s Calcutta in search of a job.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Home and the World (1985)
In the early 1900s, Nikhilesh, a wealthy Westernized Hindu in colonial East Bengal, feels compelled to test the love of his wife, Bimala. He introduces her to his friend Sandip, a politician agitating against British rule, and Bimala is equally taken with both Sandip's anti-colonial fervor and the man himself. Personal and political tensions subsequently flare as the now assertive Bimala has to make a crucial decision.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Blazing Sun (1954)
A wealthy landlord floods and destroys a village on purpose to prevent the people living there from making a profit off their crops. What he doesn't know is that his own daughter, Amal, is in love with Ahmed, a young man from the village.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big City (1963)
Arati takes a job as a door-to-door saleswoman in Calcutta's wealthy neighbourhoods, in defiance of her traditionally-minded husband, Subrata, and his live-in parents. Emulating her Anglo-Indian friend Edith, who speaks equal to the men she encounters on the job, Arati quickly becomes her firm's top salesperson. When Subrata loses his job, the power dynamic begins to shift.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDays and Nights in the Forest (1970)
Four friends from Calcutta who have very different personalities make a holiday excursion into the country, to a tiny village in the state of Bihar where they set themselves up in a bungalow. A series of minor events, all connected to their respective reactions to their new environment, reveals their characters more deeply.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDevi (1960)
A devout upper-class Hindu has a vision in a dream that his daughter-in-law is the human incarnation of the Goddess Kali and begins worshipping her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hero (1966)
Arindam, a matinee idol, is going by train to collect an acting award. On the train, he is confronted by Aditi, a journalist who somewhat unwillingly starts to take his interview. Arindam, won over by Aditi's naivete, starts to disclose his past, his fears, and his secrets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAntaheen (2009)
Antaheen follows the lives of three couples in tumultous relationships, who lead different lives but are connected by the infinite struggles and pain each of them goes through.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)
A selfless young woman, the daughter of a middle-class refugee family from East Pakistan, sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSadma (1983)
A head injury causes a woman to regress to childhood. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher. A Hindi remake of the 1982 film "Moondram Pirai" by the same team.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Chokher Bali (2003)
A young woman is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies. Based on the novel by Rabindranath Tagore.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
The Music Room (1958)
An aging, decadent landlord’s passion for music becomes the undoing of his legacy as he sacrifices his wealth in order to compete with the opulent music room of his younger, richer neighbour.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stranger (1991)
A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels, tales that are at odds with their conventional middle class perspective on the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSparsh (1980)
An independent visually impaired man who runs a school for blind children deals with troubles and triumphs of his profession and finds love when a withdrawn recent widow volunteers at the school.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)
A debauchee Zamindar greatly neglects his wife. The decadence of the Bengali Zamindar milieu in the late 19th century, seen through the eyes of a young upward mobile rustic seeking fortune in Calcutta, fascinated by the lonely lady of the house.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Two Acres of Land (1953)
After falling for a cunning landlord’s scheme, a farmer (Balraj Sahni) and his young son (Ratan Kumar) travel to Calcutta in search of work to save money and reclaim their ancestral land.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Golden Thread (1965)
After an old college friend offers him a job at an iron foundry, the upright and honest Ishwar leaves a shanty town on the outskirts of Calcutta where he lives with a group of refugees from East Bengal. With plans to forge a solid living for himself, sister Sita and Abhiram, an orphaned boy he offers a home to, Ishwar is accused of selling out and deserting his people.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaajan (1991)
Breaking conventional barriers, a poor, disabled orphan befriends the son of a wealthy businessman. However, their friendship is put to the test after both friends fall in love with the same woman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA River Called Titas (1973)
An in-depth look at the lives and struggles of a fishing community living by the River Titas in Bangladesh after the Partition of India in 1947.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The River (1951)
Director Jean Renoir’s entrancing first color feature—shot entirely on location in India—is a visual tour de force. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the film eloquently contrasts the growing pains of three young women with the immutability of the Bengal river around which their daily lives unfold. Enriched by Renoir’s subtle understanding and appreciation for India and its people, The River gracefully explores the fragile connections between transitory emotions and everlasting creation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAwaara (1951)
A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGuide (1965)
A tourist guide meets an unhappy married woman who wants to take up dancing. With his motivation, she becomes a successful dancer but success corrupts the man's mind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndia Song (1975)
Anne-Marie Stretter, the wife of a French diplomat in 1930s India, takes many lovers to relieve the boredom in her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Charulata and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Charulata?
The closest matches to Charulata are The World of Apu (1959), Aparajito (1956) and Pyaasa (1957). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Charulata?
People who watched Charulata most often go on to The World of Apu (1959), Aparajito (1956) and Pyaasa (1957).
What is the highest-rated movie like Charulata?
The World of Apu (1959), rated 8.1/10 by 299 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Charulata?
Antaheen (2009) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Bengali movies like Charulata?
Yes: The World of Apu (1959), Aparajito (1956) and Pather Panchali (1955).
How are movies similar to Charulata chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Charulata, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.