''Mahanagar'' () is a 1963 Indian
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-language
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written and directed by
Satyajit Ray. Starring
Madhabi Mukherjee
Madhabi Chakraborty (''née'' Mukherjee; born 10 February 1942) is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film ''Dibratrir Kabya''. She has acted in some of the most critically ac ...
in the leading role
and based on the short story ''Abataranika'' by
Narendranath Mitra, it tells the story of a housewife who disconcerts her traditionalist family by getting the job of a saleswoman. The film marked the first screen appearance of
Jaya Bhaduri
Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...
, one of
Hindi cinema's leading actresses.
Shot in the first half of 1963 in Calcutta, this was also the first film directed by Ray set entirely in his native
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, reflecting contemporary realities of the urban middle-class, where women going to work is no longer merely driven by ideas of
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
but has become an economic reality. The film examines the effects of the confident working woman on
patriarchial attitudes and social dynamics.
[ Besides '']The Apu Trilogy
''The Apu Trilogy'' comprises three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: '' Pather Panchali'' (1955), '' Aparajito'' (1956) and '' The World of Apu'' (1959). The original music for the films was composed by Ravi Shanka ...
'', the film, according to veteran film critic Philip French, is one of Ray's greatest films.
Plot
Set in Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
during the 1950s, ''Mahanagar'' explores the evolving independence of middle-class women of the city. Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee
Madhabi Chakraborty (''née'' Mukherjee; born 10 February 1942) is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film ''Dibratrir Kabya''. She has acted in some of the most critically ac ...
), a homemaker, takes a job as a door-to-door
Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pro ...
saleswoman to meet the increasing financial pressure on her orthodox and conservative family, who share a cramped apartment. Despite the disapproval of her father-in-law, Priyogopal (Haren Chatterjee), the hesitant and nervous Arati soon begins to prosper in her field and gradually starts to enjoy her new-found financial and psychological independence.
Her begrudgingly supportive husband, Subrata (Anil Chatterjee
Anil Chatterjee (Chattopadhyay) bn, অনিল চ্যাটার্জী (চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (25 October 1929 – 17 March 1996) was an Indian actor in the Bengali cinema during the early fifties through the mid-ni ...
), starts to feel insecure and asks Arati to quit her job after he tentatively secures another part-time job. Before Arati can quit, Subrata loses his full-time job when the bank he was working for shuts down in the last of the Calcutta bank crashes. Subrata has no choice but to let Arati continue to work.
Arati now becomes the sole breadwinner of the family. She befriends an Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...
colleague, Edith (Vicky Redwood), a move which raises suspicion and increases conflict within her family. Slowly Arati begins to shine in her job and earn the trust of her manager, who promises her more responsibilities if she continues to work with efficiency.
Priyogopal, a retired schoolteacher, visits several of his former pupils who are now prospering in their chosen professions to solicit funds (after refusing to accept money from Arati). One of them, an optometrist, gives Priyogopal a badly needed pair of eyeglasses. Another of his ex-pupils, a doctor who provides free medical care after Priyogopal falls down a flight of stairs, chastises Subrata for neglecting his father's material needs.
Meanwhile, Subrata spends his days idly at home and is consumed by suspicion and insecurity.
Subrata finally decides to meet Arati's boss, Himangshu ( Haradhan Bannerjee), to ease some of his suspicions. He finds that Himangshu is an affable and friendly person who, like him, hails from Pabna District
Pabna District ( bn, পাবনা জেলা) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is an economically important district in Bangladesh. Its administrative capital is the eponymous Pabna town.
History
Archeologist Cunningham conjectured ...
. They discuss Subrata's unemployment and Himangshu promises to find him a job somewhere.
Edith returns to work after a long illness, but Himangshu doubts she was actually sick and fires her, citing her frivolous lifestyle. Arati discovers her crying and persuades Edith to tell her why she is upset. Despite being the sole breadwinner of the family, the previously timid Arati abandons her inhibitions and confronts Himangshu over his unjust firing of Edith. After a heated exchange in which her boss refuses to apologize to Edith, Arati hands in her resignation letter and storms off.
On her way out of the office, she meets Subrata, apologizes to him for impulsively quitting her job, and admits she is scared of the future. Subarata realizes that his wife has shown courage rather than meekly submitting to her boss to sustain her livelihood. He placates Arati and tells her that he believes some day they both will get jobs to support their family.
Cast
* Madhabi Mukherjee
Madhabi Chakraborty (''née'' Mukherjee; born 10 February 1942) is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film ''Dibratrir Kabya''. She has acted in some of the most critically ac ...
as Arati Mazumdar
* Anil Chatterjee
Anil Chatterjee (Chattopadhyay) bn, অনিল চ্যাটার্জী (চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (25 October 1929 – 17 March 1996) was an Indian actor in the Bengali cinema during the early fifties through the mid-ni ...
as Subrata Mazumdar (the husband)
* Haradhan Bannerjee as Himangshu Mukherjee (the boss)
* Vicky Redwood as Edith Simmons (the Anglo-Indian colleague)
* Jaya Bhaduri
Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...
as Bani (Subrata's sister)
* Haren Chatterjee as Priyogopal (Subrata's father)
* Sefalika Devi as Sarojini (Subrata's mother)
* Prosenjit Sarkar as Pintu (Arati and Subrata's son)
Reception and legacy
Upon its 1967 release in the United States, ''Mahanagar'' drew praise from Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
and others. According to Ebert, "the power of this extraordinary film seems to come in equal parts from the serene narrative style of director Satyajit Ray and the sensitive performances of the cast members." He described the film as "one of the most rewarding screen experiences of our time". Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
of the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
wrote a rave review of the film "There is nothing obscure or over-stylized about this characteristic work by Mr. Ray. It is another of his beautifully fashioned and emotionally balanced contemplations of change in the thinking, the customs and the manners of the Indian middle-class." In his 2013 review Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
of The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
gave ''Mahanagar'' five stars out of five describing the film as "An utterly absorbing and moving drama about the changing worlds of work and home in 1950s India, and a hymn to uxorious love acted with lightness, intelligence and wit."
The film holds a Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
score of 92% based on 26 reviews for an average rating of 8.2/10.
Awards
Satyajit Ray won the Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...
at the 14th Berlin International Film Festival in 1964.
The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the 36th Academy Awards
The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Jack Lemmon.
Best Picture winner ''Tom Jones'' became the only f ...
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The film won the All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film in 1963 at the 11th National Film Awards
The 11th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1963. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 25 ...
.
The film won first best Filmfare Bengali Movie Award 1963 - R.D. Bhansal
Preservation and restoration
The Academy Film Archive
The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...
preserved ''Mahanagar'' in 1996.
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
released a restored 2K version of the film in 2013.
See also
*
*
* '' Deux jours, une nuit'' - A film by the Dardenne brothers
Brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne (; born 21 April 1951) and Luc Dardenne (born 10 March 1954), collectively referred to as the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, produce, and direct their films together.
The Dardennes ...
inspired by ''Mahanagar''
References
External links
Mahanagar (SatyajitRay.org)
*
''The Guardian'' review
''The Big City: A Woman’s Place''
an essay by Chandak Sengoopta
Chandak Sengoopta is a professor in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck College, University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public ...
at the Criterion Collection
{{Indian submission for Academy Awards
1963 films
1963 drama films
Bengali-language Indian films
Indian drama films
English-language Indian films
Indian black-and-white films
Films based on short fiction
Films about women in India
Films set in Kolkata
Films shot in Kolkata
Films directed by Satyajit Ray
Films with screenplays by Satyajit Ray
Indian feminist films
Third Best Feature Film National Film Award winners
1960s Bengali-language films
Films based on works by Narendranath Mitra