The Big City (Mahanagar)
TITLE
The Big City (Mahanagar)
DIRECTOR
Satyajit Ray
COUNTRY
India
YEAR
1963
DURATION
130′
GENRE
Drama
The Big City (Mahanagar)
Mahanagar marks Ray’s first excursion into neo-realism with its depiction of everyday life in the then contemporary Calcutta of 1955. Ray focuses on the socio-economic struggles of the impoverished lower and middleclass through the emancipation of the central female character. Subrata, an ordinary employee of a bank, is the only member of the family with an income. Against established custom and the reproofs of her father-in-law, Subrata’s wife Arati seeks employment as a door-to-door salesgirl. When she becomes successful in her work, gaining self-confidence and financial independence, her husband is unable to accept the situation and wishes for her to quit. Ironically, a crisis at the bank erupts and Arati resigns as a protest against the wounded honour of her friend, an Anglo-Indian woman. The film ends with a more equal re-alignment of the relationship between Arati and her husband.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Born in Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature, Ray started his career as a commercial artist. He was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London. Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, music composer, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents. Feluda, the sleuth, and Professor Shonku, the scientist in his science fiction stories, are popular fictional characters created by him. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, 2 Silver Bears, a number of additional awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honored him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in 1992.
- DirectorSatyajit Ray
- ScreenplaySatyajit Ray
- CinematographySubrata Mitra
- Cast
- Editing Dulal Dutta
- Producer/s R.D. Bansal
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project TitleThe Big City (Mahanagar)
- Project TypeDrama
- Completion Date January 1, 1963
- Country of originIndia
- Country of filmingIndia
- Language
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Born in Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature, Ray started his career as a commercial artist. He was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London. Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, music composer, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents. Feluda, the sleuth, and Professor Shonku, the scientist in his science fiction stories, are popular fictional characters created by him. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, 2 Silver Bears, a number of additional awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honored him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in 1992.
