'Aranyer Din Ratri': Satyajit Ray’s restored classic toast of Cannes

In 1956, Satyajit Ray’s directorial debut ‘Pather Panchali’ (1955) won the Best Human Document and an OCIC Award — Special Mention at Cannes. This year, a restored 4K print of Ray’s ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ (1970), was screened in the festival’s ‘Classics’ section.

Sandip Ray shares that his father would often say he accomplished what he wanted with this 1970 film. “A taut script, impeccable casting, exceptional performances, brilliantly shot sequences like the memory game, and a timeless quality make it contemporary even today,” he asserts.

Busy with his father’s annual anniversaries, Sandip couldn’t attend the world premiere, but is happy filmmaker Wes Anderson, who worked with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project to restore ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ in collaboration with Shivendra Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and The Criterion Collection, walked the red carpet with Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal, the only two remaining from the cast. “It’s one of his favourite films and in 2019, as a member of The Film Foundation board, he initiated discussions about preserving it. The restoration was done at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy, using the original camera and sound negative shipped from producer Purnima Dutta’s Kolkata home. Since I remember the original print, Shivendra would send me restored clips for my feedback. I’m very satisfied,” he beams.

In 1991, when Ray was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Archives while working on an audio-visual rued the quality of prints. “Realising the importance of preserving baba’s legacy, the Ray Society was formed in 1993. Unlike in the US, UK and Europe, Blu-ray and DVDs are not readily available in India, so restoring cult classics like the ‘Apu Trilogy’, ‘Jalsaghar’, ‘Mahanagar’, ‘Charulata’, ‘Nayak’ and ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ becomes all the more important,” Sandip avers.

The adventure-drama is a journey of self-discovery for four friends —Soumitra Chatterjee’s Ashim, Subhendu Chatterjee’s Sanjoy, Samit Bhaja’s Hari and Rabi Ghosh’s Shekar — who holidaying in the forest meet three women — Sharmila Tagore’s Aparna, Kaberi Bose’s Jaya and Simi Garewal’s tribal girl Duli — and return to the city exposed, deflated and transformed. “The script did justice to all the characters, but while Sharmila di and Soumitra da’s performances are often lauded, Subenduda, Samitda, Rabida and Kaberidi’s have remained largely unheralded. Hopefully, people will rediscover them now. Even Simi ji was extraordinary!” Sandip raves, adding that Ray had liked her in Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and even Simi wanted to work with him. “She got her wish fulfilled in a Bengali film.”

Busy with studies, 16-year-old Sandip couldn’t accompany his father to the forest then, but visited Daltonganj later, to shoot a scene for another 1970 film, ‘Pratidwandi’. “We were there for a day or two, but I could see ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ had made the place famous among tourists and even filmmakers, actors and musicians later,” he recalls.

In 1968, when Ray was filming the black-and-white ‘Goopey Gyne Bagha Byne’, Jaisalmer was a desolate place with only a military base. “Baba was fascinated by the yellow limestone fort which looked like a golden fortress in the sun, but had to wait till 1973 and the first Feluda film, ‘Sonar Kella’, to shoot it in colour,” informs Sandip who visited Jaisalmer recently and discovered it was a popular tourist destination with guides calling its fort ‘Sone ki Killa’. “There are photographs of baba, whom they call Vasco da Gama, in the hotel lobby and when they learnt my travelling companion, Kushal Chakraborty, had played Mukul, they garlanded him and tied a turban around his head. Unbelievable for a 1971 Bengali film!” he marvels. 

(The author is a senior film journalist)