jun 13th, 2011 CE
calcutta in 1971 is portrayed as a city of the morally degenerate, of pimps, and the insane.
even though there's much more money in delhi 2011, i wonder if it's as much of a hellhole as calcutta in 1971, depicted by ray in gritty black and white. delhi 2011 is a metaphor for a nation that has lost its moorings: a nation on the verge of a nervous breakdown. a failing state, sort of like russia after the implosion.
the characters of most interest are seemabaddha's (company limited's) organization man who engineers a fatal riot to save his sales job; and the young unemployed man in jana aranya (middleman) who pimps his friend's sister to a fat businessman. the alienated protagonist in pratidwandi (adversary) is not as memorable.
even though ray's classics remain charulata, the apu trilogy and aranyer din ratri, the calcutta trilogy are under-appreciated masterpieces, based on outstanding novels. i remember reading 'seemabaddha' when it was serialized in malayalam decades ago.
tangentially, i am also reminded of aravindan's uttarayanam and the calcutta-based vaastuhara. in a way, we are all becoming vaastuharas, those deprived not only of vastu but also vaastu (a sense of self) by the predatory State.
further reading:
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