Pratidwandi : reality pushes to do compromises in life !
Life may change in a blink of eyes. It is comfortably enough time for a major event to happen. Easy going life takes a swift turn when an unpredictable event takes place.
This is the story of Siddhartha not Gautam the Budha but an ordinary young man, whose name is Siddhartha. But like Siddhartha he also comes across many situations which change his thoughts and though he does not get enlightenment but he does take a middle path and in the end follows (or he is forced to follow) the life as it comes to him.
Siddhartha is forced by the circumstances came in his life to leave his medical education in between because his father has been died and his family is unable to bear the cost of his education and now he has to take a job to support his family. All his dreams of making a good and steady career have been shattered with the death of his father. His younger brother belongs to generation believing in bringing change through violent methods and he has followed the naxal movement prevalent in Bengal during those years.
Siddhartha, in the very beginning of the film, goes to attend an interview and he finds a lot of applicants are already waiting to be called for interview. Somebody is guessing that seeing this huge number of applicants his interview will be held after 3-4 hours only. He comes out and searches a tailor who could repair his trouser.
Intellectually he is over qualified for the job and it becomes clear in the interview when his sharp and alert mind sends shocks to interviewers.
When a person asks him who was the prime minister of England during the independence then Siddhartha asks whose independence Sir? Man is disturbed quite visibly and he says our independence.
Another man asks him what he thinks is the most significant event happened in last decade and he thinks and replies that in his opinion its Vietnam war.
Man is astonished and says that why he thinks that Vientnam war is more significant than the landing of man at moon?
Siddhartha replies that with the progress of science it was an predictable thing but Vietnam war revealed the courageous protest of ordinary Vietnamese and he finds it extra ordinary that ordinary people could protest at that level.
Man asks him if he is a communist. He replies something like this that he is not member of any party.
He does not get the job.
Later he gets an offer to work for a communist party but he is not interested. He is bored and frustrated and goes to watch a film but there a bomb explodes inside the cinema hall and when he rushes to go out, his watch is broken and when he goes to a shop then he finds that he does not have enough money to repair it.
He is never living with a free mind and tensions always occupy his mind. He is standing at the road and a beautiful woman is coming towards him and he sees her but instantly he is transported back in to the past where his medical professor is giving a lecture on breasts of women. He could not finish his medical studies and this past haunts him all the time. If his life was going on a smooth path then his age could have allowed him to see that woman from the physical beauty point of view but rather in his mind he enters in to the woman anatomy.
And it happens many times in his life when he is transported back to the medical lectures. His unfulfilled dream and past haunts him always.
He has left medical college but he goes there to meet his old friends still studying there. He goes to student hostel and there he tries to be involved in all hostel kind of activities. He reads playboy there. He finds that his friend is taking out money from the Red-cross charity box then he tries to reprimand him but his friend ignores his ideal thoughts.
His friend takes him to a film which was supposed to be having many hot scenes but they don’t find any such scene there and Siddhartha sleeps.
Siddhartha comes back home and his old mother complains about his sister. His sister works in a private company and his mother says that there are rumours that she is having an affair with her boss.
His sister comes back and he finds it difficult to talk about her so called affair but somehow he touches the subject and she says that she was out with boss but there were many other colleagues also. He says that her boss may be taking undeserved advantages because of his position but she does not give any attention to his saying and rather asks him to meet her boss and he could help him in finding a job.
Siddhartha goes there but does not like her boss and when he goes upstairs for a while he leaves his home and goes to his hosteller friend. Siddhartha is very frustrated.
His friend takes him to a nurse who is involved in prostitution also. His friends pay the money but Siddhartha does not like and leaves the place. His friend tries to stop him but cant.
While going to his home, a woman, standing before her house, calls him and asks him to help her as there electricity supply is failed in her house. He checks the fuse and rectifies it. The manner, in which this scene is taken, was borrowed in Parineeta also.
The woman, Keya, becomes friendly with him and he cherishes this friendship. He visits her and meets there her father and aunt. Though Siddhartha and Keya start liking and subsequently loving each other but their circumstances don’t allow them to accept it in open. For Siddhartha first question is to get a job so that he may support his family.
An empty stomach can not be involved in singing religious chants and a struggler, who is passing through a lot of mental tensions, hardly can be involved in a love affair.
At home Siddhartha’s sister expresses her desire to do modelling and when he shows apprehensions that this may demand some exposure then she replies that she has a good figure. He wants to stop her but finds him unable to control her ways.
In the mean time Siddhartha gets an offer of a salesman but in a small place away from Culcutta and he does not want to leave his beloved city Culcutta. He still has hopes that he would get a job soon.
Sidhartha goes to attend another interview in the city and finds there a large number of applicants. Its quite hot and there are only few chairs and majority of applicants are standing.
He is already disturbed. Everybody is disturbed but they have to attend the interview.
An applicant faints because of heat and suffocation. Siddhartha asks other applicants to come with him inside the interview room to complain about lack of seating arrangement. Few applicants go with him and avoiding protest of peon they enter inside the interview room. Interviewers ask them what is the matter and Siddhartha tells them about the lack of even seating arrangements which is the minimum requirement of an applicant waiting outside.
Interviewer becomes angry and asks his name and position in the list. Siddhartha says that its not his personal problem only and he is talking about all the applicants suffering outside. Observing that interviewers are becoming angry, all the applicants slide outside of room leaving Siddhartha alone.
This happens all the time in life and people who protest against wrong doings are left alone by majority of people and hence change always play hide and seek with the lives of people and they go on suffering.
Siddhartha also is sent out of the room. He again stands by the side of the wall. After some time, peon comes and tells them that now its lunch time and interview will be resumed after the lunch only.
Siddhartha finds it ultimate humiliation and under the fit of anger he pushes peon away and enters the interview room and topples the table there, throws chair on the wall and disrupts everything. He is forcefully taken out.
He is quite frustrated. He meets Keya who tells him that her father is going to marry her aunt and she will leave Culcutta and will go to Delhi where she will study and will live with her friend.
Keya leaves for Delhi. Siddhartha joins the salesman’s job and goes to a small city. He stays there in a hotel and writes to Keya in Delhi that as long as searches a home he would write him his address and then they can have regular correspondence.
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Satyajit Ray as usual gives us a brilliant film, depicting disturbed life of a struggler. He is not a hero in usual manner. He is a character whose life is shown with micro detailing. Ray’s direction, with the help of the cinematography of the pair of Soumendu Roy and Purnendu Bose, successfully shows the psychological journey of Siddhartha’s character. Ray’s experiments by showing certain scenes in negatives and images generated because of Sidhartha’s illusions and hallucinations also enhance the impact of the film.
Dhritman Chaterjee in the role of Siddhartha has given a brilliant performance. Krishna Bose in the role of Siddhartha’s sister and Joyshree Roy in the role of Keya are also good.
Satyajit Ray’s wonderful screen play based on the novel of Sunil Ganguli shows us the life of Siddhartha revealing micro details of the turning points of his life and his psychological journey.
Film truly represents the life of a youth living in those years of Culcutta and film gives the proof that a film can be made which may cover the life of a contemporary character and at the same time may cover the socio-political changes happening at that given time and at the same time Pratidwandi is not a plain documentary but an interesting feature film showing high class performances in every area of film making including acting by its actors. Film carries cinema ahead in every department.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Like early 1970s, situations are no different in the present time.
After many years, one of the most prominent nationalised banks of India, has released the 20,000 vacancies for the post of clerks and minimum qualification to apply for the job has been kept 12th standard. Applicants have to pay a fee of Rs 250 also to apply. Bank has made it compulsory for all the applicants to fill the forms online.
There are millions of unemployed people in India and there are millions of students, living in villages and small rural places, where they still don’t have access to internet. Great, it will introduce millions of students to internet.
Considering a great number of unemployed people its but natural that not only 12th pass students but young people already passed graduation and post graduation level will also apply for the posts and then there are Millions of fresh students appeared in 12th standard exams in this present summer, who also are eligible and will apply. This is also natural that 12th standard guys can not compete with graduate and post graduate so inspite of possessing minimum qualification they will be having almost nil chances to reach to interview level. Bank has made it clear that only 60,000 people will be called for interview so that means 3 people will compete for a single post in the last phase.
Its reported that 3000-5000 people have applied from the small cities and its estimated that 2-4 M million applicants may apply for the posts then bank will gather a huge amount. If we reduce the numbers to 1 M people only then also they will pay 250 M rupees to bank. It’s a profitable business for the bank, suffering from the lack of man power and searching profit. And this is the reality of a nationalised bank.
Thousands of academic institutions have been doing it since years. They sell their forms at high cost. Several other government organisations do this on the name of giving employments to young people. They invite applications and unemployed people first have to spend money on filling the application forms and then on travel to appear in written exams because normally they happen in selected big cities only.
And if we leave employment area then millions of students suffer economically, physically and psychologically every year because different academic institutions follow separate competitive exams and students have to spend money on application forms, travel and lodging in different cities and its all done during summer when heat also don’t spare them. Sometimes centre are kept in such a remote area based school where there is no arrangement for even water.
Why can not there be a single entrance test for each of the area be it engineering, medical, fashion designing or any other area? Why a national exam can not decide the merit?
Why IIT exam can not decide the merit for all the engineering colleges existing in India?
It has not happened and its not going to happen in near future so students will go on suffering.
In some cities every 5th street is decorated with the existence of some academic institution boasting on giving management, software etc kind of education to the students and they charge a substantial amount of fee against this social service. Students think that they will get fantastic jobs after passing some years here/there. But reality is bitter.
Political unrest is there. Terrorism is affecting the growth of India and life of people. Unemployment is affecting the people. Inspite of some progress we have not attained that level where a satisfactory kind of level of life is achieved. Farmers and poor people are doing suicide not because of sad events in their lives but because they are unable to earn the livelihood.
Tags: bank, Dhritman Chaterjee, satyajit ray, Sunil Ganguli
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RK: this is easily my most favorite Ray film and it doesn’t age at all. Ray clearly showed his mastery over the medium and the narrative. As you say it’s not about great drama but about micro details of everyday life. But how wonderfully Ray captures it all. The 70s Calcutta, the general disgruntlement of youth, naxalbari movement in full steam, govt apathy, Ray made Sunil Gangopadhya’s novel come to life. It’s a sophisticated movie from a technical perspective with dream sequences, flashbacks etc. Lastly, the name Pratidwandi is so layered. Is it Siddhartha vs the Mahanagar, or the rebel within vs the compromised body, idealism vs pragmatism, change vs constant?
Ray was a genius, period.
vent seen the film but saw clips here
http://tinyurl.com/5rqxbv
cudnt get dialogues but few scenes r interesting…ll search the film..
this man was in balck also,, father of rani
gud article on ray nd pratidvandvi
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/may/17ray.htm
I just love Ray’s Calcutta trilogy (seemabaddha, pratidwandi, janaranya). It is interesting how Mrinal Sen’s Calcutta films (especially Calcutta 71), which came around the same time, are so different in terms of approach. Though thematically similar,Sen’s vision was more ‘red’ than Ray’s and sometimes appears more bleak and depressing.
Finally, finally some one came up with an article Pratidwandi. I rate in my top 5 Ray films. Thanks RK, that was really thought-provoking. I read Sunil Ganguli’s original novel which is one of the few good thing he wrote in his life. Ray made an icredible adaptation of the original(as he always does) by sustaining the original theme yet infusing his own elements in the film.It certainly has one of the best endings in Ray’s films. A voiceover narration reads a letter by Sidhhartha to Keya, where he describes his current affairs. In the end, he says that he has something to share with her. The narration stops. Sidhhartha, standing on a balcony, watches a distant funeral procession chanting “Ram Nam Satya Hai” while listening to the sound of an unseen bird, which has haunted him time to time in his life. The end shot freezes with the text in bengali,”Iti Sidhhartha” i.e. “from Sidhhartha” as the end of the letter, with only the sound of the bird continuing.
aww..the technical adaptation of the novel was so fascinating, taking nothing away from the novel, Ray weaved some of his own character development magic..with those flashbacks and edits..way ahead of its time..that movie was!!
@Subrat,
Yes the way Maestro has used not the dialogues but the silent moments to show the psychological journey of Siddhartha is amazing and makes it very special film.
Perhaps its good to adopt a writing work of a nice writer because then many things directly related with real life come automatically in the screen play.
Film shows life of Siddhartha with high degree of real touches in the cinematic flow of the film.
Its that stage where Siddhartha is getting exposure of real problems of life. He is passing through a very tough phase. He knows that time is taking away opportunities from his hand and even if tries to close his fist tightly water will take away the sand out of his hands and he will be left with minimum possible things by his side.
He can not control his life because situations are adverse to him. His fighting spirit is silent and his rebellion spirit comes on surface only when he faces man made extreme difficulties. His fight with interviewers. That was his limit to see him as a man of limitations, a low statured man.
His selection of joining job of sales man is accepting the destiny what life is offering. His writing to Keya is his immediate hope that perhaps he will be able to sustain this relationship which could be only good things of his liking.
Perhaps Pratidwandi is his own life’s conditions, his destiny. He is left at lowest level of survival and from here he has to rise up on his own.
This is one of the few films of Ray having bit optimistic ending.
Extraordinarily genius director.
@Krishn,
thanks for interview of Dhritman Chaterjee. Did not know much about him than as an actor of Bengali films.
@Aditya,
As I see I dont find Rays films associated with one single ideology. If he had his political ideology in personal life then its different matter but in his films his characters did not forcibly pursue any ideology. He touched contemporary things but did not show any bend. Even in his Calcutta triology he has shown rise of communist parties in Bengal but its done from a distance. His characters get attraction and disillusionment from the same ideology.
It may differ person to person and/but I find Seemabadha as weakest film in his Calcutta triology in every department from screenplay, acting to direction. Pratidwandi, while can easily be counted as Rays top 5 films Seemabadha does not come in even 15 best films. Canvas is small there.
This is true that Mrinal Sen and Ray approached differently and made films almost in same time. and Ritwik Ghatak made quite differently.
This is only now with contemporary bengali filmmakers that their films may have scenes already shown in the films of Ray, Sen and Ghatak.
Rituparno Ghosh’s Titli has many scenes taken from Ray’s Kapurush.
Though now people call this habit tribute to old maestros.
@rudro,
true, cinematocally Pratidwandi will easily enter in Ray’s top 5 films. I have not read Sunil Ganguli’s book. Thanks you compared the book with cinematic adaptation.
Last scene you have mentioned is very nice and important. As I understood through the scene where Siddhartha watches a corpse and chanting of Ram nam satya hai. Its his realisation of death of his past dreams and realisation that now he has to live life in a new manner and has to build it on his own. His writing to Keya is the only good hope, he carries with him and that is related to his present life’s new dream.
@Indraneel.
lucky are you guys who have read the book and have seen the film as well and find equal joy in both. because normally readers complain when watch the films based on books of their liking. It seldom happens that film is euqlly good or better than the book.
its my fevourite movie another masterpiece of mr roy and dhritiman is brilliant