Bhuvan Shome is a 1969 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Mrinal Sen[1] based on a Bengali story by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay.

[2] The cast includes Utpal Dutt (Bhuvan Shome) and Suhasini Mulay (Gauri, a village belle).

[4] Bhuvan Shome, a widower and a dedicated civil servant - strict and uncompromising - is a senior officer in the Indian Railways.

The background of the film is constructed in the context of a few railway ticket checkers discussing him as a strict, unreasonable officer ("afsar").

When he is made to change his clothes because otherwise the "birds will know" and fly away is probably an important part of his transformation from a strict, conformist and aging man to one of a person more open to the stimuli of his environment.