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“Agantuk” is the last “cinematic discourse” of the Satyajit Ray, who got realisation in the medium of cinema. His cinema is never superficial and even his lightest film carries several levels of undertone. He was a fantastic writer also and its not a somewhat strange fact that he created his cinema on the pattern of a good literature only. The satisfaction and deep meaning we get through good literature, same meanings and learning we find in/through Satyajit Ray’s films.

He is not only a technical director who knows how to mix up 1 and 99 to make a film having 100 departments rather he was master in every department of film making. His films work on psychological levels. They dig human being, humanity, evolution of humanity, relationships and in that way they help in understanding the human life as anthropology does.

What a way he chose to say good bye to his audience!!!!! In that way, the protagonist played by “Utpal Dutt” is just a shadow or say an alter ego of Ray himself. Through the character of Utpal Dutt, Ray himself is addressing the world.

If one has to see how to narrate a story with minimum number of characters and how to bring before audience a great visual tale which covers great aspects of humanity then Ray’s cinema comes in to the existence.

His interest is the man, its relationships and growth of humanity. Ray deals on psychology of human being as a character also and as collective growth of humanity also. Ray is an observer of psychological, sociological, political, and anthropological growth (or movement) of man. He has dealt with every possible area of human life. Childhood, youth and old age all have got representation in his films.

His cinema enriches our own exposure towards humanity and it makes us believe that we are humans. His cinema is while still at the nucleus and yet movement is there at the surface. There is no hurry in showing any thing in his cinema and everything comes so naturally on screen. His cinema is all about fine nuances. Whatever he covers he covers it with deep understanding about the subject he is dealing with. Many times we feel, while watching his films, what the hell, we also see these things in real life but how come he makes them appear so beautiful and appealing on screen? Often simple is extraordinary in his cinema.

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Local is global and global can also be local. Ancient can be more modern and sometimes modern can be more older than known ancient in understanding.

We are the world. We humans make the world. We are crowd but still we are individuals also.
But being individual does not mean that only I, we and ours are the right things. There exist things different than us. There have been existing things, far better than ours, understandings better than ours, creations better than ours since the time immemorial. This is different thing we don’t know about them or we are ignorant about them or our ego does not allow us to see and accept that people can be better than us and their things can be better than ours.

Gandhi ji said “Keep your doors and windows open and get ideas from everywhere but do not get blown off by any one of them”.

Tagore said something similar “Keep your windows open. Let the winds come in. Know how to imbibe them.”

Satyajit Ray also tries to explore the above mentioned philosophy propagated by Gandhi and Tagore in their times through their ideas and literature. Ray always propagated middle path through his films and literature and he never propagated any kind of fanaticism be it ideological or philosophical and his liberal attitude shines best through his last directed film Agantuk, which is a multi-layered philosophical film. Satyajit Ray has always been a scientist of social studies while making films or creating literature. He writes his own scripts and through these scripts he not only covers contemporary themes but at same time he encompasses the areas which have been affecting humanity as such. His films seem to be based on simple themes but they always cover a vast horizon and all of a sudden a local thing may strike on a globally relevant area. Ray does his research thoroughly before start making his film and hence his films are complete in any field. They don’t carry nonsense attitude. Music will be present at those places where its required most and where things cant be expressed without music. Background music will not produce any noise rather it will emboss further the effect of the scene. And background music will be totally absent where its not required or where complete silence is needed. Natural touch is the most basic element in his films. His cinema is not about “above human characters” and they all are fallible. His characters are taken from real lives.

The philosophy of “Atithi Devo Bhavah (Guest is like the God) “ was installed in the Hindus way of life by old scriptures and through sayings of Sages. This centuries old saying establishes the importance of the unknown. Word “Atithi” is not limited to human being only but it has vast meaning and any unknown coming in to life, unknown which is imparted by Nature to man’s life, comes under the word “Atithi”. Whatever comes on its own in our lives is atithi, which is not known before. Sutra says that accept the unknown, naturally came to us, and live without any conflict in your life. Live without any fight with the new arrival as that refusal will make life simply a battle field where there will not be even minute place for relaxed state of mind which is necessary to be constructive. We Human being can’t win over nature as we are too short, too small, too tiny in all terms before the vast and continuously expanding Nature.

We human don’t know what is hidden behind anything happening in our lives. This unknown or guest may give us unexpected while leaving us. Love comes in the life unexpectedly, rather everything or say every good thing which is related to essential elements or parts of human life on earth, comes unexpectedly. Material gain, education, degrees etc can be earned but sense or power to recognise or realization or real knowledge comes on its own.

Whenever unknown comes in life, we become suspicious. We fill with doubts. We welcome unknown with half heart only.

Perhaps attacks by many foreign powers over the centuries have wounded the general psyche of India and deep down people have started feeling fearful of unknown people. For centuries foreign powers have cheated India. In Past 500 years or so also Portuguese, Dutch, English and French people came here in the disguise of merchants but stabbed in the back. No wonder Indian psyche got wounded in general.

But before that, it was a pity when at some time in history of India, those who were powerful or had influence over masses imposed restrictions on travelling outside the boundaries of Indian subcontinent. To cross the salt water of sea became a sin. That restriction affected India a lot and people lost desire to travel far and wide elsewhere in world. And once habit of “no travel” was developed then it affected travelling within the boundaries of India also and people started living within their confined boundaries only.

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Scientific advancement in last 3-4 centuries has given a kind of arrogance to human being and he has started seeing everything from scientific eyes only. Even those who have no connection or proper scientific education ask about technological basis of a thing. Can science define everything? Is science able to solve all the mysterious things nature puts before us?

Is science able to compete with birds, animals etc which still follow natural ways of living? Most advanced equipments are unable to indicate with 100% efficiency about a natural calamity in advance but birds and animals and few human tribes living deep in forest get to know them well in advance and they migrate to safer place.

Birds don’t follow scientific developments but who and what tells them every year so that they leave extremely cold places and fly to India and who controls their calender? If weather change takes place late then they start flying late. Their schedule of leaving the extremely cold places is completely in synchronisation with the change in weather conditions. They have not lost touch with nature. Modern knowledge has become a tool to develop disbelief on everything around us. We have become creatures who don’t believe on anything. We have become complex in nature. We have reduced to a word “Incredulous” in our day to day lives.

Simple things don’t affect us any more, they don’t attract our attention and all that’s simple in life is useless, unimpressive for us. Hence from real life to reel life we are searching things which can shake us so that we can see something with widened eyes. Food should be spicy, Men should be winner and always successful and topper than others, women should be ultra glamorous and sexy, children should be extra active and highly vocal, TV programmes should be as loud as they can be else they are boring for us. Hardly a man will be found on the surface of earth, who can enjoy natural beauty with all its personal touches without comparing it with other things seen before. Comparison, comparison and comparison, this word is epitomising and defining the lives of us human being.

We cant enjoy two different things in their different aspects and individual beauties. One has to be small and one has to be bigger than other so that our comparative mind can understand those two things.

We are sitting in the era of information and every second thousands and millions of information are passing through us and yet our minds are getting timid. With more information our minds have become junkyard and our definitions are becoming narrow.

We know what? We cant simply throw any light on paper or at cyber space about films like Agantuk made by Satyajit Ray. To know about such films is to see them first hand, as second hand depiction about such films or any good art forms simply defile their beauty. Such pieces of arts are statements of artist like Satyajit Ray which they wish to give about status of humanity prevailing in their times.

Such efforts cant be understood on the basis of speed of the film or box office records of the films. Box office never can judge such efforts. People gathered below the Clock towers or in town halls or in a busy market in any city can never understand these arts. They are not made for a chaotic mind. They are not made for a vacillating mind who understands only deviation and heavy traffic of swiftly passing thoughts. Anyway such minds are not going to make any difference to humanity in a positive direction so great artists don’t bother about such minds. They search minds which have learnt either through their ways of performing their professional duties or by nature they are having tendency to be still whenever they want and can enjoy art with a paradigm of mind which is required to witness such art. That’s why a so called blockbuster may not find 10 admirers after 10 years of its first release but deep films like Agantuk may find admirers even after 50 years of their first release and every new watcher who has liked the film may feel astonished on the fact that such a film was made in early 90s when all kind of nonsense films were made all around to fill the pocket of producers, distributors and actors had to do even more nonsense things on the name of acting and actresses had to shed more clothes and gyrate different parts of their bodies to play attractive item heroines so that lust of men could be fuelled to fetch them to cinema halls to part some money from their pockets.

To watch different and variety of things is perfectly fine but to ridicule valuable and precious while you have capability only to watch something superficial is absolutely wrong and people do it all the time. Different people than us are always existing in the world and this is not necessary that if we are mean, bad inside then whole world will be like that only. Its not necessary that if we cant understand good things and are happy with superficial forms of arts then there are no people who really can understand and praise such good pieces of art.
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Agantuk attacks on this narrow understanding only.

When a family of three, husband (Depankar De), wife (Mamta Shankar) and a small boy gets a telegram indicating that a long lost uncle of the lady of the house is going to visit them in coming days then Depankar is filled with all kind of suspicion towards the so called lost uncle of the lady. How can a man visit her after 35-40 years? Even she was not born when he had left the home. Though she has heard about this uncle through her mother and grand parents but she is also doubtful.

Both husband and wife are filled with lot of questions. Why he is coming? What motive he has behind this visit?

Sender of telegram has clearly mentioned that they should reply him if couple is not in a position to accept him as a guest.

Depankar tries to convince his wife that they should reply her uncle that they are going outside of Culcutta for few days. Wife does not like such lie and they don’t send any reply and day comes when a guest arrives at their home while husband is out for his job.

Mamta welcomes the visitor but not in traditional and open ways. Visitor- the old man, can speak fine Bengali and he chews no words and asks clearly if his visit has created a problem for her but as they had not replied to his telegram so he took the risk of reaching here but he is ready to go out of the home if there is any problem.

Old man (Utpal Dutt) makes friends rather fast with the boy and start telling him stories of different countries he has visited in last many decades.

Mamta asks him why he had left the home and he tells that he had a desire to see the world on his own and he was not satisfied with the descriptions given in the books and hence when he got opportunity he left the home to become a world traveller. He gives reasoning why he did not marry in the logic that when he left home then he left all traditional ways also. He wanted to explore world and life. He visited many tribes first in India and then in other part of the world wherever he visited.

When Mamta asks what kind of food he would like to eat, he says,” I am all hungry and I can eat anything as I have eaten almost everything existing in the world”.

Utpal Dutt rests after the food and in the evening Depankar comes back from work and he is highly curious about the visitor and he asks Mamta if she recognised him correctly or if she saw his passport? He goes to guest’s room and Utpal Dutt welcomes him and asks him also if his visit has produced any kind of problem for them? He says further that he is ready to go out of the house any moment and he has not opened his suitcase yet.
Depankar says that his wife is already liking him and she has no doubt about her connection with the guest.

Utpal Dutt says that your wife is a simple woman and she is performing simply duties of a good host but he being modern man should not believe everything without any proof. Utpal Dutt takes out his passport and gives it to the Depankar who takes it and sees it and reads his name and sees the old photo.
He says that there is no doubt that his guest is actually the lost uncle of his wife. He returns the passport to old man. Utpal Dutt takes it and says,” But passport proves nothing about a man. It proves that this is the man but what kind of nature that man has, passport says nothing about that.”

In the evening, an actor friend (Robi Ghose) of the Depankar calls them and says that he and his wife want to visit the house to reveal the real identity of the guest. Actor thinks he is quite smart and he can compel guest to say truth about himself.

Actor and his wife come and meet the old man. Inspite of all the smartness of the actor, old man is proved too much smarter than him and actor feels embarrassed when old man asks him in the end,” So what do you feel about me?”.

Another friend of the Depankar, who is a judge, also comes to meet old man. Judge (Dhritman Chaterjee) has over confidence on his knowledge and mind power. He thinks guest is a cheater and wants to play thug to the family of his friend.

Dhritman Chaterjee is indulged in discussion with the Utpal Dutt about many things including science and technology, morality etc. He challenges old man about his views about tribals, civilization, science and technology and life as such.

Utpal Dutt stumps him with his vivid range of knowledge and Judge under the frustration of not being capable to match with the knowledge of old man simply attacks him directly. Under fit of anger he shouts,” Do you know your visit has produced a lot of problems before owners of this house. They are simple people and cant say anything but your arrival has given them a great degree of tension”. He says so many other insulting things and old man is visibly disturbed by this sudden change of the events.

Depankar tries to stop Judge and he tries to clarify to Guest but old man stops him by raising his hand. Judge leaves the house and host comes out to see him off and says that there was no need to say all those things. Judge says that he knows quite well and such people are like parasites and he will eat on his expense and will leave once he has fulfilled his motives.

In the night Mamta suddenly recalls that father of her mother had left a portion of his property on the name of his son who had left the home. She recalls that his uncle, this old man, has never come back again in Culcutta in all those years and he still should have that property on his name. Perhaps he has come to show ownership on that property.

Next morning when lady goes to Utpal Dutt’s room she finds that he has left the house. She asks the servant who tells that old man had left very early in the morning. Now husband and wife are disturbed.
They certainly did not want events to take this angle.

Depankar asks his wife to call the old solicitor of family of her father who had arranged property distribution among children of her grand parents. Lawyer is an old man and husband and wife visit him and get to know that old man was here in the morning. Couple asks about the property and lawyer says that old man has asked him to give him his property and now he has gone to a near by tribal area and he would like to go back next day.

Couple along with their son go to the tribal area and they find there old man lying and resting. Utpal Dutt welcomes them and asks them to stay to enjoy dance and music of tribal people.

What a naturally played music can do, can be seen in this scene where tribals are playing the music, singing and dancing and lady (Mamta) cant resist herself and joins them in dancing. A fantastic scene where nothing is imposed and its so natural that audience may feel inside desire of the lady when she joins the dance of tribal women.

Old man is returned to Culcutta along with the family and he is leaving the India to go to Australia. He gives an envelope to his niece and says that open it when he is gone. He renders parting knowledge to the boy that never become like a frog residing in a well. World is open to you and you should see it with open mind and eyes.

This time Mamta touches the feet of the old man and genuinely cries out of affection because she is departing from a dear one. Her Husband tries to touch feet of old man and now this is natural as he has developed a belief on old man and hence a relationship has been developed with him. Utpal Dutt stops him in between and embraces him. He says good bye to all and goes away.

Depankar opens the envelope and takes out a paper from envelop and reads it and he has no words to say anything. He simply gives it to his wife.

Old man has gifted all his property to his only living relative that is his niece.

She reads the letter which says that he knows he brought difficult situations before the couple. He always knew that his father had left a property on his name but he never took it because he always thought that he had left his home, parents and never did any service to his old parents when they needed him so he had no right to take any portion of that property. But now as he was in his last years and was going to Australia from where he would perhaps never come back alive to India he felt that his father had given his property to him out of his love and he should not disrespect that love and when he came back to India then he got to know that his only relative lives in Culcutta and hence he came here to take that property and to give her.

Couple thought that this unknown person had come to take away something from them but he came and gave them not only materialistic property but gave them precious knowledge about humanity.

That is Satyajit Ray and his cinema to people of world. He always gives something precious through his films. His cinema is invaluable and immensely helpful to human being.

Every actor simply lives the character on screen in their full bloomed beauty. Audience of hindi cinema normally sees Utpal Dutt in the roles where he plays them in somewhat loud manner where theatrical touch is always there but here in Agantuk he gives subtle and sensitive performance which very few actors in the country and even in the world can touch.

Mamta Shankar, who is daughter of great Udai Shankar astonishes with her acting skills. Depankar De is equally impressive. Robi Ghose who has been an essential part of almost all of Ray’s films justifies his association with Ray. Dhritman Chaterjee in a small role leaves long lasting impact.

Amir Khan is stressing upon the issue of handeling children now but when he had not even made his debut in cinema, long before that Satyajit Ray was showing through his characters in his films how adults can interact with kids and how they can treat them with respect.

Hardly any filmmaker can match Ray’s extraordinary skill of character development and the knowledge of which scene in what way should be used to bring emphasised impact and where camera should be placed and whether camera should move or actors should move or how light should be used to bring required impact. To praise his technical skills is like to show candle light to sun and only we people can point out when moon of his skill changes its phases as per requirement.

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If mind has become too tired by seeing violent films full of blood shed, or to see events happening in real life also where students of 8th standard are killing their fellow student or people are attacking women coming out of hotel and news of violence are spread all over through international channels and to see how political parties don’t trust any other party at all and game of cheating each other is at full bloom and we ourselves don’t trust anyone in our vicinity then take out time to see this film having simple tale but which sheds light on valuable elements of human life and which are essential for the survival of humanity on earth.

See the anthropologist Ray through this film and if one has not seen any of his film then his last film may force one to go back to his cinematic creations and by the time one will finish Pather Panchali he will be enriched not only in cinematic knowledge but he will feel he has been awarded with so many other things existing in the life.