''Ganashatru'' ( bn, গণশত্রু ''Gônoshotru'' 'Enemy of the People') is a 1990 Indian film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play '' An Enemy of the People'', and was released under that title in the UK. The cast includes Ray's favourite actor Soumitra Chatterjee, and veteran actors such as Dhritiman Chatterjee, Shubhendu Chatterjee, Manoj Mitra and Ruma Guhathakurta. Ray adapts the play to an Indian setting: a flourishing township in which a temple attracts devotees as well as tourists. When a health problem is discovered, Dr Ashok Gupta, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, finds his popularity flagging. The film was screened out of competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

Ashoke Gupta, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, an honest doctor, diagnoses the alarming spread of jaundice among his patients. To identify the cause, he analyses the water of a populated part of his town, Chandipur. According to the report, the holy water (''charanamrita'') of the Tripureshwar temple, a famous temple and tourist attraction of the town, is found to be contaminated due to damage to the underground piping system. The temple was the source of income for all of the corrupt politicians. Among these politicians is Dr. Gupta's younger brother, Nishith Gupta, portrayed by

Dhritiman Chatterjee Dhritiman Chatterjee is an Indian actor. He began his acting career in 1970 as the protagonist of Satyajit Ray's ''Pratidwandi'' (''The Adversary''). Most of his acting work has been in India's "parallel", or independent, cinema with filmmaker ...

, who is also the chairman of the municipality. He and other beneficiaries of the temple decides to prevent the doctor from alerting the people. As a responsible member of society, the doctor tries to broadcast the fact of contamination to the people, proposing temporary closure of the temple for water purification. However the Chairman is absolutely against this idea as it tampers with their profits. They are not ready to accept scientific evidence and instead says ''charanamrita'' can never be contaminated because it is holy. He also tries to publish an essay in a local daily newspaper (''Janabarta'') on the topic. But the corrupt officials suppress his voice as the facts would inevitably decrease the temple's income. The newspaper rejects his essay, fearing political pressure and public rage. As the story progresses, Dr. Gupta even tries to convey his message in a public meeting. Unfortunately, it is infiltrated and messed up by his brother and his associates. The Chairman is able to manipulate the community against the doctor's attempts to save it. He faces a widespread angry response and he goes from being a leader of society to an enemy of the people. Dr. Gupta loses his job in the local hospital and his daughter is terminated from her post of a teacher. The landlord asks them to move out. However, at the end of the movie Dr. Gupta gets justice. The young educated population of the town sides with him while his son-in-law's theatre troupe campaigns for him. The assistant editor of ''Janabarta'' quits his job to side with him and send his writing and interview to top newspapers in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The film ends in Gupta family deciding to stay in Chandipur, amidst a shout of "Long Live Dr. Ashok Gupta!" around him.

Cast

* Soumitra Chatterjee as Ashoke Gupta *

Ruma Guha Thakurta Ruma Guha Thakurta (21 November 1934 – 3 June 2019) was an Indian actress and singer primarily associated with Bengali language films. She founded Calcutta Youth Choir in 1958. Early life Ruma Guha Thakurta was born on 3 November 1934 to ...

Mamata Shankar Mamata Shankar (born 7 January 1955) is an Indian actress and dancer. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has acted in films by directors including Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh. I ...

as Nishith Gupta * Bhishma Guhathakurta *

Deepankar De Dipankar Dey ( bn, দীপঙ্কর দে) (born 5 July 1944) is an Indian actor in the Bengali film industry. He has worked in many movies as hero, villain and character artist. He starred in Ray's ''Jana Aranya'' (''The Middleman'', 1 ...

Subhendu Chatterjee Shubhendu Chatterjee, M.B.B.S. (29 November 1936 – 5 July 2007) was an Indian physician and actor, who is known for acting in Bengali television and films. A contemporary of actors Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, with whom he played sec ...

* Manoj Mitra

Awards

37th National Film Awards The 37th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1989. Ceremony took place in Ma ...

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of severa ...

- Ganashatru

Other credits

* Art direction: Ashoke Bose * Sound designer: Sujit Sarkar

References

External links

Satyajit Ray on the film
* {{Satyajit Ray 1990 films Films directed by Satyajit Ray Bengali-language Indian films Indian films based on plays Films based on works by Henrik Ibsen Films with screenplays by Satyajit Ray Best Bengali Feature Film National Film Award winners 1990s Bengali-language films National Film Development Corporation of India films