In the last few years, after watching a fair proportion of world movies, I have only managed to watch the complete filmography of only one director and that is Ray. For me, the one thing that makes a film great is its rewatchability. Barring Ganashatru, Chiriyakhana, and Shakha Prosakha, I find all other movies of Ray highly rewatchable. I have decided to pen done my experience of rewatching Ray's films. These posts are not reviews, these are ramblings about my experiences with Manik jethu.
I have decided to start with the movie Jana Aranya (The Middleman). Now you may wonder, why this choice. This movie may not be Ray's best work but it is highly rewatchable. Although being a mirror to the harsh realities of Calcutta in the 70s, the movie is not grim and sulky. The humour used by Ray in this movie is so audacious (what we call khachrami in Bengali) that you almost cannot believe it. In one of his interviews, Ray says that Jana Aranya is the only bleak movie he has ever made. I can say with strong conviction that this bleak work of Ray is one of the finest examples of satire in world cinema. Jana Aranya is the story of Somenath (Pradip Mukherjee) who albeit being a bright student fails to get an honours in the university exams due to his small and apparently illegible handwriting. The teacher who corrects his sheets doesn't have the right glasses to read Somenath's handwriting and ends up giving Somnath a low grade. After this, he joins the bandwagon of the city's youth to find a job. Upon constant failure, he starts his own business as a middleman for supplying orders to various companies, only to be drawn into the inevitable dilemma of deciding whether to join the web of corruption or not.
The film opens up with the scene of an exam. A slogan is written on the wall "sottorer dosshok muktir doshoke porinoto (the decade of 70s is changed into the decade of change)". The camera moves to show the students who are cheating. The only student who doesn't cheat is Somnath. Ironically, he is the one to be warned by the invigilator when he passes a matchbox containing a cheat paper. When the invigilator asks "ki hocche bhai?(what's going on brother?)" a student answers "porikha hoche bhai (Exams, what else)". The whole hall bursts into laughter. This is followed by still photos of laughing students. This scene shows how concisely satire can be done. Somenath's journey continues as he tries to get a job when he fails to get an honours. His friend Sukumar takes him to a political leader of the ruling communist party, and as expected the endeavour goes in vain. Instead, they are subjected to an utterly patronising moral lecture from the politician.
After this, the film takes us one year ahead in Somnath's life. He is sitting in a job interview where he is asked the weight of the moon. Tired by the futility of this process, he wanders the streets of the city where he slips on a banana peel thrown by Bishu da (Utpal Dutta), . Bishu da, a close acquaintance of Somnath is a rich businessman who has a stereotypical rags to riches story. He asks Somnath to start a business. Somnath says he has to ask permission from his father. In this short role played by Utpal Dutta, he brilliantly satirises the misplaced idealism of the middle class. Simultaneously, he also highlights the humility in the struggle of a businessman. In Bengal, there is troubling tendency to look down upon businessmen. Using the character of Bishu da, Ray mocks such naive ideas of the middle-class Bengali bhadralok. During this conversation with Somnath, the camera focusses on the potholes in the road and Bishu da says "sorbotro pitfall bhaya, dekheshune cholo (There are pitfalls everywhere, beware)." Upon reaching his house, Somnath is greeted with a marriage proposal, the perk of it being the ownership of the cement shop of the in-laws. He says no to it as he thinks it would be a surrender. After being able to persuade his father for his business he shares his joy with his boudi. While trying to sit down he exclaims in pain, "boudi boltei bhule gechi, aajke ekta boddo boro aachar kheyechi (I had forgotten to tell you, had a nasty fall today)". These kind of world plays are rife in Ray's works. These ten minutes in the movie precisely show the irrelevance and the hopelessness of middle-class values in the "poribortoner doshok (decade of change)" .
Ray takes us through the journey of the transformation of meek Somnath to the businessman Somnath. The adjective humanist is commonly attributed to Ray by western critics. He himself was not a great fan of this rigid classification. Rather than conforming to the statement, what a piece of work is man, Ray tends to portray quite a strong sympathy with the struggle of the protagonist. In Jana Aranya, he only sympathises with Somnath when he tries to shed the cloak of his middle-class values. For me, this distinction in sympathy from the director a highly appealing feature of this film. The most interesting character in this film is Natabar Mittr, a man whose self appointed designation is public relations. Rabi Ghosh, although being a comic actor, plays one of the best roles of his life in this movie. In an interview, Rabi Ghosh reveals that Ray didn't allow any deviations from his directions for this film, something he didn't do in other films where he had cast Rabi Ghosh. Natabar Mittr is a man who helps middlemen to bag their orders by striking at the Achiles heel of highly placed officers in various companies. The methods used by him are quite unique, a small glimpse of which we get. I would not spoil the entire film. The last half hour portrays a constant struggle between the lingering idealism of Somnath and the harsh realism of Mr Mittr's methods. Rather than predicting the winner, it's better to experience the well-crafted climax.
Ray again shows in this film how big an essentialist he is in terms of using characters. Sukumar, Somnath's best friend is a character whose poverty is used by Ray to show certain features of the poor. Rather than delving upon societal implications, Sukumar becomes a taxi driver, a profession which will surely raise eyebrows in a middle-class household. Bhombol, Somnath's elder brother is shown to be happy and successful. Being an officer in a good firm, he can sustain a family of four. It is implied that Bhombol being a strict utilitarian does not indulge in ethical dilemmas. Their father has quite a lot of difficulties to accept the reality of foul is fair and fair is foul. The clear distinction between the two brothers and the father is depicted in a dinner table conversation over corruption. This scene is also another example of how concise Ray can be.
Calcutta in the 70s has been the theme of some of the best Bengali movies. In Jana Aranya Ray shows how subtly and elegantly hard-hitting realism can be portrayed. Ray didn't believe that cinema can bring social change, a belief I also strongly adhere to. 70s was the decade of anarchy in Bengal. Ray makes one thing clear, when the society embraces anarchy you cannot survive by clinging on to pacifist morality. The struggle of the common man is a repeating theme in Ray's films but its futility is portrayed only in Jana Aranya. When society is at the cusp of change, is it wise to adhere to the categorical imperative? I certainly don't know the answer, maybe you will know it once you watch this masterpiece here.
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