| Jana Aranya (The Middleman) | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Satyajit Ray |
| Produced by | Indus Films (Subir Guha) |
| Written by | Satyajit Ray (screenplay) Mani shankar Mukherjee (novel) |
| Starring | Pradip Mukherjee Satya Banerjee, Dipankar Dey, Lily Chakravarti, Gautam Chakravarti, Aparna Sen, Sudesna Das, Utpal Dutt, Rabi Ghosh |
| Music by | Satyajit Ray |
| Cinematography | Soumendu Roy |
| Editing by | Dulal Dutta |
| Release date(s) | February 20, 1976 |
| Running time | 131 mins |
| Language | Bangla |
Jana Aranya (English: The Middleman), is a 1976 Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray, based on the novel of the same name by Mani Shankar Mukherjee, and is last in the series of films by Ray, known as Calcutta trilogy, the previous two being, Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970) and Seemabaddha (Company Limited, 1971).
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The film portrays the hopelessness of the middle-class, educated, urban youth in modern India. The protagonist, Somnath (Pradip Mukherjee), after making numerous unsuccessful attempts to find employment, finally lands the job of a middle-man - someone who supplies an order in exchange for a fixed commission.
In spite of his ambition, Somnath soon finds himself involved in petty dealing. Meanwhile, his friend Sukumar, having gone through similar ordeals, becomes a taxi-driver.
One day, Somnath finds that in order to land a big order, he must appease the reluctant client by supplying a prostitute. After much hesitation and trying several brothels, Somnath finds a suitable girl. However, the girl turns out to be Sukumar's sister. At a loss, Somnath offers her money and tells her to leave, but the girl refuses, saying that she is there to earn money, not beg. Somnath delivers the girl to his client.
Somnath gets the contract, but he is not a happy man.
The film has been nominated for and won the following awards since its release:
1976 National Film Awards (India)
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