Nagarik

Nagarik ( ), also spelled as Nagorik ( ), was the first feature-length film directed by legendary Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in Kolkata, India. Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as Satyajit Ray and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as Derek Malcolm.

Nagarik ( ), also spelled as Nagorik ( ), was the first feature-length film directed by legendary Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in Kolkata, India. Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as Satyajit Ray and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as Derek Malcolm.

Credits

Cast

Satindra Bhattacharya as Ramu Prova Debi as his mother Kali Banerjee as his father Sova Sen as his sister, Seeta Ketaki Dutta as Uma Geeta Shome as Shephali Ajit Banerjee as Sagar Keshto Mukherjee as Jatin Master Pintoo Anil Ghosh Umanath Bhattacharya

Crew

Direction and Screenplay, Ritwik Ghatak Cinematography, Ramananda Sengupta Editing, Ramesh Joshi Sound, Satyen Chatterjee Narration, Ritwik Ghatak Music, Anil Chandra Sengupta Lyrics, Govinda Moonish Art Direction, Bhupen Majumdar Production, Film Guild

Critical analysis

Nagarik is considered a prototype for Ghatak's subsequent films since all of the main ingredients are present. The tone is deliberately didactic and the treatment melodramatic, elements which Ghatak in no way considered inferior to realism. The pain of the Partition is poignant among the protagonists, all refugees from East Bengal, now suffering from the loss of homeland and livelihood. This is a theme that Ghatak helped portray when working on Chinnamul, and one that would permeate most of his later creations. The film is not a study in pessimism but ends on a positive note with a speech by Ramu hoping for a new future. This has been considered overtly Marxist considering Ghatak's involvement with group theatre and the IPTA. The film is thought to be well scripted, acted, and filmed with scenes that show unique visual and aural registers. However, it is also criticized as being slow and long-drawn. Although the film shows the influence of French director Jean Renoir, it lies very much in a developing tradition of Indian film. Its film noir feel and stylised manner has something in common with contemporary works in Hindi cinema by Guru Dutt and Kamal Amrohi. It particularly shows the influence of the latter's Mahal (1949) in its use of narration, use of music, stylised direction of the acting and in several verbal echoes. It was also clearly known to Ghatak's Bengali contemporary Satyajit Ray and strongly influences his The World of Apu (1959), the third in the Apu Trilogy. Nagarik is, therefore, a pivotal work in the history of Indian cinema.

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356791698 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.