Mahapurush

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.

On a railroad trip back home, a retired lawyer meets holy man Charuprakash Ghosh and falls under his spell. So does his daughter, which worries the young man who loves her. He investigates and soon becomes convinced he is a fraud.

Satyajit Ray's comedy credits an Indian writer as its source, but strikes me as owing a good deal to Moliere's TARTUFFE. Ghosh's babbling line includes being friends with all the great holy man of the past, and urging followers to achieve enlightenment by going onto the roof at noon and staring at the sun while they recite a prayer 972 times. I don't find this one of Ray's more compelling movies; the nonsensical things his con man continually says are arrant nonsense..... but that may be a reaction due to the fact that as a westerner, what he says makes no sense and is offensive. The offensiveness is probably deliberate on Ray's part, but makes the whole thing seem trivial.

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

A religious charlatan claims to have been around for thousands of years, and no matter how outrageous his lies, has an entire village rapt and under his influence. This includes a widower and his daughter, upsetting the plans of marriage for her suitor, so the young man turns to his friends for help. The film is based on a short story by Parashuram, but it seems like a variation of Molière's Tartuffe, or reminded me of it anyway. I certainly like the concept of exposing religious hypocrisy anywhere and everywhere, but the story here is too linear and simple to make a great film. Ray doesn't flesh out his characters or develop any other subplot, so even at 65 minutes it felt a little dry. It's kind of interesting to compare this fictional character to other con-men though.