L'adversaire

In 1970, Satyajit Ray was already one of the most respected filmmakers ever with string of movies to his name which placed India in the world map. He has received more accolade than any other Indian filmmaker. I know many cinephiles considered Ray's Trilogy or rank his earlier films to the best while the latter half can be seen as a pessimistic phase. For me, it is the best period with top notch scripts, surrealism, fresh with thematic depth which was not present in the creator's earlier films. I rank Jana Aranya (1975), Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), Nayak (1966), Sikkim (1981) in the top shelf.

I'm a detractor of these new wave/parallel films capitalising on poverty with lame storyline, cliched character arcs, with no room for surrealism. I can't connect fully with the graph of films at that time and also with the Carnatic music which was like a matter of privilege with access only to a certain community. Nothing against the music but rarely someone outside the community gets to access it. Also, it was a time when lot of hippies visited India with short and departed with long hair, they benefitted a lot from the sadhus in India and Pakistan. Drifting from the green power crowd to the city, it was filled with lonely, depressed, politically correct/incorrect, rebellious, aimlessly wandering people. Ray interweaves the mood of the 70s with avant-garde aesthetics of experimental filmmakers, typical of the 1960s, especially in the opening negative sequence, the mirror shot and the climax with the skeletons.

At the center of the plot is Siddhartha Chaudhuri, a modern youth, unemployed, rebellious, and free. The film follows him and his dreams where he tries to scrape together everything to make a living. The city is inhospitable, with each day passing he dives into paranoia more and warps himself in an ever-descending spiral where it does not seem like there is any hope.

There's a scene in Pratidwandi (1972), where the character goes through an upheaval during a job interview. He is asked to answer many questions, and this is my favourite.

'Who was the prime minister of England at the time of Independence?

To which he replies - whose Independence, Sir?

The sequence shocked me, and I was in silence along with mention of Vietnam war, Moon landing. I could almost feel his pain with no atonement on the horizon. What's even scarier is the relevance the film holds portraying the present situation right.

Not having known much about what to expect, I was taken for quite a surprise with the Calcutta Trilogy. With a constantly bleak environment in each film, this series educates about the conditions of that era. Out of the three, this seems to be the happiest, and that should tell you much about the other movies.

This movie is filled with very subtle metaphors and fantastic direction. The story quickly reels you in and the audience would automatically start to root for the protagonist. There is one scene, where the protagonist, previously educated in medicine, hallucinates all the people he finds applying for a particular job position as skeletons. This was a fantastic scene and the framing must have been quite cumbersome, but it really drives in the point.

One other thing that really won me over was the last scene, which was incredibly poignant- a mention about the death of dreams, and the circular nature of life. So many wonderful moments in the movie, but these two struck me the most.

Dhritiman Chatterjee's acting was remarkable and he really delivered quite a performance. He really makes the audience root for him and quickly develops a connection with the viewer. The supporting cast were also fairly good in their roles, although they didn't really have a lot of screen-time, considering this movie was completely from the protagonist's point of view. Overall, this was a really symbolic movie with not-so bleak an ending.

Pratidwandi is one of my favourite films of Satyajit Ray. In-fact, I'll place it above Apu trilogy and Charulata. This is political drama at its best. Set in the age of hippies, communism and newly born Naxalism, when Woodstock and the Vietnam war were fresh, the film reflects the bitterness and anger of an intelligent, sensitive young man engaged in the Herculean task of finding a job. This is one film that rightly depicts the Calcutta of the late sixties.

It was a difficult period for India and West Bengal. Corruption was rampant. Unemployment raged the youth of India. I absolutely loved the flashbacks and the way X-ray digressions have been employed by Ray. The ending scene was particularly marvellous, where the protagonist Siddharth, chooses ideology over helplessness. No wonder the inspiring communist of Hazaron Khwashein Aisi is also named Siddharth.

The film is stylistically experimental for Ray, featuring techniques inspired by the French New Wave, such as jump-cuts, edgy framing, dream sequences, and sexual metaphors. Some of the experimental techniques which the film pioneered include photo-negative flashbacks and X-ray digressions. There are a number of dream sequences which reminded me of Bergman's Wild Strawberries.

It is my personal view, and I think I'll have to go into hiding after saying this, that this is Satyajit Ray's greatest film. I happen to share a common name with the protagonist, Siddhartha, and knowing the sort of impact this movie had on my father, and people of his generation, I wouldn't be surprised if, subconsciously at least, I was named after the character.

This movie is the first in what is called Ray's 'Calcutta Trilogy', which consists of 'Pratidwandi', 'Seemabaddha', and 'Jana Aranya'. These three movies, though not as remarkable perhaps as his previous, and more famous trilogy, the 'Apu trilogy', are nonetheless some of his finest and most subtle movies.

Pratidwandi is set in a Calcutta rocked by political unrest, and examines the varied reactions of the youth of the city to this unrest. Based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel, the story revolves around Siddhartha, his family, the girl he loves and his struggle for survival in the big city, while at all times staying true to his principles. From its beginning interview scene, its use of real events as backdrop, its sublime acting, particularly that of Dhritiman, right till its remarkable ending, arguably Ray's greatest ever, the film sustains a continues high which makes watching it an unforgettable experience.

" The competitor or Pratidwandi was set up in a time of political turmoil in Bengal where a medicine drop out Siddhartha is looking out desperately for a job. Siddhartha had to leave his medicine study due to the sudden death of his father and ended up studying botany hence. The film moves through Kolkata with the eyes of Sidhartha mainly as an unemployed youth. The film marks the start of the famous Kolkata trilogy film series from Ray and went into history for winning President's award for best direction and screenplay and to be featured in 1972 Venice film festival. Ray used techniques that was years ahead of its time with common metaphor as below –

1. Death – The film starts with a x-ray filming scene of Sidhartha's father's death and ends with the same metaphor of death when Sidhartha finally lands up a sales job in remote Bengal and hears the long lost bird's whistle from his childhood days just to be comprehended by the echoing voice of "Ram Nam sath hai". Death stars and ends the film.

2. Lost bird – Sidhartha's recollects the bird that his sister was so fond of during their childhood vacation. Sidhartha never finds the same old known bird in Kolkata. He even ventures new market which is famous for hosting all materials from the world. But even new market disappoints him. He spots the bird finally in rural Bengal (Balurghat) in his new medical sales job. But this time the sound of the known bird is in resonance with the rhymes of a dead man being carried away. May be this concept of the lost innocence has inspired modern bengali bands to compose songs as "Holud pakhi". This is indeed remarkable as a metaphor for lost innocence and a human changing with age and circumstances.

3. Flash backs – Sidhartha flashbacks in his medical college days often in the film and these college flashbacks as medical lectures are used to connect the story as he unfolds his struggling days in Kolkata. The most eminent is the sexual metaphor of a young modern lady crossing park street.

The script was based on the story of Sunil Gangapadhya and the film moves very fast from the interview panel to Sidhartha's old friends mess to his old home. Sidhartha's inability to cope up with his ambitious sister (on merit or with her affair with her boss is unknown) or his revolutionary cousin makes up an interesting contrast to his character. Sidhartha's refusal for a sexual act which his friend sponsors speaks of his resilience and strength of character. Sidhartha also regrets probably gifting his brother the book from Che Guevara in his teenage birthday as his brother might have initiated his views on revolution from that gifted book. The only support that Sidhartha get is that from a door next girl who ultimately becomes his friend and may be his love interest eventually.

Sidhartha character is one of the three shades that Ray used in Calcutta trilogy as below – a) Sidhartha being the job hunter who finally compromises and leaves Calcutta. This character is by far the white shade in trilogy.

b) The character of Somanth in the second trilogy "Middleman -"Jana aranya " who as a job hunter too leaves the hunt and becomes a businessman himself just to end up hiring his best friend's sister as an escort for sales favors. Somnath is the innocent looking grey shade in trilogy.

c) The character of Shymal in the film "Company limited - Seemabaddha" who finds epitome of success in corporate life through smart work ends up self accused, although he makes to the coveted post of a general manager. Shymal is definitely darker of the other two shades if not a black.

Overall, a brilliant film and needs utmost attention when you see it. If you have struggled in a job search then this film will grip you more. Hope you all like this analysis as I pen up for the next two series on Middleman ("Jana aranya") and company limited ("Seemabaddha"). Your comments and views most welcome on the work of the genius !!