Le Saint

"Mahapurush: The Holy Man" is a decent little film, but I definitely should point out that it is little in scope and style. Satyajit Ray has taken one of his short stories and brought it to the screen. And, at only a little over an hour and a very simple plot, it seems pretty obvious that it was a short story. Because of this, the film is rather slight and I don't recommend it for folks not familiar with Ray's work, as he's done better and more amazing films. This one is more for someone wanting to see all of Ray's films--even the minor ones.

The film begins with a widower meeting a holy man on a train. Soon, the man is won over by the holy man and has convinced practically everyone in his family to become disciples of the guy and he comes to live with them. There is only one problem--he spouts nothing but hogwash and he's clearly a phony. For example, the guy claims to be older than the Buddha and Jesus AND that he told Einstein about the theory of relativity!! So how are the family's friends going to expose the truth? See the film and find out for yourself.

My biggest complaint about the film is much of the ending--which I found a bit vague and confusing. However, there are some nice character studies and the film is enjoyable. In many ways, this is like an Indian version of the old Moliere play, "Tartuffe".

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

This is one of Ray's short stories. It lacks the intensity of his full-length features. Its a satire which appropriately captures the post-independence Indian zeitgeist. Its a sweet tale of how a charlatan is exposed with help from basic science and motivation from a lover boy in distress. Be it a short story or not, in every one of his movies, Ray has been a beacon by conveying his socially progressive ideas. He's a master at exposing the fault lines in the Indian society and delivering his wisdom packaged in a entertaining manner. I saw the movie in a combination pack with another one of his shorts - Kapurush. Kapurush is an emotion-packed drama. It captures the anxiety and rekindling of emotions of a chance meeting between two estranged lovers.

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.