Pratidwandi

There are as many Rays as there are movies made by him. Having seen a good number, I find the present one different from any of the others. This is not the gentle poet of Pather Panchali nor the romantic chronicler of India's past of Charulata. This is the first of the so called Calcutta Trilogy. The film depicts the agony of youth stranded at the dawn of adulthood, in the specific context of Calcutta in the late sixties.

This was the age of hippies and budding Naxalism, of Woodstock and the Vietnam war.The film reflects the bitterness and anger of an intelligent, sensitive youth man engaged in the herculian task of finding a job.

Siddharth has recently interrupted his medical studies after losing his father. His sister is earning, but that is more because of her youth and femininity, and although nothing specific is imputed, her activities are perceived to be dishonorable. The younger brother is drifting towards shady political activity. Siddhartha's own encounters with women are sensitively portrayed. One charge that can never be made against Ray is lack of realism or anything less than utter honesty. He tells it exactly like it was.

Ray seems to have indulged in some cinematic innovation. There are a number of eery dream sequences which reminded one of the opening sequence in Wild Strawberries. At some points the surrealism definitely seems artificial and overdone as when a whole crowds of job seekers waiting to be interviewed turns into skeletons in his imagination. Like Siddharth, Ray is in love with Calcutta, city of revolt and history and squalor.

He has an unusual ability to condense everything into a short statement of a minute or so. These inspired climactic moments of dense compression punctuate Ray's work. In the present movie this comes towards the end when the seething dammed emotions of the young man explode in a demonstration of rage, as the long wait of the job seekers waiting to be interviewed is prolonged by another hour.

Not his best but his worst is ahead of other's best.

" 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 !!

This is the first of Ray's Calcutta Trilogy. Although 'Jana Aranya' also packs quite a punch, and like it, Pratidwandi also has central character that of a young man. But in this one, Dhritiman Chatterjee at various times comes nearer to the concept of 'Angry young man'. In Jana Aranya, the young protagonist compromise very early, whereas in this film, the young protagonist resists and resists.. until... The Direction in both Pratidwandi and Jana Aranya is straight. Ray tells the story without much getting into experimentation. One stark scene where he dabbles into some symbolism, depicts the potential job seekers as human skeletons from the eyes of the protagonist, his being an ex-medical student. The scene itself tells a lot about the state of mind of the hero and the plight of the youngsters. The whole sequence seen from third persons (audience) view point too show not only a very unique directorial description but it also shocks the audience to their core. The scene also departs from the classical Ray mold of being 'all humane' who desists from showing any violence. The scene may not have any violence but it shows the many shades of a mind facing much in itself from outside pressures and beginning to wander to the extremes. Pratidwandi is a tour-de-force by Satyajit Ray.

Pratidwandi - a film that aptly captures the ennui and angst of the educated middle class Bengali youth during the tumultuous Naxal-ridden period of 60's Calcutta. Fraught with a desire to DO something, Siddharto is however jobless and dreams about actually doing something of significance. But his middle-class upbringing stops him at every step. Caught in a web of his own upbringing, his need to get a day job to pay the bills, and his own morality, he is unwilling to step out of his comfort zone and take a risk. This leads his friend to taunt him that he is a "thinker" and not a "doer" - when he refuses to indulge in drinking or casual sex. But, Siddharto, in his actions and thoughts, will perhaps strike you as almost dilettante-ish, perhaps even cavalier in his thoughts about a "revolution" and in his dreams about a "better world" without ever leaving Calcutta. How this attitude slowly reaches a boiling point and tips over, when he lashes out at the so-called "babu" class, is striking in the climactic final moments of the film. A masterpiece by Satyajit Ray, this film is a parable of sorts and can be related to even today.

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.