Jana Aranya (1975)

 ●  Bengali ● 2 hrs 11 mins

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The final film in Ray’s Calcutta trilogy (cf. Pratidwandi, 1970; Seemabaddha, 1971) is also his most disaffected melodrama. Further elaborating the theme of corruption which runs through the entire trilogy and would return later in e.g. Shakha Proshakha (1990), the film features the young Somnath Bannerjee (P. Mukherjee) who, unfairly assessed in his graduate examination, cannot get a job. He goes into partnership with Bishuda (Dutt) and becomes a corporate ‘middleman’ or dalal (also the term for a pimp) buying and selling. Since the purchasing officer of a mill, Goenka (Lahiri), requires a call-girl as a bribe, Somnath and his new mentor, Mitter (Ghosh), explore Calcutta’s underworld. Several comic failures later, he finally meets the prostitute Juthika (Das), the sister of a former classmate Sukumar, (G. Chakraborty), although she is too ashamed to admit to this. The film is contextualised by the Emergency situation through e.g. the references to power shortages and the then- Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray’s hostility to the film. With this grimly comical tale Ray abandoned the gentle humanism with which he chronicled the follies of his well- meaning but sometimes ill-equipped liberal intelligentsia. Even the mild sympathy he felt for the radical movements reflected in Pratidwandi now disappear before a hero willing to be led unquestioningly through life by mentors like Bishuda or Mitter. The ‘upright’ father-figure (Satya Bannerjee) now belongs to a different world from this new generation. For the next decade, Ray concentrated on children’s stories and period melodramas, turning away from the contemporary.

Cast: Arati Bhattacharya, Pradip Mukherjee

Crew: Satyajit Ray (Director), Soumendu Roy (Director of Photography), Satyajit Ray (Music Director)

Genres: Drama

Release Dates: 01 Jan 1975 (India)

Bengali Name: জানা অরণয়া

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as Mrs Ganguli
as Somnath
Supporting Actor
as Fatikchand
Supporting Actor
as Somnath's ex-girlfriend
Supporting Actor
as Jagabandhu
as Bhombol
as Sukumar
Supporting Actress
Supporting Actor
as Mr Bakshi
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
as Mrs Biswas
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actor
as Natabar Mittir
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actor
as Hiralal
as Somnath's Father
as Goenka
as Kauna / Juthika
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
Supporting Actor
as Bishuda

Direction

Director

Production

Producer
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Screenplay Writer

Camera and Electrical

Director of Photography

Music

Music Director

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Film Type:
Feature
Language:
Bengali
Colour Info:
Black & White
Sound Mix:
Mono
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1
Stereoscopy:
No