Ray's 'Nayak' is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made in history of Indian cinema. The story about an actor, Arnidam Mukherji, who is hailed as some sort of a demigod in the country, unfolds during a train journey and is told through several interesting narrative techniques : His life is presented in the form of a disjunctive montage, several pieces of which he supplies himself - mainly through the candid interviews given to his co-passenger, a freelancing journalist and the archetypal "modern woman" Aditi, and through his dreams, which reveal his innermost fears and the ghosts of his past. To his fellow passengers, and to most of his fans and audience, he is a charming, larger than life superstar, and the twin reports of his receiving an award in Delhi and getting involved in a brawl in a club, invite the same amount of speculation and curiosity from them. Arindam the superstar and Arindam the man with a conscience are constantly at conflict. His awareness of the superficiality of an actor's life clash with his concerns about the box-office and of becoming a forgotten hero - a fate bestowed upon many of the actors he had known personally. He desperately needs a person who will listen, and in a drunken stupor he tries to tell Aditi the truth about the reported brawl and the deception of Promila, his co-actor and flame. Aditi doesn't want any explanations, but she understands his turmoil - her prejudice against the brash, cocky film star is formidably shaken as she glimpses the real man behind the actor - someone vulnerable, broken and anguished, who has become a puppet in the hands of the film industry and the "public" as he puts it. Life goes on as usual, despite both Arindam and Aditi achieving a kind of epiphany during the train journey. The film for me is remarkable not just because of its story or symbols or technical finesse, but because of the brilliant acting and dialogs. 'Nayak', if I'm not mistaken is Uttam Kumar's (incidentally a huge superstar himself) first ever film with Ray. The sensitivity with which he has portrayed the character, almost makes us believe that, this is really his own life story that is being played out before our eyes. One of the smartest and slickest Ray films ever, this one gets a 10 from me. A must watch.
