A glance at cinema ticket booking platforms this week reveals a pleasant surprise: a re-run of one of Satyajit Ray’s greatest movies. Mahanagar (1963) has been re-released with English subtitles at PVR-Inox cinemas in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. The version of the black-and-white Bengali film being shown is a 2K digital restoration carried out by Pixion Studios and Cameo Media Labs.
For producer Varsha Bansal, Mahanagar ’s re-emergence is particularly special since it is her favourite among the six Ray films produced by her grandfather, RD Bansal. “ Mahanagar is such a beautiful film, and it is relevant even today,” Varsha Bansal told Scroll . “The trend of re-releases as fillers for the big gaps between the big hits gives older films a new lease of life.
” Mahanagar marked the first of three collaborations between Ray and the brilliant actress Madhabi Mukherjee. The movie also introduced Jaya Bachchan, playing the heroine’s teenaged sister-in-law. Anil Chatterjee and Jaya Bachchan in Mahanagar (1963).
Courtesy RD Bansal Productions. Ray adapted Mahanagar from Awbotawronika (A Flight of Stairs), Narendranath Mitra’s short story from 1949. Mahanagar itself is set in the mid-1950s in Kolkata.
The story follows the repercussions of a housewife’s decision to pursue a career on her family, particularly her husband. Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee) starts working as a door-to-door saleswoman for a sewing machine company after her spouse Subrata (Anil Chatterjee).