Satyajit Ray

Based on Satyajit Ray`s iconic character, this film portrays the story of Trilokeshwar Shanku - a respected scientist and inventor who travels to Brazil for a science convention. But once he`s there Shanku gets involved in an adventure, a quest for the mythical city of El Dorado. Through the journey, he encounters native tribesmen and anacondas, but will Shanku and his friends ever find El Dorado?

Feluda and Topshe visit Lucknow and stay with Topshe`s father`s childhood friend, Dhiren. But their vacation takes a thrilling turn when a robbery is attempted of a priceless ring that was supposedly worn by Emperor Aurangzeb. The owner of the ring, Dr. Srivastav, confirms that nothing was stolen but apprehending worse, he requests Dhiren to keep the ring in his possession, to keep it safe. However, in spite of their best efforts, the ring disappears from Dhiren`s possession. Felu, along with Topshe, starts investigating the disappearance, and in the course meet characters like Bonobihari, who lives with crocodiles and rattle snakes, and Mahavir, the son of Pyarilaal Seth, who had actually gifted the ring to Dr. Srivastav. While solving the mystery of the missing ring, Feluda uncovers the truth of Pyarilaal Seth`s death. But, will he, with the help of Topshe, be able to retrieve the missing ring?

Sen Gupta is a doctor who attends only upper class patients and is forced to confront his own beliefs as he discovers rural India. Thereon a transformation starts from being a cold man to being human. Sen Gupta, a doctor who only treats upper-class patients, is forced to confront his own moral and medical beliefs as he discovers rural India during an unexpected stop at a village. He finds a breathless man lying on the side of the road. With little sympathy, the doctor sends him back to his own village for treatment. When Dr. Gupta discovers that the villages wants a witch doctor to treat the man, he attends the exorcism and is shocked. A transformation of the cold city man then follows. —L.H. Wong <as9401k56@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg>

A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels. A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels, tales that are at odds with their conventional middle-class perspective on the world. —Anonymous The film sees Anila receiving a letter from a man claiming to be her uncle, a man who disappeared thirty-five years prior. He turns up at her family home professing to be an anthropologist, a globally seasoned traveler en route from the United States to Australia. The family is suspicious of the stranger, believing him to be an impostor pushing a financial scam. After a grilling from the family's lawyer, he leaves as unexpectedly as he arrives, leaving behind a stunned family, and some very insightful observations. —Mr Bongo This tells the story of a woman and her husband who are visited by a man who claims to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The couple is initially skeptical of the man's identity but gradually come to accept him. The film explores themes of civilization, humanity, and the nature of truth, and is known for its philosophical depth and simplicity. "Agantuk" is notable for its introspective and thought-provoking narrative, a hallmark of Ray's filmmaking style. It reflects on the ideas of cultural identity and the clash between traditional Indian values and modernity, themes Ray frequently explored in his works.

In this adaption of the Ibsen stage play, an idealistic physician discovers that the town's temple waters are dangerously contaminated. But with the community relying on the holy attraction for tourist dollars, his warnings go unheeded. Ashoke Gupta is an idealistic doctor working in a town near Calcutta. He discovers that the water at a popular temple is the source of an outbreak of typhoid and hepatitis. In order to save lives, he risks his career to try and call attention to this polluted water source, while a local group of building contractors attempt to discredit him in various ways.

A landowner's wife emerges from seclusion through education, defying social norms. Her newfound freedom leads to political awakening when her husband's old friend brings revolutionary ideas to their door. When the movie opens, a woman is recalling the events that molded her perspective on the world. Years ago, her husband, a wealthy Western-educated landowner, challenged tradition by providing her with schooling, and inviting her out of the seclusion in which married women were kept, to the consternation of more conservative relatives. Meeting her husband's visiting friend from college, a leader of an economic rebellion against the British, she takes up his political cause, despite her husbands warnings. As the story progresses, the relationship between the woman and the visitor becomes more than platonic, and the political battles, pitting rich against poor and Hindu against Moslem, turn out not to be quite as simple as she had first thought. —Anonymous

When Goopy and Bagha learn about Hirak Raja`s tyranny, they try to set him right with the help of Udayan, a schoolteacher, and their magical powers.

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. Goopy and Bagha are bored with their lives as crown princes of Shundi and Halla. They are looking for a change, which comes in the form of a chance to visit Hirak Rajya (Land of Diamonds), known for its huge diamond mines. They jocundly set out for Hirak Rajya. But little do they know of the machinations of Hirok Raja (Utpal Dutt). The king is a tyrant. Diamonds and riches get pent up in his treasuries, while his subjects starve and suffer. Those who protest are taken care of in the 'Jantarmantar', a chamber for brainwashing devised by the scientist (Santosh Dutta), who the king mocks calling as "Gobeshok Gobochondro Gyanotirtho Gyanorotno Gyanambudhi Gyanochuramoni." His ministers are mere puppets. The only enemy the king has in his land is Udayan Pandit (Soumitra Chatterjee). He is a school teacher and, more than that, he is a believer of values. The king forcefully closes his school down. Udayan flees to hide in the mountains. Meanwhile, Goopy and Bagha are on their way to Hirok Rajya. By coincidence, they meet Udayan, who intimates them of the king's true nature. The two impress Udayan with their magical powers, who plans to use them against the tyrant. Goopy and Bagha agree. The duo then head into Hirok Rajya, where they are welcomed with grandeur. They entertain the rogue king,fooling him into believing that they think he is great. They rob the treasury (which was guarded by a tiger) using their magical music, for bribing the guards. The king has his tricks, too. He captures Udayan and all his students, and takes them to the Jantarmantar for brainwashing. But Goopy Bagha have already reached there using their magical powers. They have also bribed the Gobeshok onto their side, with the guards. On reaching the laboratory, the king and his ministers are stunned magically by Goopy's singing and then pushed into the Brainwashing machine. After the king is brainwashed he turns to the good side,he then along with the villagers pull down his own statue situated at the center of the village,and everything goes back to normal in the land of hirak raja.

Set on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the film depicts two noblemen who devote themselves to endless rounds of chess, while their kingdom gets annexed.

The film is set in 1856 on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British are about to annex the Indian State of Awadh (also spelled Oudh). The daily life of two wealthy men who are devoted to chess is presented against the background of scheming officials of the British East India Company, the history of its relations with the Indian ruler of Awadh, and the ruler's devotion both to his religious practice and the pursuit of pleasure. the Indian princely state of Awadh (whose capital is Lucknow) and its Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah (Amjad Khan). He lives with the Queen (Veena), Mother of Wajid Ali Shah. Awadh is rich and prosperous. The population is satisfied and have a large disposable income. Wajid Ali is a languid artist and poet (Dresses up like Krishna, composes his own songs, praising himself, and has 400 concubines and 29 Muta (enjoyment wives)), no longer in command of events and unable to effectively oppose the British demand for his throne. Wajid was not interested in ruling his kingdom but loved his crown none-the-less. Lord Dalhousie had his eyes on the Kingdom of Awadh and wanted to swallow it within the British empire. He also already swallowed Punjab, Burma, Nagpur, Satara and Jhansi. Historically Awadh's ruler Shuja-Ud-Daulah allowed the Brits in for trading. Eventually the Brits went to war and Awadh lost. But Brits allowed Shuja-Ud-Daulah to keep his crown for a penalty of Rs 50 MM and a promise to fund Brit wars, as and when needed. General James Outram (Richard Attenborough) is plotting against Wajid at the behest of Dalhousie. The role of Captain Weston (Tom Alter), Outram's aide De camp, so British in his ways, but in love with Urdu poetry, is also worth noting. Outram declares Wajid to be an incompetent ruler and gets Weston to support him by promising a plum position post the takeover. Parallel to this wider drama is the personal (and humorous) tale of two rich, indolent noblemen of this kingdom, Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey). Inseparable friends, the two nobles are passionately obsessed with the game of Shatranj (chess). Munshi Nandlal (David Abraham) reaches out to both nobles and tells them that a British takeover of Awadh is imminent. Brits are bringing railways and wireless to India to speed up transportation and establish control over all of India. Mirza and Mir think this is only another ploy for the Brits to demand more money from the King. Both effectively neglect their wives (Khurshid (Shabana Azmi), Mirza's wife & Nafisa (Farida Jalal), Mir's wife). Khurshid is angry that Mirza won't spend time with her even though he is at home. She also curses Mir, that his wife is having an affair and yet he spends all of his time with Mirza. Khurshid wants to have sex with Mirza and calls his away from his game with Mir. But Mirza can only think about his unfinished game and goes back to Mir, after failing to perform in bed with Khurshid. She thinks that Mirza doesn't love her. In retaliation Khurshid steals Mirza's chess pieces. Hirya (Leela Mishra), Khurshid's maid helps her in this. Meanwhile on 31st Jan 1986, Dalhousie makes his moves and issues orders for the takeover of Awadh, from Calcutta. Outram delivers the orders to Prime Minister "Madar-Ud-Daula" (Victor Banerjee). The orders are justified by the "misrule" of Awadh by the King and include taking Wajid's title away from him. The orders are backed by the British armies at Cawnpore, who are straining at the least to be let lose against Awadh. Meanwhile Mir and Mirza are dying to play chess and decide to borrow pieces from their lawyer Abbajani (Bhudo Advani). But when they get to his house, they realize he is on his death bed, and quietly make their exit. It is Friday and the market is closed. PM delivers the news of the takeover to Wajid. The nobles decide to play chess with condiments and vegetables as their pieces, much to the disappointment of Khurshid. She throws the pieces back at Mirza. Mirza decides to play at Mir's going forward. Now Wajid is distraught at losing his titles and laments that he got rid of his formidable army at the insistence of the Brit officials a few years ago. Wajid contemplates his position (The Brits have an earlier treaty with Awadh in which they explicitly agree to let the King remain on the throne) and refuses to vacate the throne. The Brits, including Outram, know of the treaty and feel Wajid is entitled to challenge this forced abdication of the throne. Outram knows that a 100,000 pounds a month is generous compensation, but Wajid may decide to fight the abdication. Wajid has 5 days to respond and Outram is worried that there has been no response yet. Outram decides to meet the Queen mother. Meanwhile Mir's wife Nafisa is worried that Mir is playing chess with Mirza at home. Her lover is Aqueel (Farooq Sheikh). Mir catches them red-handed when he enters Nafisa's room, but they are able to convince him that Aqueel is hiding from the King's army, as they are forcibly taking youth to fight against the British. Queen mother refuses the compensation and demands justice for Wajid. She says she will advise Wajid to fight for his throne. The 2 nobles fail to fight the takeover of their kingdom by the East India Company. Instead, they escape their harangued wives and responsibilities, fleeing from Lucknow to play chess in a tiny village untouched by greater events. they are trying to find an abandoned mosque, where they can play in peace, but can't find it. They are invited to rest at the house of poor farmer. Ray's basic theme in the film is the message that the self-centered nature, detachment and cowardice of India's ruling classes catalyzed the annexation of Awadh by a handful of British officials. Wajid meanwhile agrees to meet Outram at 8 am the following morning. Outram presses Wajid to sign the new treaty. Wajid is willing to give up his crown, but refuses to sign the new treaty, which he feels is unjust. Meanwhile the chess match rages on and Mirza is losing for a change. He blames the mosquitoes for distracting him. Mirza then dawns on Mir that Nafisa is cheating on him, to throw him off his game. In the last scene, after which Mir shoots at Mirza and complains out loud "(If you die) I won't have a partner to play chess with", Mirza responds to him "but you have one in front of you!" (thus, making him understand that he forgives him). He finally concludes that "after nightfall, we will go back home. We both need darkness to hide our faces."

Gangacharan is a village Brahmin who teaches, organizes religious events and tries to prevent epidemics. However, things get difficult with a raging war and an approaching famine.

SEATTLE FILM SOCIETY August 20, 1977 DISTANT THUNDER. Written and directed by Satyajit Ray. India, 1972. Music: Ray. Leading players: Soumitra Chatterji, Babita. If you crossed an Italian neorealist film with a work by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, the result might be something like Distant Thunder. In a unique way, Indian director Satyajit Ray combines a social consciousness in a changing society with a slow narrative style to reveal nuances of character. The relaxed pace allows us to enter the world and experience the internal process and transformation of an individual. Rays films often play on the tension between traditional customs and the effects of urban modernization with a naturalness that has you wondering if his characters are real people or actors. There are few directors who give you the sense of knowing the characters as Ray does. Soumitra Chatterji as the Brahmin in Distant Thunder is gradually revealed on several levels through his relationship with his wife, students, patients and townspeople. It is the visibility of his internal dialogue and the reassessment of his values and social position amidst the so-called manmade famine of 1943 that structure the movement of the film. As the Brahmin's authority and stature in the community are rendered inconsequential by a hunger which levels all class distinctions, he is forced to give up the superiority which separates him from the peasants. With deliberate and dissecting camera movement, Ray establishes a set of polarities from the opening shots which mark the progression of Chatterji's character. His wife Babita is introduced via a hand rising above the swirling waters of a river. The course of the film literally flows in and around water, and the beginning of the famine is signaled by the cholera epidemic which prevents use of river water for drinking. Similarly, the turning point in the pundits life occurs at the waters edge. Crushed by his impotence after watching a riot at the rice mill he retreats to the shore to reconsider his position. He has been undergoing a gradual disillusionment, and comments to his wife that he doesnt understand the inability of money to buy what they need. It is Babita who proves to be more resourceful, and her embodiment of the creative force is indicated by her closeness to water. After an attempted rape she throws herself into the cleansing river. She is the one who must ultimately become the provider for the family and the link to the community. Opposed to the creative spirit expressed through the water imagery is a progression of fire symbols, signs of a burnt-out existence. The first indication of an interruption of natural forces comes in the opening moments as the townswomen, bathing, watch the flying ships overhead, harbingers of war and famine. Ray uses several closeups of insects and butterflies feeding on parched ground, but the most obvious use of fire is the badly burned body of the kiln worker. In this distorted social order he ironically becomes the supplier of grain. He is constantly seen lighting cigarettes, and smoking is a kind of social ritual throughout the film. Notice the discarded cigarette tossed in the stream as well as other instances of burning and clouding-over of life-giving water. Just as Babita's contact with the natural forces signifies a sympathy and understanding of the other sufferers, the grotesque halfburned, half-normal face of the kiln worker exaggerates his isolation and separateness from the rest of society. He has too much face. To comprehend his place in the life of the community and move closer to its creative center, the Brahmin must humble himself and undergo a loss of face. We see his metamorphosis as Ray builds silhouettes against a vast sky. The first silhouette is that of the old beggar man who asks the Brahmin for food. Later, as he realizes his false dependence on the peasants, the Brahmin undergoes his loss of face and he too appears in silhouette. Throughout the film we find small forms outlined against a large background until the final climactic and powerful image of a community joined together against a disaster manufactured by an individual act somewhere in the distance. James Greenberg Submitted by James Spee on July 18, 2007. I first saw this film at the Seattle Film Society showing 30 years ago and I still remember it vividly.

Shyamal is happy with his successful career at a fan manufacturing company until the day he learns that a recently manufactured batch of fans has turned out to be defective.

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 and the many upscale spaces they inhabit the restaurants, the beauty parlours, clubs and race courses. Tutul, whose father Shyamal had once been a student under, greatly admires him and his idealism. Secretly she is envious of her sister's marriage with him. Life goes on smoothly for Shyamal until he learns that a consignment of fans meant for export is defective just before the shipment of a prestigious order. The problem is that the fans were painted with a flaw. The company is under a contract requiring the shipment be delivered on time. There is a clause permitting delay in case of civil disturbance. To escape blame Shyamal hatches a plan with the labour officer to provoke a strike at the factory. A factory watchman is badly injured, a false riot is organised and a lock-out declared. The delay caused by the strike and riot are used by the company to allow strikebreakers to make needed repairs. For his 'efficient' handling of the crisis, Shyamal is promoted, and there is congratulations all around. However Shyamalendu has fallen in the eyes of Tutul and himself. He is finally at the top, successful and desolate.

A taxi driver, Narsingh, attempts to reinvent his life by visiting his native place. Instead, he unwillingly gets involved in Sukhanram`s smuggling and human trafficking business.

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 a royal Rajput family, his self-esteem is reflected through his inability to accept insult and defeat, as a result of which he even takes part in a small race with his car. He does not want to be the one who falls behind and develops a strong hatred for women and mankind in general. As a result of reckless driving, while overtaking the car which carried the district inspector, his licence is taken from him. He is utterly destroyed by it, since the cab was his life after his wife had left him for good. Deeply affected by the insult and a feeling of rootlessness, he decides to go back to the land of rajput where his true rajput lineage will be respected. While on an aimless journey, Narasingh is picked up by Sukharam who is a local Marwari businessman with a record of smuggling and human trafficking. Sukharam (Charuprakash Ghosh) offers him a handsome fee to transport some goods which actually is opium. The realisation of the immoral trade puts Narshing in a compromising position, but he decides to join hands with Sukharam anyways. After all no one he saw was truly following the path of law and morality, not even his ideal and beloved Neeli (Ruma Guha Thakurta). Neeli runs away with the crippled lover of hers and Narasingh's deep distrust of women deepens. As a result, even after knowing that Gulabi is a victim of Sukharams trafficking he forces her to sleep with him without any emotional involvement. At this point he is almost on the verge of becoming the one he used to hate, the lawless ones who also fail to face the world. Gulabi (Waheeda Rehman), on the other hand is a melancholy, demonstrative and beautiful village widow. Gulabi is instinctively drawn to Narsingh. In spite of losing her dignity, she still looks at the bright side of life and has trust that Narshing is not immoral. She is attracted to him from the beginning and ready for a physical relationship, though not as a prostitute which Sukharam intended her to be at that time, but as a village girl. After he decides to join the gang of smugglers consisting of a legal deal and selling his car, he finds that all his friends that had been with him for so long, including Rama, and Neeli's brother, have abandoned him. He gets the money and social status he wanted but reduces himself to Mama Bhagne, a symbol of someone carrying the baggage of his own sin on his head, until he topples and is reduced to mere pebbles with no dignity. He changes, and rescues Gulabi just in time, before she was to be sold to the same lawyer who was a member of the smuggling racket he had thought of joining. The tension of the good and evil collapses and the old car makes another journey into nothingness but with a halo of light ahead of it, the light of love.

Biswambhar Roy, a wealthy landlord and great connoisseur of music, struggles with economic upheavals when his neighbour organizes a musical fest.

Huzur Biswambhar Roy (Chhabi Biswas) is a middle-aged aristrocrat in India. His estate is suffering financially, but he continues to engage in the indulgences that he thrives off of. He has a palace that includes an opulent music room, replete with a huge chandelier, mirrored walls and various rugs. He also loves riding his white horse or his domesticated elephant. He is somewhat insulated and basically only interacts with his estate manager (Tulsi Lahiri), his servant (Kali Sarkar) and his beloved wife, Mahamaya (Padmadevi), and young, teenaged son, Khoka (Pinaki Sengupta). The wealthy Mahim Ganguly (Gangapada Basu), the son of a neighbor who was a debt collector, returns from the West to claim his late father's estate. Ganguly is a shrill social-climber and asks that Roy come to visit the estate. When Ganguly builds his own more modern music room, he plans an opening party. In competition, Roy claims and starts to plan his own music room party. This is despite his financial floundering. Mahamaya and Khoka go to visit friends via boat, while Roy stays behind. Upon their returning boatride, a storm hits and kills nearly everyone on board the boat, including Mahamaya and Khoka. Roy withdrawals into grieving and a long-lasting depression. The anguish he goes through ages him visably. Four years go by with Roy by himself in his palace. On day, Ganguly visits and boasts about a young female dancer who has discovered a new form dancing that is performing at his music room. The younger man's grating manners gives Roy the motivation to have yet another music room party. Roy's servant is estatic, but his estate manager is less than happy, since Roy is even more financially destitute than before. The music room is re-opened for the first time since his family's death and cleaned up. The female dancer is booked and several neighbors attend, including Ganguly. The dancer and the music group give a magnificent performance. Roy lingers in the music room throughout the night, long after the last guests leave. Drunkly, he pays tribute to his ancestors and his own portrait. However, his bliss turns to hysterical despair when the candles in the music room start to go out. Obviously mental unsound, his fear of the darkening room mystifies his faithful servant. The servant is able to open the drapes and Roy is comforted by the rising sun. Roy hears his white horse nay outside and claims that the horse is calling to him to ride him. His servant and estate manager are distressed, since Roy's dilapidated physical state makes horse riding dangerous now. Roy gallops off quickly on his horse with the estate manager and servant in pursuit. When he rides to the beach, he is distressed to see a beaching, broken boat, which reminds him of his departed family. He doesn't change the horse's course and, upon nearly colliding with the boat, the horse flips out and jumps in the air, knocking Roy roughly into the ground. Roy dies where he lays with his servant and estate manager standing over him.

After the death of his father, Apu leaves his mother and goes to Kolkata to complete his education. His mother falls sick but she does not let the news reach him as it would affect his studies.

Apu and his sister Durga try to make the most out of their poverty-stricken lives. Soon after their father goes to the city for a job, things go downhill.