Teen Kanya (Dos muchachas - Tres muchachas)

Originally, this movie comprised _three_ separate stories by the legendary Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore); hence the title "Teen Kanya" ("Three Daughters"). However, the subtitling could not be finished in time for a Tagore anniversary, so the middle story, a ghost story, is not included in the videocassette, retitled "Two Daughters." In the two remaining stories, we explore the lives of two girls living in a world not of their making, facing their fates with limited options. The first story, "The Postman," is about a lower-middle-class bourgeois city boy who goes deep into the Bengali countryside to take a job as a village postman. The "daughter" in this story is Ratna (nicknamed "Ratan"), his servant, a little slip of a girl. In the west, this girl, an orphan, not even at the age of adolescence, is a child. How can she cope? What can she look forward to? The second story, "Samapti," is about another girl in rural Bengal, this one a little older. She's what we would call a "tomboy." The life of an adult woman in this society -- a housewife -- wouldn't seem to be much in her taste. She is active, vivacious, lively, brazen, playful. She is known as "Pagli" ("crazy") by the disapproving villagers. But it is these very qualities that attract the attention of Amulya, a young college graduate who has returned home to his widowed mother to be nagged by her to settle down and take a wife -- a traditional, shy, modest, and, in Amulya's view, boring wife. Despite the serious subject of these two stories, they are actually quite funny. The second story is even hilarious, with a couple of near-slapstick sequences. (In the scene in which Amulya breaks the news to his mother as to which girl he really likes, pay close attention to what's happening in the background.)

Two daughters by Satyajit Ray was my first introduction to Indian cinema. Satyajit Ray has produced a gem of a movie that differs from almost any other Indian films I have seen. Two daughters actually consists of two separate stories based on stories written by Rabindranath Tagore.

The Postman is the better of the two stories. Not giving away the plot, this movie had one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in cinema. The simple, but powerful way Ray pulls his quiet films together at their end makes these quiet films very memorable. Sampati drags out somewhat longer, but has a powerful climax of its own. After years, these two movies have stuck in my memory. I would recommend them to anyone.

This film, called TEEN KANYA in Bengali and TWO DAUGHTERS in English, was made six years after Ray's first film, PATHER PANCHALI (1955), which was the first of the famous APU TRILOGY. Having finished that trilogy as well as another of his haunting masterpieces, THE MUSIC ROOM, Ray turned his attention to two wonderful short stories by Rabindranath Tagore, so that this film is therefore a diptych, composed of two separate films of those two stories. The first of them is entitled THE POSTMASTER, and most of it is filmed in and around a small hut inhabited by a young man who has just become a village postmaster. Along with the hut and the job, he has acquired a servant named Ratan who is a 10 year-old orphan girl who never knew her mother and father. The previous postmaster beat her and treated her badly, but the new one is very kind, and she becomes attached to him. This is the first time she has ever allowed herself to feel anything for anyone, in her harsh young life. The story is one of the saddest and most heart-breaking ever filmed. The intensity of the acting by the young girl, played by Chandana Banerjee, is one of the most powerful child screen performances in the history of world cinema. This young girl only made one other film, KAA, in 1966, and after that, nothing is recorded of her life or her fate. She was able to convey so much with her eyes without speaking, that it was like cinematic telepathy. The ending of this film is unforgettable, and will haunt any sensitive person always. The second film is not a sad story but an odd and amusing one. It concerns a girl in her late teens who is a wildly eccentric tomboy. She and her family live in a shack by the river bank, having lost their home and all their possessions in one of the many floods which continually afflict Bengal (the stories are set in Bengal). She likes to run wild and free, swing from the trees, play with the boys, run and hide in the forest, and always goes barefoot. She is brilliantly played by the young actress Aparna Sen, whose first adult part it was (she had appeared in one film previously as a child). She went on to become one of India's most famous serious film actresses, and has appeared in 62 films, including others by Satyajit Ray such as DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST (1970) and THE MIDDLEMAN (1976). She also appeared in James Ivory's THE GURU (1969) with Michael York and Rita Tushingham, as well as James Ivory's BOMBAY TALKIE (1970) with Felicity Kendal. In this film, Sen evokes the mystery and the animal energy of the wild young creature in an unforgettable portrayal of a girl in rebellion at becoming a woman and a wife and thus forfeiting her freedom. These days the film should be adopted by feminists as a manifesto statement. Satyajit Ray was notable for making many films sympathetic to women, girls, and children, and he had a rare understanding of the vagaries of feminine psychology. His films are often as much psychology lessons as they are high art. And he had the ability to get his actors and actresses to give of their best, and then more besides. Certainly, Ray's films are some of the most emotionally moving and psychologically profound works of cinema ever made. But in addition to that, they are technical masterpieces as well. For this film, Ray was director, producer, writer, and composer of the music. Ray was certainly one of the three great Bengali geniuses of the 20th century, another being Rabindranath Tagore himself, and the third being unquestionably Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, the scientist who collaborated with Albert Einstein, and after whom Bose-Einstein Condensates are named. (But if you have never heard of Bose-Einstein Condensates, you are forgiven, as they are highly technical, and even most physicists have never heard of them.)

I have been a fan of Ray for a long time and I have seen most of his famous films. This film was not available for some time because the quality of the film was deteriorating so badly that they had to restore the entire film. Originally made with three entirely unrelated short stories by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, the restored version has only two stories of the original three. In both the stories Postmaster and Samapti you will find the inimitable Ray touch. You can see the same neo realistic portrayal of simple lives and events of ordinary people. Postmaster evokes a feeling of pity for the young girl, but at the same time it seems to reflect the strength and courage of ordinary people going about their lives. The second story "samapti", though not as tight as the first (it winds around a bit before it reaches a climactic finish) again pours life into a simple story about a young girl who is reluctant to let go of her childhood and who is pushed into the world of adulthood. Aparna Sen ( Ray finds such beautiful women to play in his movies) plays this part brilliantly. The picturisque Bengal country side comes to life in this colourful black and white film. A must see for anyone who likes films.

Teen Kanya / Three Daughters (1961) : Brief Review -

A Classic Poetic and Artistic Woman oriented Anthology by Satyajit Ray. I never knew that Indian Cinema has seen Anthology during 60s decade (please spare me if I'm wrong) before modern filmmaking got recognition in India. So, this idea of making Anthology in early 60s had already left stunned and additionally it has 3 wonderful stories to tell and every single one has got a powerful storyline. Based on popular Indian stories of the great writer Rabindranath Tagore, these short films reveal definitive moments in the lives of three young girls. First is The Postmaster, a story of a pre-adolescent orphan girl who shares a warm bond with the new postmaster who teaches her to write and read. This story ends on such a heart-wrenching note that will definitely leave you dazed. The second one is kind of psychological drama of a married woman who is obsessed with Jewels and her husband who is desperate to get loved by her. This one is titled Monihara and it's very gripping and thrilling ride. The final one is Samapti. Mrinmoyee, a funky teenage girl is married against her choice to a good fella Amu. After marriage she disown this relationship but when husband goes away, she realises the real meaning of Husband-Wife's relationship. If i have to rank these 3 quality wise, then The Postmaster will top the list. Sampati and Monihara to be be followed. Acting, writing, execution and cinematography everything is absolutely Classy. Hats off to Satyajit Ray for giving that much needed experimental Cinematic Classic to Indian Cinema even before Indian Cinema was ready to accept it. This is Indian Cinema's answer to Hollywood filmmaking that how to create a Magical Classic Film out of simple short stories. Overall, a Cult that started another new wave in Indian Cinema.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.