Mahanagar@ 50

On Arati: Arati is the woman that you can see in every household of Bengal. Not only Bengal,she is in every house of India. It’s been five decades that the film saw the light of the day,but I would say,nothing has really changed in our country. The plight of women and the way a middle-class family functions,we are still frozen in time. She is the embodiment of every Indian woman.

On Mahanagar: I think Mahanagar is more relevant in today’s society. It talks about important issues within family space without hammering the head of the audience. Going back in time,I remember getting the script and being joyous. I’ve been acting from a very early age,but such a strong female character was a delight to discover in a script. This film,along with Charulata, has brought me a lot of accolades. I remember being invited to San Francisco where American poet and novelist William Packard gave me an award on the same stage where Greta Garbo was honoured.

On Satyajit Ray: I consider myself lucky that Satyajit Ray thought I would be apt for Arati’s role. Mahanagar was my first film with him. I went on to do two more films with him. I don’t think I have to add anymore,considering the whole world knows what a great director he was. He gave actors a lot of freedom on the sets and that’s how they shone bright in his films.

On the film’s restoration: I’m very glad that the film has been restored to its pristine glory. Theatrical and home video releases will help the film talk to a new generation of viewers who might have missed Ray’s film earlier. I haven’t seen it in its new avatar,but Kamal Bansal (son of producer RD Bansal) has told me how beautiful it looks. I’m quite thrilled about it. I hope to catch it soon.

On Hindi cinema: I was never really interested in Hindi films. Bengali cinema has given me everything — name,fame,artistic satisfaction. I’ve worked with directors such as Satyajit Ray,Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen,who are comparable to any other great directors of the world. To be honest,I also wasn’t quite comfortable with Hindi language. And the idea of doing films in Mumbai meant shifting my base from Kolkata,which didn’t motivate me much. But yes,I have always been inundated with offers from Hindi filmmakers but I have maintained by stance. Raj Kapoor did pursue me for more than six months to act in Mera Naam Joker. In those days,Bengali film industry made far better films than Hindi cinema. So,I never really bothered about doing Hindi films.

On today’s cinema: Cinema has gone through a drastic change. I can’t really identity with the kind of cinema that’s been made today. I believe any art form can be beautiful when it knows how to use the nava rasas. But cinema now uses the worst rasa of the nine and exploits it to the hilt. Most of the films are filled with violence and abuses. This is not the cinema I grew up with or I acted in.

Goutam Ghose,

Bengali feature filmmaker

My memory of Mahanagar goes back to when I was 14 years old. That is the first time I saw the film. The most important thing about the film was the title shot,which showed the tram line of Calcutta and the sparks along the line,and with every new spark,a new frame appears. Later on I found out from Subrato Mitra,Ray’s director of photography,that they created these sparks on the editing table when they scratched the negatives and inserted sparks in between the frames.

I have seen Mahanagar many times after that and have used excerpts and certain scenes from the film in my documentary,titled Ray: Life and Work of Satyajit Ray. Mahanagar is a very significant film in the history of Bengali cinema because it portrayed Calcutta in full light and the character of Arati was a very typical woman from Calcutta of the ’50s. It showed how the girls of that time began to come out of their house and opted for a job or occupation to support their family. The story was written in the early ’60s and it is a kind of a statement of the new empowerment for women in those days.

There is an interesting underlining story in the theme,that of the parallel between the Anglo-Indian character and the Indian girl (Arati) and their compassion. I particularly like the scene where after being harassed by the boss the Anglo-Indian character (Edith) starts weeping in the washroom. Arati comforts her and shares her agony. The presence of Anglo-Indians in the workspace in Calcutta was a dominant feature in the ’60s.

Unlike other films of the time which dealt with women’s emancipation,Ray’s approach to filmmaking was very realistic,natural and credible and that is the most important cinema of the time. There were other films that measured in stature to Ray’s Mahanagar, but his work carries the stamp of credibility and has a natural approach. The thick chemistry between the trio of Ray,Mitra and art director Bansi Chandragupta also makes Mahangar memorable. This was even seen in Charulata (1964). For instance,in Mahanagar, most of the shooting even though is done in a studio,it looks real and it is a real achievement for the film.

As told to Debesh Banerjee

‘Ray proved that art without humanity is not worth it’

Advaita Kala

Novelist and Kahaani’s screenwriter

It is about the lipstick,the one she tucks into her bag and pulls out at the elevator leading up to her office,not at first,but every day soon after. It’s a recent acquisition and has come from a new sense of empowerment,however it is the only visible manifestation,performed in secret. It is also what he finds in her handbag. To him,it signifies the unraveling of the composite that is them,brought on by the reversal of gender roles. So what does she do? She tosses it out of the window in response to his inquisition. Will that reassure him?

It all feels a little unfamiliar,he tells her. He doesn’t know how to explain it. In a moment of searing intimacy,she lifts his hand to her mouth,his finger hovers over the mole on her face,“Do you recognise me by the mole?” she asks,looking into his eyes. He is unable to look away.

There are a couple of ways one can view Mahanagar,one as a story of the power dynamics between a man and a woman in a marriage,another as the awakening of a woman,and finally,as a simple love story between two people at a crossroads of their lives,wherein the man is emasculated and the woman empowered. But most importantly it is Ray’s interpretation of a woman that always leaves me in awe and admittedly taking notes.

The interpretation is so organic and devoid of cynicism or cliché that one cannot help but think of the great auteur as not only a genius but also a humanist in the purest sense of the word. And one is yet again reminded that art without humanity is not worth practising.