Le Saint

Mahapurush / The Holy Man (1965) : Brief Review -

A socially important topic to expose religious fraudulent but Ray's one of rare Flabby works inviolable to his high standard. Mahapurush is second half of double features 'Kapurush-Mahapurush' which follows a completely different story. Kapurush was a lovestory which doesn't have anything that can bring social change but Mahapurush is about exposing racket of Imposter Saint which was definitely a very important topic for society. Now let me tell me you that Kapurush is a Classic but Mahapurush is not. Well, that doesn't mean the film is bad. Sometimes better content fails to impress as much as fictional and dramatic theories and that's what exactly the case here. A devout Hindu family falls victim to a charlatan posing as a holy man and then one of the educated and sensibile guy gathers a small team to expose the fraud baba without hurting the religious sentiments of people. Even though Mahapurush has a better content than Kapurush, it fails to come out as a Classic because of limited screentime and regular filmmaking features. However, Mahapurush is more interesting and more entertaining than any other Satyajit Ray film made by then. The faking lectures and fictional stories of Baba are fun to watch. Some scientific and mathematical references are there for educated audience and it's very likeable too. The cast members are quite good with their roles and the writing of the characters is also very nice and relatable to common men. The screenplay is engaging, the dialogues are fine and the cinematography is okay (pretty dark unreasonably). Satyajit Ray makes this film with the light theme which hadn't been done by him then, and so it can be called a worthy attempt to some extent. Overall, good but nothing great as we expect from the Great Filmmaker.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This may be a short film, but it is packed with clever dialogue. And a comedy that uses words to be funny is worth celebrating.

Charuprakash Ghosh plays a holy man (Birinchi Baba) who talks a good game of spiritual enlightenment. He travels with his assistant (played by Rabi Ghosh), looking for believers who might be tricked by his "wisdom". Actually, many of the things he says are somewhat meaningful or half-truths, and he is quite intelligent. But he really goes overboard, claiming to have known and educated everyone from Albert Einstein to Jesus and the Buddha.

The monk-ish mountebank and his attendant meet a grieving man and his daughter on a train, dazzle them with petty witticisms and cheap tricks, and establish a cushy existence in their care. But there are others who are not so easily duped; they seek a way to expose the charlatans.

It's a funny story that reminds me of O. Henry's humorous tales. Director and co-writer Satyajit Ray deserves credit for this comedy with a cautionary core.

Watch for the trick with the fingers that must have had viewers trying to replicate it.

A short, simple & straightforward comedy released as one half of the double bill presentation along with Kapurush, Mahapurush (The Holy Man) concerns a devout Hindu family that falls victim to a charlatan posing as a holy man and a group of rational, intelligent men who take it upon themselves to expose him.

Co-written & directed by Satyajit Ray (The Music Room, The Big City & The Hero), the film may lack the scope of his best-known works but it still does well with the little material, thanks to its rich script, excellent cast & brief 65 mins runtime. Ray only keeps what advances the story and narrates it with aplomb while keeping things lighthearted.

The film shows the so-called god-men for who they really are and how they seduce the pious & vulnerable people into their swindling schemes without mocking the ignorance & blind following of their victims. The plot is easy to follow, even allows the viewers to catch up when it drops too many details, and maintains its neat composure from start to finish.

Overall, Mahapurush features a premise that could've been expanded upon for greater impact but it still goes past the finish line with the elegance that Ray films are known for. Not amongst his finest but a fun & enjoyable outing nonetheless that delivers both as a satire & farce and is patient in its approach & execution of the proceedings despite the limited runtime.

I was there said the Holy Man and many other claims were made by the clever con from India who has camped out at a believers house. However Love conquers Con and a camp fire puts the Holy man on the run, but not without compensation!

Those who are into the afterlife, this a a must movie to see. Beware of false prophets and you will overcome such scams.

We came to know about the concept of double-features from the 'Grindhouse' project made in 2000's. This one, even though having completely different source, was released together with the yin and yang kind of title; even I have seen photos and posters of these getting released in some theatres in Calcutta. Kapurush : story of a coward lover in a dark themed drama; speaking about contemporaneous, do not miss this. Mahapurush : story of a con godman in comedy genre - speaking about relevance, watch this right now. I think this was the first project of Ray with Soumendu Roy as his new DoP