User Reviews

There are as many Rays as there are movies made by him. Having seen a good number, I find the present one different from any of the others. This is not the gentle poet of Pather Panchali nor the romantic chronicler of India's past of Charulata. This is the first of the so called Calcutta Trilogy. The film depicts the agony of youth stranded at the dawn of adulthood, in the specific context of Calcutta in the late sixties.

This was the age of hippies and budding Naxalism, of Woodstock and the Vietnam war.The film reflects the bitterness and anger of an intelligent, sensitive youth man engaged in the herculian task of finding a job.

Siddharth has recently interrupted his medical studies after losing his father. His sister is earning, but that is more because of her youth and femininity, and although nothing specific is imputed, her activities are perceived to be dishonorable. The younger brother is drifting towards shady political activity. Siddhartha's own encounters with women are sensitively portrayed. One charge that can never be made against Ray is lack of realism or anything less than utter honesty. He tells it exactly like it was.

Ray seems to have indulged in some cinematic innovation. There are a number of eery dream sequences which reminded one of the opening sequence in Wild Strawberries. At some points the surrealism definitely seems artificial and overdone as when a whole crowds of job seekers waiting to be interviewed turns into skeletons in his imagination. Like Siddharth, Ray is in love with Calcutta, city of revolt and history and squalor.

He has an unusual ability to condense everything into a short statement of a minute or so. These inspired climactic moments of dense compression punctuate Ray's work. In the present movie this comes towards the end when the seething dammed emotions of the young man explode in a demonstration of rage, as the long wait of the job seekers waiting to be interviewed is prolonged by another hour.

Not his best but his worst is ahead of other's best.

Pratidwandi - a film that aptly captures the ennui and angst of the educated middle class Bengali youth during the tumultuous Naxal-ridden period of 60's Calcutta. Fraught with a desire to DO something, Siddharto is however jobless and dreams about actually doing something of significance. But his middle-class upbringing stops him at every step. Caught in a web of his own upbringing, his need to get a day job to pay the bills, and his own morality, he is unwilling to step out of his comfort zone and take a risk. This leads his friend to taunt him that he is a "thinker" and not a "doer" - when he refuses to indulge in drinking or casual sex. But, Siddharto, in his actions and thoughts, will perhaps strike you as almost dilettante-ish, perhaps even cavalier in his thoughts about a "revolution" and in his dreams about a "better world" without ever leaving Calcutta. How this attitude slowly reaches a boiling point and tips over, when he lashes out at the so-called "babu" class, is striking in the climactic final moments of the film. A masterpiece by Satyajit Ray, this film is a parable of sorts and can be related to even today.

This is the first of Ray's Calcutta Trilogy. Although 'Jana Aranya' also packs quite a punch, and like it, Pratidwandi also has central character that of a young man. But in this one, Dhritiman Chatterjee at various times comes nearer to the concept of 'Angry young man'. In Jana Aranya, the young protagonist compromise very early, whereas in this film, the young protagonist resists and resists.. until... The Direction in both Pratidwandi and Jana Aranya is straight. Ray tells the story without much getting into experimentation. One stark scene where he dabbles into some symbolism, depicts the potential job seekers as human skeletons from the eyes of the protagonist, his being an ex-medical student. The scene itself tells a lot about the state of mind of the hero and the plight of the youngsters. The whole sequence seen from third persons (audience) view point too show not only a very unique directorial description but it also shocks the audience to their core. The scene also departs from the classical Ray mold of being 'all humane' who desists from showing any violence. The scene may not have any violence but it shows the many shades of a mind facing much in itself from outside pressures and beginning to wander to the extremes. Pratidwandi is a tour-de-force by Satyajit Ray.

It is my personal view, and I think I'll have to go into hiding after saying this, that this is Satyajit Ray's greatest film. I happen to share a common name with the protagonist, Siddhartha, and knowing the sort of impact this movie had on my father, and people of his generation, I wouldn't be surprised if, subconsciously at least, I was named after the character.

This movie is the first in what is called Ray's 'Calcutta Trilogy', which consists of 'Pratidwandi', 'Seemabaddha', and 'Jana Aranya'. These three movies, though not as remarkable perhaps as his previous, and more famous trilogy, the 'Apu trilogy', are nonetheless some of his finest and most subtle movies.

Pratidwandi is set in a Calcutta rocked by political unrest, and examines the varied reactions of the youth of the city to this unrest. Based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel, the story revolves around Siddhartha, his family, the girl he loves and his struggle for survival in the big city, while at all times staying true to his principles. From its beginning interview scene, its use of real events as backdrop, its sublime acting, particularly that of Dhritiman, right till its remarkable ending, arguably Ray's greatest ever, the film sustains a continues high which makes watching it an unforgettable experience.

" The competitor or Pratidwandi was set up in a time of political turmoil in Bengal where a medicine drop out Siddhartha is looking out desperately for a job. Siddhartha had to leave his medicine study due to the sudden death of his father and ended up studying botany hence. The film moves through Kolkata with the eyes of Sidhartha mainly as an unemployed youth. The film marks the start of the famous Kolkata trilogy film series from Ray and went into history for winning President's award for best direction and screenplay and to be featured in 1972 Venice film festival. Ray used techniques that was years ahead of its time with common metaphor as below –

1. Death – The film starts with a x-ray filming scene of Sidhartha's father's death and ends with the same metaphor of death when Sidhartha finally lands up a sales job in remote Bengal and hears the long lost bird's whistle from his childhood days just to be comprehended by the echoing voice of "Ram Nam sath hai". Death stars and ends the film.

2. Lost bird – Sidhartha's recollects the bird that his sister was so fond of during their childhood vacation. Sidhartha never finds the same old known bird in Kolkata. He even ventures new market which is famous for hosting all materials from the world. But even new market disappoints him. He spots the bird finally in rural Bengal (Balurghat) in his new medical sales job. But this time the sound of the known bird is in resonance with the rhymes of a dead man being carried away. May be this concept of the lost innocence has inspired modern bengali bands to compose songs as "Holud pakhi". This is indeed remarkable as a metaphor for lost innocence and a human changing with age and circumstances.

3. Flash backs – Sidhartha flashbacks in his medical college days often in the film and these college flashbacks as medical lectures are used to connect the story as he unfolds his struggling days in Kolkata. The most eminent is the sexual metaphor of a young modern lady crossing park street.

The script was based on the story of Sunil Gangapadhya and the film moves very fast from the interview panel to Sidhartha's old friends mess to his old home. Sidhartha's inability to cope up with his ambitious sister (on merit or with her affair with her boss is unknown) or his revolutionary cousin makes up an interesting contrast to his character. Sidhartha's refusal for a sexual act which his friend sponsors speaks of his resilience and strength of character. Sidhartha also regrets probably gifting his brother the book from Che Guevara in his teenage birthday as his brother might have initiated his views on revolution from that gifted book. The only support that Sidhartha get is that from a door next girl who ultimately becomes his friend and may be his love interest eventually.

Sidhartha character is one of the three shades that Ray used in Calcutta trilogy as below – a) Sidhartha being the job hunter who finally compromises and leaves Calcutta. This character is by far the white shade in trilogy.

b) The character of Somanth in the second trilogy "Middleman -"Jana aranya " who as a job hunter too leaves the hunt and becomes a businessman himself just to end up hiring his best friend's sister as an escort for sales favors. Somnath is the innocent looking grey shade in trilogy.

c) The character of Shymal in the film "Company limited - Seemabaddha" who finds epitome of success in corporate life through smart work ends up self accused, although he makes to the coveted post of a general manager. Shymal is definitely darker of the other two shades if not a black.

Overall, a brilliant film and needs utmost attention when you see it. If you have struggled in a job search then this film will grip you more. Hope you all like this analysis as I pen up for the next two series on Middleman ("Jana aranya") and company limited ("Seemabaddha"). Your comments and views most welcome on the work of the genius !!

" The competitor or Pratidwandi was set up in a time of political turmoil in Bengal where a medicine drop out Siddhartha is looking out desperately for a job. Siddhartha had to leave his medicine study due to the sudden death of his father and ended up studying botany hence. The film moves through Kolkata with the eyes of Sidhartha mainly as an unemployed youth. The film marks the start of the famous Kolkata trilogy film series from Ray and went into history for winning President's award for best direction and screenplay and to be featured in 1972 Venice film festival.

Ray used techniques that was years ahead of its time with common metaphor as below – 1. Death – The film starts with a x-ray filming scene of Sidhartha's father's death and ends with the same metaphor of death when Sidhartha finally lands up a sales job in remote Bengal and hears the long lost bird's whistle from his childhood days just to be comprehended by the echoing voice of "Ram Nam sath hai". Death stars and ends the film.

2. Lost bird – Sidhartha's recollects the bird that his sister was so fond of during their childhood vacation. Sidhartha never finds the same old known bird in Kolkata. He even ventures new market which is famous for hosting all materials from the world. But even new market disappoints him. He spots the bird finally in rural Bengal (balurghat) in his new medical sales job. But this time the sound of the known bird is in resonance with the rhymes of a dead man being carried away. May be this concept of the lost innocence has inspired modern bengali rock bands to compose songs with birds as themes for lost innocence. This is indeed remarkable as a metaphor for lost innocence and a human changing with age and circumstances.

3. Flash backs – Sidhartha flashbacks to his medical college days often in the film and these college flashbacks as medical lectures are used to connect the story as he unfolds his struggling days in Kolkata. The most eminent is the sexual metaphor of a young modern lady crossing park street.

The script was based on the story of Sunil Gangapadhya and the film moves very fast from the interview panel to Sidhartha's old friends mess to his old home. Sidhartha's inability to cope up with his ambitious sister (on merit or with her affair with her boss is unknown) or his revolutionary cousin makes up an interesting contrast to his character. Sidhartha's refusal for a sexual act which his friend sponsors speaks of his resilience and strength of character. Sidhartha also regrets probably gifting his brother the book from Che Guevara in his teenage birthday as his brother might have initiated his views on revolution from that gifted book. The only support that Sidhartha get is that from a door next girl who ultimately becomes his friend and may be his love interest eventually.

I personally think that Sidhartha's character is one of the three shades that Ray used in Calcutta trilogy as below – a) Sidhartha being the job hunter who finally compromises and leaves Calcutta. This character is by far the white shade in trilogy.

b) The character of Somanth in the second trilogy "Middleman -"Jana aranya " who as a job hunter too leaves the hunt and becomes a businessman himself just to end up hiring his best friend's sister as an escort for sales favors. Somnath is the innocent looking gray shade in trilogy.

c) The character of Shymal in the film "Company limited - Seemabaddha" who finds epitome of success in corporate life through smart work ends up self accused, although he makes to the coveted post of a general manager. Shymal is definitely darker of the other two shades if not a black.

Overall, a brilliant film and needs utmost attention when you see it. If you have struggled in a job search then this film will grip you more. Hope you all like this analysis as I pen up for the next two series on Middleman ("Jana aranya") and company limited ("Seemabaddha").

Pratidwandi is one of my favourite films of Satyajit Ray. In-fact, I'll place it above Apu trilogy and Charulata. This is political drama at its best. Set in the age of hippies, communism and newly born Naxalism, when Woodstock and the Vietnam war were fresh, the film reflects the bitterness and anger of an intelligent, sensitive young man engaged in the Herculean task of finding a job. This is one film that rightly depicts the Calcutta of the late sixties.

It was a difficult period for India and West Bengal. Corruption was rampant. Unemployment raged the youth of India. I absolutely loved the flashbacks and the way X-ray digressions have been employed by Ray. The ending scene was particularly marvellous, where the protagonist Siddharth, chooses ideology over helplessness. No wonder the inspiring communist of Hazaron Khwashein Aisi is also named Siddharth.

The film is stylistically experimental for Ray, featuring techniques inspired by the French New Wave, such as jump-cuts, edgy framing, dream sequences, and sexual metaphors. Some of the experimental techniques which the film pioneered include photo-negative flashbacks and X-ray digressions. There are a number of dream sequences which reminded me of Bergman's Wild Strawberries.

Satyajlt Ray copes with still more facets of the obviously complicated mainstream of life in his native India in the course of this film. His central character is a former medical student who shares a crowded apartment tn Calcutta with his widowed mother, an uncle, a younger slster, and a younger brother, the latter bent on a revolutionary cause. The young man falls in love, and yet the very happenstance of emotional fulfillment does not eradicate his yearnings for expression over social injustice, or, for that matter, economic corruption. As a character study, the film will be remembered.

In 1970, Satyajit Ray was already one of the most respected filmmakers ever with string of movies to his name which placed India in the world map. He has received more accolade than any other Indian filmmaker. I know many cinephiles considered Ray's Trilogy or rank his earlier films to the best while the latter half can be seen as a pessimistic phase. For me, it is the best period with top notch scripts, surrealism, fresh with thematic depth which was not present in the creator's earlier films. I rank Jana Aranya (1975), Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), Nayak (1966), Sikkim (1981) in the top shelf.

I'm a detractor of these new wave/parallel films capitalising on poverty with lame storyline, cliched character arcs, with no room for surrealism. I can't connect fully with the graph of films at that time and also with the Carnatic music which was like a matter of privilege with access only to a certain community. Nothing against the music but rarely someone outside the community gets to access it. Also, it was a time when lot of hippies visited India with short and departed with long hair, they benefitted a lot from the sadhus in India and Pakistan. Drifting from the green power crowd to the city, it was filled with lonely, depressed, politically correct/incorrect, rebellious, aimlessly wandering people. Ray interweaves the mood of the 70s with avant-garde aesthetics of experimental filmmakers, typical of the 1960s, especially in the opening negative sequence, the mirror shot and the climax with the skeletons.

At the center of the plot is Siddhartha Chaudhuri, a modern youth, unemployed, rebellious, and free. The film follows him and his dreams where he tries to scrape together everything to make a living. The city is inhospitable, with each day passing he dives into paranoia more and warps himself in an ever-descending spiral where it does not seem like there is any hope.

There's a scene in Pratidwandi (1972), where the character goes through an upheaval during a job interview. He is asked to answer many questions, and this is my favourite.

'Who was the prime minister of England at the time of Independence?

To which he replies - whose Independence, Sir?

The sequence shocked me, and I was in silence along with mention of Vietnam war, Moon landing. I could almost feel his pain with no atonement on the horizon. What's even scarier is the relevance the film holds portraying the present situation right.

This is easily one of Ray's best movies. It tells the story of Siddhartha, searching for a job, against the background of the febrile Kolkata of 1970. There are few twists and turns in the plot, but each scene unpeels a layer of Siddhartha's character, or shines a light on some little aspect of his city. It has the same delicate beauty as Charulata, though Siddhartha is a more expressive character than Charu. We know Charu through her looks and silences; we know Siddhartha through his thoughts and dreams. This is Satyajit Ray's answer to the "angry young man" films that became so popular in India in the 1970s. Dhritiman Chatterjee gives a simmering performance as Siddharta, and the supporting cast is also assured. It is a tale of frustration, and its precious moments of calm are all the more moving for that.

A former medical student grows increased frustrated by the high unemployment in Calcutta, his sister being exploited by her arrogant boss and his brother's descent into dangerous political activism in this downbeat drama from Satyajit Ray. The film gets off to a solid start with effective inverse footage as the protagonist sits through his father's funeral. Inverse footage is also used well at a few other key points throughout, including some Felliniesque dream/nightmare sequences set on the beach. Such cinematic experimentation is, however, generally infrequent and the film is quite often a chore to sit through as the protagonist keeps complaining and complaining about life without ever taking action. Understandably, this is sort of the point of the film and the final scene is admittedly all the more powerful since he has kept everything bottled up for so long. On the same account though, his character progression would have arguably benefited from tighter pacing and a more economical running time since the near two hour length ensures that there is never any real sense of urgency in the air. As mentioned though, everything culminates in an emotionally charged final few minutes and the film certainly ends on a strong note. One's mileage may vary though regarding the rest of the film, even with Ray tapping into potent employment difficulties in overpopulated cities.

Not having known much about what to expect, I was taken for quite a surprise with the Calcutta Trilogy. With a constantly bleak environment in each film, this series educates about the conditions of that era. Out of the three, this seems to be the happiest, and that should tell you much about the other movies.

This movie is filled with very subtle metaphors and fantastic direction. The story quickly reels you in and the audience would automatically start to root for the protagonist. There is one scene, where the protagonist, previously educated in medicine, hallucinates all the people he finds applying for a particular job position as skeletons. This was a fantastic scene and the framing must have been quite cumbersome, but it really drives in the point.

One other thing that really won me over was the last scene, which was incredibly poignant- a mention about the death of dreams, and the circular nature of life. So many wonderful moments in the movie, but these two struck me the most.

Dhritiman Chatterjee's acting was remarkable and he really delivered quite a performance. He really makes the audience root for him and quickly develops a connection with the viewer. The supporting cast were also fairly good in their roles, although they didn't really have a lot of screen-time, considering this movie was completely from the protagonist's point of view. Overall, this was a really symbolic movie with not-so bleak an ending.

One of Satyajit ray's best movie. It's a must watch for all movie lovers.

I don't even know what to say and how to portray my feelings. This is beyond everything. Even calling it a Masterpiece is an understatement. The parallels, the irony, the politics, the revolution, the capitalism, the unemployment, the metamorphosis, the buildup to being fearless and revolutionary, the prostitution, a love born out of burnt fuse, an unexplainable condition behind unemployment being well educated and million other aspects. Satyajit Ray's mind is the most realest place you can ever visit. Every single interview scene is just master writing.

The parallel between the protagonist running from the prostitute just to end up fixing fuse and helping out his love interest is poetic convergent. The sound of the bird he was searching for since the beginning of the movie to hear it at last at the end is the greatest conclusion i have ever seen.

I think this movie itself is an institution and a self reflection of youth from different timeline. It's still relatable and it will continue to do so even after 100 years.

End of the day, we are all the same. Constituted of the same bone structure making us nothing special than other. All you need to do is to fight for your right and start the revolution and always remember the Vietnam war was more significant than the moon landing.

Pratidwandi / The Adversary (1970) : Brief Review -

An intensely gripping, devastating and haunting start to the famous 'Calcutta Trilogy' by Satyajit Ray. Pratidwandi marks the beginning of Calcutta Trilogy of Satyajit Ray which focuses on modernisation and unemployment in the city and yet did not harm any communistic beliefs. Ray had made a Classic Appu trilogy before so it wasn't anything new for him except that Pratidwandi is far different in every perspective and just the word trilogy doesn't make it comparable. However, i would love to judge it individually and ask everyone to follow the same for better experience and judgement. In Pratidwandi we see a young college graduate who is struggling to find a job. He lives in a flat with his younger, employed sister, revolutionary brother and widowed mother. The strain of the situation ultimately causes him to hallucinate and later changes his point of views about the city. Sunil Gangopadhyay's writing has done half of the job easy for Ray as he literally makes every scene look artistic even before we see Ray's execution on screen. What i mean is, i could predict the next scene and feel it even before it appears on screen which is clear implication of pure magical writing. Thereafter, Ray's artistic visualization and intense storytelling makes it even more impactful than what i had imagined a few moments ago in my mind. In the lead role, Dhritiman Chatterjee shines brightly in this dark toned film with his immensely depressed character. The supporting cast also does well and surely leaves a strong impact with their acts. The dialogues have subtle meaning and long-term burning affects but only if one is familiar with this horrible period of political disaster and unemployment. In one word, it's a CLASSIC! No questions asked.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

They call this as the first one of the famous "Calcutta Youth Choir/Series". Movie is great and, again based on a super-topical short story of Sunil Gangopadhyay and slithers into the life of a young man and his pursuit of a career which is actually not what he is looking for but leads him to what he was longing for a while - and its death in parallel. Poetic enough?! It should be because the writer has been a bard of the voice of youth in bengal for at least 3-4 decades. Outside critics recognised this as an unapologetically communist themed, and yes it is. I do not personally like this, but I really recommend a little homework before judging this piece, or maybe, the entire series. Not related to its review, but Mrinal Sen, too, has a "Calcutta Series". And speaking about Mrinal Sen, this movie even shows a dream sequence featuring the young, prince-like Debraj Roy as Che Guevara.