Nagarik
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| Nagarik "The Citizen" | |
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| Directed by | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Produced by | Film Guild: Pramode Sengupta, Bhupati Nanda, Ritwik Ghatak |
| Written by | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Starring | Satindra Bhattacharya, Prova Debi, Kali Banerjee, Sova Sen, Ketaki Dutta, Geeta Shome, Ajit Banerjee, Keshto Mukherjee |
| Cinematography | Ramananda Sengupta |
| Release date(s) | 1977 |
| Running time | 125 minutes |
| Language | Bangla |
| IMDb profile | |
Nagarik (Bengali: নাগরিক),also spelled as Nagorik, The Citizen in English, was the first full length feature-film directed by Bengali Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1953, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps, the first example of an art film in Bengali, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On September 20, 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in Kolkata, India.[1] Ritwik Ghatak only completed eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the few truly original Indian talents in cinema by directors such as Satyajit Ray[1] and critics such as Derek Malcolm.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Credits
[edit] Cast
- Satindra Bhattacharya as Ramu
- Prova Debi as his mother
- Kali Banerjee as his father
- Sova Sen as his sister, Seeta
- Ketaki Dutta as Uma
- Geeta Shome as Shephali
- Ajit Banerjee as Sagar
- Keshto Mukherjee as Jatin
[edit] Crew
- Direction and Screenplay, Ritwik Ghatak
- Cinematography, Ramananda Sengupta
- Editing, Ramesh Joshi
- Sound, Satyen Chatterjee
- Narration, Ritwik Ghatak
- Music, Hariprasanna Das
- Lyrics, Govinda Moonish
- Art Direction, Bhupen Majumdar
- Production, Film Guild
[edit] Synopsis
Ramu, a fresh graduate is searching for a job like many others in post-Partition Kolkata. He lives in a lower-middle class neighborhood with his mother, father, and sister. Ramu's sister, Seeta, is dressed up and paraded in front of prospective in-laws who humiliatingly examine her. The mother is yearnful of older times when the family used to live in a better house, but she bears her suffering quietly, for the most part. The father is myopic and full of cynicism for he does not share the idealistic aspirations of his two children that better times will come. The light of Ramu's life is his girlfriend Uma, who lives in an equally precarious situation with her sister Shephali and her mother. Jatin is an even poorer minor character living hear Uma's dwelling who Ramu avoids because he cannot help the former out financially. To make ends meet, Ramu's mother takes in Sagar, a poor chemist, as a paying guest. Ramu does not get a job and cannot pay rent even with the meagre money that he gets from Sagar and is insulted by the landlord. Ultimately the family is evicted.
Just before the family has to leave to go stay in slums, Ramu visits Uma and tells him they are moving. Uma offers to help them set up in the new dwelling, an obvious sign of humanism on Ghatak's part. Shephali, her sister, cannot bear to live in poverty any longer, so she leaves home with a shady man. Seeta confesses that she loves Sagar, a love that Sagar reciprocates. However, Sagar, is now rendered homeless and destitute and mentions that he does not have the audacity to expect them to even be united. Ramu overhears parts of Sagar and Uma's conversation and is touched by the moment. He appeals to Sagar for him to come and live with the family. The film ends with the characters walking out in the rain, a symbolic sign of hope and renewal.[1]
[edit] Critical analysis
Nagarik is considered a prototype for Ghatak's subsequent films since all of the main ingredients are present.[3] The tone is deliberately didactic and the treatment melodramatic, elements which Ghatak in no way considered inferior to realism.[3] The pain of the Partition is poignant among the protagonists, all refugees from East Bengal, now suffering from the loss of homeland and livelihood. This is a theme that Ghatak helped portray when working on Chinnamul, and one that would permeate most of his later creations. The film is not a study in pessimism but ends on a positive note with a speech by Ramu hoping for a new future. This has been considered overtly Marxist considering Ghatak's involvement with group theatre and the IPTA. The film is thought to be well scripted, acted, and filmed with scenes that show unique visual and aural registers.[3] However, it is also criticized as being slow and long-drawn.[3] In the final analysis, Nagarik is one of the first attempts at serious cinema in India, (if not the first) and has, thus, little in the way of precedent to fall back upon.[3] It is, therefore, a pioneer work in the history of Indian cinema.[3]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Ghatak, Ritwik (2000), Rows and Rows of Fences: Ritwik Ghatak on Cinema, Ritwik Memorial & Trust Seagull Books, ISBN 8170461782.
- Hood, John (2000), The Essential Mystery: The Major Filmmakers of Indian Art Cinema, Orient Longman Limited, ISBN 8125018700.
[edit] External links
Nagarik at the Internet Movie Database
