Latest news with #AranyerDinRatri
New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Sharmila Tagore Interview: Satyajit Ray's films deal with the follies of humans
Tagore points to a 'complex' aspect in Aranyer Din Ratri, the way it deals with the issue of corruption—the fact that the guys offer bribes to the caretaker to get a place to stay in the forest rest house but are blind to the fact that it's to do as much with his lack of scruples as their own encouragement and facilitation of corruption. 'Ray deals with such fundamental quirks and follies of human beings,' says Tagore, adding, 'The hero in Nayak is treated like God, is mobbed and is under pressure. But there's a human being beneath it all. In Devi, the father-in-law deifies his unlettered daughter-in-law. A victim of his dreams, she loses her mind, feels alienated.' Aranyer Din Ratri was shot in Chhipadohar village in Palamu district in Jharkhand (then Bihar) in April and May. 'It was very hot. Trees were all leafless and had a skeletal look in the film. We would shoot for three hours from 5.30 am to about 9 am and then 3 pm to 6 pm, till the light would be good,' recalls Tagore. 'Rest of the time we chatted, bonded and sang and danced with the Santhals, especially on full moon nights. The boys tried the local drink mohua once and swore never to have it again. It left them with such a bad hangover,' she says. The boys stayed in a tin shed and it was so hot that Rabi Ghosh would call himself Robi Pora or Burnt Robi. She remembers her co-actor Simi Garewal and her sister staying in a bungalow in the next village while she had a tiny 10x8 room of the caretaker to live in. There was an air cooler for her which served well in the dry heat. Aranyer Din Ratri is Ray's eighth film to have been presented at Cannes. Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), the first of his Apu trilogy, has played at Cannes thrice. It marked his debut in Cannes, was in the In Competition section and won the Best Human Document Award at the 1956 edition of Cannes. It was part of its Special Screenings programme in 1992 and a restored print featured in the Cannes Classics segment in 2005. Just three years back, in 2022, Pratidwandi (The Adversary) was shown in the same Cannes Classics segment, as was Charulata in 2013.
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Wes Anderson reveals why he ‘stole' this famous Satyajit Ray scene for Asteroid City: ‘The concept is very odd'
It's no secret that American filmmaker Wes Anderson is a huge fan of the late Satyajit Ray. Talking to THR India on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, where he presented Satyajit's 1971 film Aranyer Din Ratri after spearheading its restoration, he admitted to copying a famous scene from it for his 2023 film Asteroid City. (Also Read: Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal attend Aranyer Din Ratri Cannes screening, hang out with Satyajit Ray fanboy Wes Anderson) When asked about the memory game scene from Asteroid City, Wes admitted it was 'copied' from Aranyer Din Ratri. 'Yes, well, stole it. The way that scene was done…it's the most beautifully…First of all, that concept of the scene is very odd because it's a game. But we learn about these characters so much while they play these games, and they're saying these things,' he explained. He also added that he loved the way the film was shot, and how it revealed so much about the characters, 'Then the way it's photographed. I mean, the cast is obviously a special cast. But the way it's photographed is very striking. And the moment when we choose to start going from face to face, there's more emotion in this scene than you would think there's any reason to be. My family and I began to play this game after I saw the movie.' In Aranyer Din Ratri, which stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles, a famous scene shows the camera pan to different characters sitting in a circle as they play a memory game. Wes recreated the scene in his film Asteroid City, which stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Grace Edwards and others. Aranyer Din Ratri is considered one of the best films made in India. It received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mint
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Lounge Loves: A film club, ‘Toward Eternity' and more
There are two titles restored by Film Heritage Foundation in the Cannes Classics selection this year. One is Satyajit Ray's 1970 film with Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, Aranyer Din Ratri. The other is a lesser-known film, though just as accomplished, only now getting the refurbishing it deserves: Sri Lankan director Sumitra Peries' Gehenu Lamai (1978). This was Peries' debut, but the direction is assured and intimate. Set in a village, this delicate black-and-white film is about the lives of two teenage sisters dealing with the complications of first love and societal pressure. Wasanthi Chathurani, also making her debut, is tremendous as Kusum. I'd seen breadfruit in carts and stalls in Goa, but hadn't tasted it till the personable bartender at Petisco in Panaji, Sherwin, recently suggested it as a pairing for his 'Imli pop', a tangy cocktail made with seasonal urrak, jaggery and a brine spiced with jalapenos and chilli. Breadfruit, like jackfruit of which it is the more elegant cousin, is the new favourite of chefs looking for inventive non-meat substitutes. Its versatile potato-like flavour and bready texture lends itself to all sorts of dishes, including the breadfruit fritters with a salad that Petisco has on its menu. But breadfruit made the shift from 'nice' to true favourite when Sherwin opened up his tiffin box and made us taste his mother's nirponos, or shallow-fried breadfruit lightly coated with rava, which she'd packed for his dinner. Old style hospitality beats fine-dining any day. Writer and translator Anton Hur's debut novel Toward Eternity has been an absolute joy to read. Curing cancer by replacing human cells with inorganic 'nanites' that not only makes the recipient cancer-free but also immortal? An AI trained on Victorian poetry that develops consciousness, and an appreciation for Christina Rossetti? A far future scenario with Biblical undertones? Inject it directly into my veins! I may sound flippant but this is a novel absolutely bursting with ideas. It feels like Hur (who I was delighted to discover was on the panel of judges that has just bestowed the International Booker Prize on Heart Lamp)—could have spun three or four books out of this cornucopia, but somehow they all fit together in one perfect novel. A friend co-runs a movie-screening initiative in Mumbai, @Secret7Cinema on Instagram, and it has become my favourite weekend activity of late. Each session begins with two iconic films pitched against each other. Everyone in the room gets 1-2 minutes to present their case—why this film, why now—and then we vote. The majority gets to decide if they want to flip a coin, otherwise, the losing team sits through the winning title. Last week, it was a fight between two Sanjay Dutt anti-hero flicks, Khalnayak and Vaastav. I voted for Vaastav, and that's what we watched, although someone else made a better case to swing votes in our favour. It's a playful but passionate exercise in debate, far from the noise of social media hellsites. No quote tweets, no hot takes, just voices in a room, arguing for the love of cinema. Paradiso.
News18
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Wes Anderson Says The Memory Scene In Asteroid City Is ‘Stolen' From Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri
Last Updated: Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in keyr oles. Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in key roles American filmmaker Wes Anderson is making headlines after completing a six-year restoration of Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), which will now be featured at Cannes Classics. Here's a fun fact – a scene from Anderson's 2023 film Asteroid City was 'stolen" from Aranyer Din Ratri. The memorable memory game sequence in Asteroid City is directly inspired by Ray's 1970 classic. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Wes Anderson was asked if he recreated the memory game scene from Aranyer Din Ratri for Asteroid City. To this, the filmmaker said, 'Yes, well, stole it… First of all, the concept of the scene is very odd because it's a game. But we learn about these characters so much while they play these games and they're saying these names. And then the way it's photographed, I mean, the cast is obviously special cast, but the way it's photographed is very striking. And the moment when we choose to start going from face to face, there's more emotion in this scene than you would think there's any reason to be." According to a Variety report, the restoration of Aranyer Din Ratri began in 2019. As a member of Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation board, Wes Anderson helped start the project to bring this classic back. Inspired by Satyajit Ray's work, a team from The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films and The Criterion Collection came together to make it happen. The entire restoration was funded by the Golden Globe Foundation. Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in key roles. This Bengali-language adventure drama is based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. First Published:
Time of India
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Watching Aranyer Din Ratri in 480p while the world applauds in 4K
As the Business Head for The Times of India, I lead strategic initiatives and drive growth for one of the nation's most influential media organisations. My journalist friends believe I've crossed over to the proverbial dark side. Living on the edges of a dynamic newsroom, I dabble infrequently into these times that we live and believe in the spectatorial axiom – 'distance provides perspective'. LESS ... MORE A slightly squinting, wholly mesmerised viewer of great cinema, regardless of resolution. It happened the way it always does. A news alert buzzes in: Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri has received a standing ovation at Cannes, now reborn in shimmering 4K, courtesy Wes Anderson and The Film Foundation. Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal are all elegance and nostalgia on the red carpet. And me? I'm slouched on my couch, watching a pixelated version on YouTube—complete with floating watermarks and the occasional audio dropout. Also read: Cannes 2025 screening: 'Aranyer Din Ratri' receives standing ovation (Picture: Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal at Cannes Film Festival 2025) Call it poetic irony, or just very subcontinental. But here's the twist. Even in that battered, barely-holding-it-together version, the film still gripped me by the collar. The forest still breathed. The silences still echoed. The infamous memory game scene still sliced through class, gender and entitlement with the precision of a scalpel. And Duli's smile? Still unknowable. Still unforgettable. Yes, it stings a little to know that somewhere in the south of France, people were gasping at every restored shadow and rediscovered frame of Soumendu Roy's cinematography. That the grain of the forest floor, the tremble in Sharmila's voice, the murmur of Ray's score—all made pristine again—were finding new audiences. And yes, the restoration is reportedly a masterpiece itself: cleaned, cared for, curated. (Picture courtesy: Facebook) But you know what? The truth about Ray's genius is this—it doesn't need 4K to function. His films operate at another bandwidth entirely. They get under your skin. His camera doesn't just watch; it listens. Not just to words, but to pauses, glances, guilt, desire. That emotional fidelity—that unspoken weight—remains intact, even in 480p. Also read: Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal dazzle on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 screening of Satyajit Ray's film 'Aranyer Din Ratri' At the cusp of two Rays Aranyer Din Ratri is also where Ray pivots. It marks the start of his 1970s phase—where his gaze sharpens, his tone darkens, and his themes veer from the lyrical to the political. The 1960s gave us the quiet dissection of the Bengali middle class in films like Mahanagar, Nayak, Kapurush. But the '70s? That was when Ray pulled out the gloves and dropped the poetry. What followed was the Kolkata Trilogy—Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha, Jana Aranya—where disillusioned young men wandered through moral quicksand, economic dead-ends, and the city's cold bureaucratic heart. Aranyer Din Ratri stands at that crossroads. It's as if Ray packed four men off into the woods, watched them fall apart, and came back convinced: things are going to get worse. Think of it as the cinematic equivalent of taking a long weekend before diving into a decade of existential dread. Watching Aranyer Din Ratri in less-than-ideal conditions is like reading Charulata in a tattered paperback. You're not missing the point—you're just closer to the ink. Perhaps this is the truest test of a classic: that it still moves you despite the medium. It doesn't need Dolby or restoration credits to provoke introspection. The film still asks the same uncomfortable questions. Who are we when the city recedes and the forest begins? When we stop performing, who remains? What breaks first—the mask or the man? So yes, I'll be first in line when the restored version hits our shores. But till then, I'm strangely grateful for that grainy YouTube copy. It reminded me that Ray's cinema wasn't just crafted for projection rooms and film festivals—it was built to last. Built to haunt. Even through static. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
