Films Made By Satyajit Ray

Actual Title: Agantuk (Bengali)

Alternate Title: The Stranger

Plot Summary:
When Anila (Mamata Shankar) receives a letter from a man, who claims to be her long lost uncle, her husband Sudhindra (Deepankar De) is suspicious. The man claiming to be Manomohan Mitra (Utpal Dutt) appears and stays with the family, stating that he is an anthropologist who has traveled all over the world.
Anila, who initially believes the visitor, is slowly led to believe that he has come to claim his share of property by saying he is her uncle. Only her son believes that the visitor is Anila's uncle.
The central conflict of the film rests upon the identity of this man and the family's struggle to accept or reject it.

Actual Title: Shakha Proshakha (Bengali)

Plot Summary:
Ananda Majumdar, a wealthy, retired industrialist, suddenly falls ill during a ceremony in honor of his seventieth birthday. Three of his sons rush immediately at his bedside. The fourth son lives with his father. Proshanto spends his time listening to music and is considered to be the family failure and a bit psychiatrically challenged. The two eldest sons, who are businessmen, live corrupt lives and do not want their father, an uncompromising moralist who believes in work and honesty, to find out. The youngest of the four, weary of office life, would love to become an actor. A family meal and a picnic accentuate the tensions. Waiting for closure on the father's health situation, the four brothers and their families reminisce and relive ideological differences.

Actual Title: GanaShatru (Bengali)

Plot Summary:
It is an adaption of Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People. The cast includes Ray's favourite actor Soumitra Chatterjee, and veteran actors such as Dhritiman Chatterjee, Shubhendu Chatterjee, Manoj Mitra and Ruma Guhathakurta. Ray adapts the play to an Indian setting: a flourishing township in which a temple attracts devotees as well as tourists. When a health problem is discovered Dr Ashok Gupta, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, finds his popularity flagging.

Actual Title: Ghare Baire

Plot Summary:
The story is set in early 20th century India in the estate of the rich Bengali noble Nikhil (Victor Banerjee), and in the chaotic aftermath of Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal into Muslim and Hindu states, when the nationalist movement is trying to impose a boycott against all foreign goods (by claiming that imports are at the root of Indian poverty). He lives happily with his beautiful wife Bimala (Swatilekha Sengupta) until the appearance of his friend and radical revolutionist, Sandip.Sandip, a passionate and active man, is a contradiction to the peace - loving and somewhat passive Nikhil. He easily attracts the innocent and unsuspecting Bimala, creating a love triangle.

Actual Title: Hirak Rajar Deshe

Plot Summary
The magically musical duo of Goopy Gyne and Bagha Byne make a comeback in this sequel, where they are invited to the court of the Hirak Raja (The Diamond King), for their musical skills. They are to perform at the kingdom's Jubilee Celebrations.

Actual Title: Jai Baba Felunath (Bengali)

Plot Summary
Feluda played by Soumitra, the sharp and witty detective from Calcutta, his cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguly played by Santosh Dutta visits Benaras (Varanasi), a town on the banks of Ganges. In Benaras they meet a Bengali family. On coming to know that Feluda is a famous detective the head of this family invites him to his place and tells him about theft of an idol of Ganesha, the elephant God.

Alternate Title: The Chess Players (Hindi)

Plot Summary
The film is set in 1856 and shows the life and customs of 19th century India on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857. The focus is on events surrounding the British annexation of the Indian State of Awadh (also spelt Oudh), the politics of colonial expansion by the British East India Company and the deluded divisions of Indian monarchs.

Actual Title: Jana Aranya (Bengali)

Plot Summary
The film portrays the hopelessness of the middle-class, educated, urban youth in modern India. The protagonist, Somnath (Pradip Mukherjee), after making numerous unsuccessful attempts to find employment, finally lands the job of a middle-man - someone who supplies an order in exchange for a fixed commission.
In spite of his ambition, Somnath soon finds himself involved in petty dealing.

Actual Title: Sonar Kella

Plot Summary
Mukul is a young boy who is said to be able to remember events of his previous life. He stays up late into the night and draws sketches that he claims are of battles he had seen. His father decides to take him to Dr. Hajra, a parapsychologist, for treatment. Dr. Hajra decides to take Mukul on a trip to Rajasthan hoping this may shed deeper light into such parapsychological phenomenon, as well as help cure the young boy.
A newspaper report on Mukul and an interview with Dr. Hajra alerts two men by the names of Amiyanath Burman and Mandar Bose , the villains in the story. They interpret his mention of gems as a hidden treasure and plan to kidnap Mukul in hope of getting their hands on it.
Alarmed by the failed kidnapping of his son, Mukul's father engages the service of Feluda , a private investigator, to help protect his son.

Actual Title: Shimabaddha

Plot Summary
Shyamal (Barun Chanda) is an ambitious Sales manager in a British fan manufacturing firm in Calcutta, where he is expecting a promotion shortly. He is married to Dolan, and lives in a company flat. He aspires to become the company director.
His sister-in-law, Tutul (Sharmila Tagore) arrives from Patna to stay with them for a few days. She is given a tour of the life they lead - in restaurants, beauty parlours, clubs and race courses. Tutul has been a great admirer of the ideologist Shyamal and was envious of her sister's marriage with him.
Life goes on smoothly for Shyamal until he learns that a consignment of fans meant for exports is defective just before the shipment of a prestigious export order and Shyamalendu is held to blame.

Actual Title: Ashani Sanket (Bengali)

Plot Summary
The film is set in a village in the Indian province of Bengal during World War II, and examines the effect of the Great Famine of 1943 on the villages of Bengal through the eyes of a young Brahmin doctor-teacher, Gangacharan, and his wife, Anaga. Ray shows the human scale of a cataclysmic event that killed more than 3 million people. The film unfolds at a leisurely pace that reflects the rhythms of village life, but gradually shows the breakdown of traditional village norms under the pressure of hunger and starvation.

Actual Title: Pratidwandi

Plot Summary
The historical background of the film Pratidwandi is set on the decade of a wide range of political turmoil in India. The huge influx of refugees during the partition of India and loss of economic activity in the hinterland of Kolkata resulted in the stagnation of the economy of Kolkata. The Naxalbari movement under Charu Majumdar saw splitting in the Communist part and an uprise in Naxalite movement inspired by the Maoist doctrine. Kolkata saw the most amount of activities of the Maoist revolutionary group who constantly preached the local students and intellectuals. The main character Siddhartha's brother is an example of one such.

Actual Title: Aranyer Din Ratri

Plot Summary
The story unfolds around a group of four friends, quite unlike each other and yet bonded together deeply. The four friends are all educated and come from different layers of society, but the urge to escape from the daily grinding of city forces them to go out into the land of tribes.

Actual Title: Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen

Plot Summary
he story revolves around Gopinath Kyne (alias Goopy, played by Tapen Chatterjee), the son of a poor grocer Kanu Kyne from a village called Amloki. Goopy wants to become a singer but has a hoarse voice. Persuaded by village elders to sing for the king, he does so and is driven out of Amloki on a donkey for waking the king with his terrible singing. Exiled into a forest, he meets Bagha (Rabi Ghosh), another exile from nearby Hortuki sent to the forest - in Bagha's case, due to playing a drum badly. They start singing and drumming, initially to scare off a roaming tiger, and in the process they attract a group of ghosts who are fascinated by their music. The king of ghosts grants them three boons:

Actual Title: Chiriakhana

Plot Summary
The story revolves around a retired judge, Mr. Sen, who stays at a farm house at the outskirts of Calcutta. His house was previously inhabited by inmates with notorious pasts. One day the judge is murdered under mysterious circumstances, and the local police assign Byomkesh to the investigation. As a close acquaintance of the judge, Byomkesh is more than willing to solve the murder mystery. He then goes on to solve the mystery with lot of twists and turns in the story.

Plot Summary
The film is about an upper class Bengali family on vacation in Darjeeling,a popular hill station and resort, near Kanchenjunga. Shot in real time, the film examines the evolving relationships between the various characters.

Plot Summary
A famous star of Bengali films, Arindam (Uttam Kumar), has been invited to the capital to receive a prestigious award. As all the flights are booked, he is forced to travel by a train from Calcutta to New Delhi. He is in a foul mood as the morning's papers are filled with his being involved in an altercation and his latest film is slated to become his first flop.In the restaurant car, he meets Aditi (Sharmila Tagore), a young journalist who edits a serious women's magazines. Filled with contempt for the likes of him, she secretly plans to interview him because she thinks it would make a saleable 'copy'.

Actual Title: Kapurush

Plot Summary
Amitabha Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) is a Calcutta based scriptwriter who is driving around in the country to collect material for a film. His vehicle breaks down in a small town. A tea planter, Bimal Gupta, offers hospitality for the night. Amitabha is forced to accept the offer as he has no alternative.
At Gupta's house, he is introduced to his wife Karuna (Madhabi Mukherjee). Amitabha is shocked to find her to be the girl he once loved and had let down. Unaware of their past relationship, Gupta entertains Amitabha. He comes across as a simple man with none of the physical or intellectual charms of Roy.

Actual Title: Mahapurush

Plot Summary

After the death of his wife, Gurupada Mitter (Prasad Mukherjee), an advocate, has not been at peace. He and his daughter Buchki (Gitali Roy), meet Birinchi (Charuprakash Ghosh). Birinchi Baba claims to be ageless. He tells stories from the past; about his arguments with 'Pluto' about time, how he taught E=mc2 to Einstein, and was on first-name terms with Jesu (Christ) and Gautam (Buddha). Birinchi Baba has a growing band of rich devotees.

Actual Title: Mahanagar

Plot Summary

Mahanagar is set in Calcutta during the 1950s. It explores the evolving independence of a middle-class woman, Arati Mazumdar (Madhabi Mukherjee), as she takes her first job because of increasing financial pressure due to her husband's income not being enough for the family to live on. This decision is purely a financial one and is made in spite of opposition from both families.

Plot Summary
The film tells the story of a lonely housewife, known as Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), who lives a wealthy, secluded and idle life in 1870's Calcutta. Her husband, Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee), runs a newspaper, The Sentinel, and spends more time at work than with his wife. However, he notices that Charu is lonely, and asks his cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), to keep her company. Amal is a writer and is asked to help Charu with her own writing. However, after some time, Charu and Amal's feelings for each other move beyond those of a mentoring relationship as Charu begins a latent sexual attraction towards Amal.

Actual Title: Abhijan

Plot Summary
Soumitra Chatterjee plays Narsingh, a taxi driver. Narsingh is a proud and hot-tempered Rajput with a passion for his car, a vintage 1930 Chrysler and his Rajput heritage. Being a descendent of the royal family of rajput his self esteem is reflected through his inability of accepting insult and defeat, as a result he even takes part into small race with his car. He does not want to be the one who falls behind and develops a strong hatred of women and mankind in general. As a result of reckless driving which was actually overtaking the same car which carried the district inspector, his licence was sacked. He was utterly destroyed by it, since the cab was his life after his wife had left him for good, deep into the gloom of the insult and a feeling of rootlessness he decided to go back to the land of rajput where the true rajput blood will be respected.

Actual Title: Teen Kanya

Plot Summary
Teen Kanya is a 1961 film directed by Satyajit Ray, and based upon short stories by Rabindranath Tagore.

Actual Title: Devi

Plot Summary
n 1860 rural Bengal, Doyamoyee (Sharmila Tagore) and her husband Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee) live with Umaprasad's family. His father, Kalikinkar Roy, is a devoted follower of the goddess Kali. Since Umaprasad is away at school, Doyamoyee takes care of her father-in-law.
One evening, Kalikinkar has a dream that Doyamoyee is an avatar of Kali and must be worshipped as such. Soon other people too come to believe that she is an incarnation of the goddess. After hearing the news, Umprasad returns home but is unable to remedy the situation as Doyamoyee herself begins to believe that she is an avatar, a belief which soon turns to tragedy.

Actual Title: Jalsaghar

Plot Summary
The film is a detailed dramatic study of the last days of a zamindar—a semi-feudal landlord in Bengal. Told with a detail and sense of empathy.

Actual Title: Apur Sansar

Plot Summary
A large part of the story unfolds in Calcutta. Apu Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) is an unemployed graduate living in a rented room in Calcutta. Despite his teacher's advice to go to University, he is unable to do so because he can't afford it. He tries to find a job, while barely getting by providing private tuition. His main passion is writing a novel, partially based on his own life, hoping to get it published some day. One day he meets his old friend Pulu, who coaxes him to join him on a trip to his village in Khulna to attend the marriage of a cousin named Aparna (Sharmila Tagore).

Plot Summary
Paresh Chandra Dutt (Tulsi Chakrabarti), a middle-class bank clerk in Kolkata, attends a charity match on a rainy day rather reluctantly. At Curzon Park (modern-day Surendranath Park), where the match is apparently to be held, he finds a small, round stone. Thinking it is a marble, he gives it to his nephew. The child discovers that it turns metal into gold (i.e. it is the Philosopher's stone).

Plot Summary
The film begins with Apu's family getting settled in an apartment close to a ghat in Benares. Here Apu (Pinaki Sengupta) makes new friends. While his mother Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) stays at home, his father Harihar (Kanu Banerjee) works as a priest. On a Diwali day, Harihar develops a fever and rests, as Apu comforts him. The next day, he leaves for his work as usual towards the ghat, ignoring his wife's advice to rest. While coming back to home, he collapses on the stairs of the ghat, and dies soon afterwards.

Plot Summary
Set in rural Bengal of the 1920s, Pather Panchali focuses on the lives of Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his family members. Apu's father Harihar Ray (Kanu Banerjee) lives in his ancestral home in the village Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, and dreams of a better career writing scholarly plays and poetry. In reality, he is easily exploited — he cannot even muster the courage to ask his employer for overdue wages, although his family is in dire need of money. Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) takes care of their two children, Durga (Uma Dasgupta) and Apu, and her elderly aunt-in-law, Indir Thakrun (Chunibala Devi). With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and a hunchback cripple. Occasionally, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive. Durga often steals fruit from a neighbour’s orchard and shares it with Aunt Indir, with whom she feels some filial affinity. Sarbajaya bears the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity to steal. Once, Durga was blamed for stealing a bead necklace though it was just to humiliate Sharbajaya for not clearing her credits to her.