SYNOPSIS

Siddartha (Dhritiman Chatterjee) is forced to discontinue his medical studies due to unexpected and brutal death of his father. He has to now find a job in stead. In one job interview, he is asked to name the most significant world event in the last ten years. His reply is 'the plain human courage shown by the people of Vietnam', instead of the expected - man landing on moon. The interviewer asks is he is a communist. Needles to say that he does not get the job.

Next to this starts a wandering in a Calcutta, while the relationship with with his sister and a Naxalite (militant communist) brother is disintegrated, his friendship with Keya is only thing that keeps him sane. Keya is a simple girl. They enjoy each other's company but they cannot make any commitment to each other due to the circumstances.

This is the first film of the Calcutta Trilogy. The other two were and Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya. All the three films study the effect the big city of Calcutta has on the educated youth.

The seventies were a difficult period for India and West Bengal. The Corruption was rampant; the Naxalite movement had created havoc in Calcutta. In fact, they had turned parts of Calcutta into 'liberated zones'. By the time the Naxalite movement died down, in 1975, Mrs. Indira Gandhi (then, Prime Minister of India) suppressed the fundamental rights and declared "Emergency", the opposition leaders were thrown into prisons.

In a letter to Seton in 1970, Ray wrote that Pratidwandi was the most provocative film he had made till then. The film is said to have evoked extreme reactions. "People either loved the film or hated it", Dhritiman Chatterjee told Andrew Robinson, Ray's biographer.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Satyajit Ray
Producer: Priya Films (Nepal Dutta, Asim Dutta)
Cast: Dhritiman Chatterjee, Krishna Bose, Indira Devi
Music: Satyajit Ray
Script: Satyajit Ray, Based on the novel: 'Pratidwandi' by Sunil Ganguli.
Runtime: 110 min., B/W, Bengali. Spanish Subtitled.