Nayak (1966 film)

Nayak (The Hero)

Original Indian poster
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Produced by R. D. Banshal
Written by Satyajit Ray
Starring Uttam Kumar
Sharmila Tagore
Music by Satyajit Ray
Production
company
R. D. Banshal & Co.
Distributed by Edward Harrison (US)
Release dates
  • 6 May 1966 (1966-05-06) (India)
  • 19 July 1974 (1974-07-19) (US)
Running time
 120 minutes
Country India
Language Bengali

Nayak (Bengali: নায়ক Hero) (released in English as The Hero and Nayak: The Hero) is a 1966 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It was Ray's second entirely original screenplay, after Kanchenjungha (1962). The story revolves around a matinee idol on a 24-hour train journey from Kolkata to Delhi to receive a national award. However, he ends up revealing his mistakes, insecurities and regrets to a young journalist, who realises that behind all the glitter is a deeply lonely man. Her initial contempt for people like him turns into empathy, and she decides not to publish what he has revealed. His life journey is gradually revealed through seven flashbacks and two dreams during the train ride.[1][2]

Plot

A famous star of Bengali films, Arindam Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar), is invited to the capital to receive a prestigious award. All the flights are booked, which forces him to take the train. The morning newspaper arrives and carries with it a detailed article on an altercation he'd been involved in. In the restaurant car, he meets Aditi Sengupta (Sharmila Tagore), a young journalist who edits a modern women's magazine, Adhunika.[2] Filled with contempt for the likes of him, she secretly plans to interview him because she thinks it'd attract more readers. He soon starts to reveal his personality, and also brings to surface the inner insecurities and his consciousness of the limitations of his 'powers'. Aditi initially takes notes, surreptitiously, but later on, out of empathy almost bordering on pity,stops. However, critical of the star, she interrogates him, leading to further introspection on his part. Slowly, his guilt about the way things turned out is very visible.

Arindam also mentions Shankar-da, his mentor, who had never wanted Arindam to join films, being a strong opposer of the medium. He talks about his first day in film, and on the different experiences in faced with other workers in the field and some of the things that happened to them.

Toward the end of the train journey, Arindam is drunk and feels a need to confide his wrongdoings. He asks the conductor to fetch Aditi. He begins to reveal the reason behind the altercation he was a part of, but Aditi stops him, as she has already guessed. It was an affair he'd had with one of his co-actors, Promila. Afraid that he might commit suicide, Aditi makes sure he returns to his cubicle, before going back to her own.

As the star re-lives and examines his life with Aditi, a bond develops between them. Aditi realizes that in spite of his fame and success, Arindam is a lonely man, in need of empathy. Out of respect for him, she chooses to suppress the story and tears up the notes she has written. She lets the hero preserve his public image.

Cast

Soundtrack

Nayak
Soundtrack album by Satyajit Ray

All lyrics written by Satyajit Ray; all music composed by Satyajit Ray. 

Songs
No.TitlePlaybackLength
1."Arindam Theme"  no singer1:52

Production

Ray wrote the screenplay of the film at Darjeeling in May, where he went during off-season from filming. Even then he had Uttam Kumar in his mind for the lead, but not as an actor, rather a "phenomenon". The film was shot in the latter half of 1965.[3]

Awards

Nominations

Preservation and Restoration

The film is one of four Ray films which were digitally restored and set for a re-release in January 2014.[1]

The Academy Film Archive preserved Nayak in 2004.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Second look: Satyajit Ray's 'Nayak' revisited". Livemint. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  2. 1 2 Darius Cooper (13 January 2000). The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 102–. ISBN 978-0-521-62980-5.
  3. ↑ Andrew Robinson (1989). Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. University of California Press. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-520-06946-6.
  4. ↑ "Berlinale 1966: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  5. ↑ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
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