Nagarik - Revision history

Drsandeepjhaliver: refined references

2026-03-07T07:33:24Z

refined references

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:03, 7 March 2026
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	{{Use Indian English\|date=November 2015}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=November 2015}}
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Nagarik "The Citizen"		\| name = Nagarik<br />"The Citizen"
	\| image = Nagarik.jpg		\| image = Nagarik.jpg
	\| director = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]		\| director = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
	\| producer = Film Guild: Pramode Sengupta<br>Bhupati Nandi<br>Ritwik Ghatak		\| producer = Film Guild: Pramode Sengupta<br />Bhupati Nandi<br />Ritwik Ghatak
	\| writer = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]		\| writer = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
	\| starring = Satindra Bhattacharya~~<br>~~ Prova Debi~~<br>~~[[Kali Banerjee]]~~<br>~~[[Sova Sen]]~~<br>~~Ketaki Dutta~~<br>~~Geeta Shome~~<br>~~[[Ajit Banerjee]]~~<br>~~[[Keshto Mukherjee]]		\| starring = {{ubl\|Satindra Bhattacharya\|Prova Debi\|[[Kali Banerjee]]\|[[Sova Sen]]\|Ketaki Dutta\|Geeta Shome\|[[Ajit Banerjee]]\|[[Keshto Mukherjee]]}}
	\| music = Anil Chandra Sengupta		\| music = Anil Chandra Sengupta
	\| cinematography = [[Ramananda Sengupta]]		\| cinematography = [[Ramananda Sengupta]]
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	}}		}}

	'''''Nagarik''''' ({{~~lang-~~bn\|নাগরিক}}), also spelled as '''''Nagorik'''''~~, '''''~~The Citizen~~''''' in English~~, was the first feature-length film directed by legendary [[India]]n director [[Ritwik Ghatak]].<ref name="The Citizen (1952)">{{cite web\|title=The Citizen (1952)\|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details\|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130065940/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=30 January 2013\|department=Movies & TV Dept.\|work=[[The New York Times]]\|~~publisher=[[Baseline (database)\|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]]\|accessdate~~=3 August 2012}}</ref> Completed in [[1952 in film\|1952]], it preceded [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' as perhaps the first example of an [[Parallel Cinema\|art film]] in [[Cinema of West Bengal\|Bengali cinema]], but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in [[Kolkata]], India.<ref name="set1">{{Harvnb\|Ghatak\|2000\|pp=134–36}}</ref> ~~Ritwik~~ Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as [[Satyajit Ray]]<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Harvnb\|Ghatak\|2000\|pp=ix}}</ref> and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as [[Derek Malcolm]].		'''''Nagarik''''' ({{langx\|bn\|নাগরিক}}), also spelled as '''''Nagorik''''' ({{Translation\|The Citizen}}), was the first feature-length film directed by legendary [[India]]n director [[Ritwik Ghatak]].<ref name="The Citizen (1952)">{{cite web\|title=The Citizen (1952)\|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details\|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130065940/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=30 January 2013\|department=Movies & TV Dept.\|work=[[The New York Times]]\|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref> Completed in [[1952 in film\|1952]], it preceded [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' as perhaps the first example of an [[Parallel Cinema\|art film]] in [[Cinema of West Bengal\|Bengali cinema]], but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in [[Kolkata]], India.<ref name="set1">{{Harvnb\|Ghatak\|2000\|pp=134–36}}</ref> Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as [[Satyajit Ray]]<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Harvnb\|Ghatak\|2000\|pp=ix}}</ref> and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as [[Derek Malcolm]].

	== Synopsis ==		== Synopsis ==
	<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Nagarikscreenshot.gif\|thumb\|Uma and Ramu dreaming of times to come in the hope that they will be better]] -->		<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Nagarikscreenshot.gif\|thumb\|Uma and Ramu dreaming of times to come in the hope that they will be better]] -->

	Ramu, a fresh graduate is searching for a job like many others in post-[[Partition of India\|Partition]] Kolkata. ~~The~~ mother is yearnful of older times when the family used to live in a better house, but she bears her suffering quietly, for the most part. ~~The~~ father is myopic and full of cynicism for he does not share the idealistic aspirations of his two children that better times will come. The light of Ramu's life is his ~~girlfriend~~ Uma, who lives in an equally precarious situation with her sister Shephali and her mother. Jatin is an even poorer minor character living near Uma's dwelling who Ramu avoids because he cannot help the former out financially. To make ends meet, Ramu's mother takes in Sagar, a poor chemist, as a paying guest. Ramu does not get a job and cannot pay rent even with the meagre money that he gets from Sagar and is insulted by the landlord. Ultimately the family is evicted.		Ramu, a fresh graduate is searching for a job like many others in post-[[Partition of India\|Partition]] Kolkata. His mother is yearnful of older times when the family used to live in a better house, but she bears her suffering quietly, for the most part. His father is myopic and full of cynicism for he does not share the idealistic aspirations of his two children that better times will come. The light of Ramu's life is his lover Uma, who lives in an equally precarious situation with her sister Shephali and her mother. Jatin is an even poorer minor character living near Uma's dwelling who Ramu avoids because he cannot help the former out financially. To make ends meet, Ramu's mother takes in Sagar, a poor chemist, as a paying guest. Ramu does not get a job and cannot pay rent even with the meagre money that he gets from Sagar and is insulted by the landlord. Ultimately the family is evicted.

	Just before the family has to leave to go stay in slums, Ramu visits Uma and tells him they are moving. Uma offers to help them set up in the new dwelling, an obvious sign of humanism on Ghatak's part. Shephali, her sister, cannot bear to live in poverty any longer, so she leaves home with a shady man. Seeta confesses that she loves Sagar, a love that Sagar reciprocates. However, Sagar, is now rendered homeless and destitute and mentions that he does not have the audacity to expect them to even be united. Ramu overhears parts of Sagar and Uma's conversation and is touched by the moment. He appeals to Sagar for him to come and live with the family. The film ends with the characters walking out in the rain, a symbolic sign of hope and renewal.<ref name="set1" />		Just before the family has to leave to go stay in slums, Ramu visits Uma and tells him they are moving. Uma offers to help them set up in the new dwelling, an obvious sign of humanism on Ghatak's part. Shephali, her sister, cannot bear to live in poverty any longer, so she leaves home with a shady man. Seeta confesses that she loves Sagar, a love that Sagar reciprocates. However, Sagar, is now rendered homeless and destitute and mentions that he does not have the audacity to expect them to even be united. Ramu overhears parts of Sagar and Uma's conversation and is touched by the moment. He appeals to Sagar for him to come and live with the family. The film ends with the characters walking out in the rain, a symbolic sign of hope and renewal.<ref name="set1" />
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	== Screening of Nagarik aka The Citizen in different festivals ==		== Screening of Nagarik aka The Citizen in different festivals ==
	2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK<ref>{{cite web \| title=The Citizen \| website=Dundee Contemporary Arts \| date=2017-05-13 \| url=http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-citizen \| access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref>		2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK<ref>{{cite web \| title=The Citizen \| website=Dundee Contemporary Arts \| date=2017-05-13 \| url=http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-citizen \| access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref>

	== See also ==		== See also ==
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	{{Ritwik Ghatak}}		{{Ritwik Ghatak}}

	[[Category:Bengali-language films]]		[[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]]
	[[Category:1953 films]]		[[Category:1953 films]]
	~~[[Category:Indian films]]~~
	[[Category:Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak]]		[[Category:Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak]]
	[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]		[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
	[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]		[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]
	[[Category:~~1970s~~ Bengali-language films]]		[[Category:1977 Bengali-language films]]
	[[Category:Indian drama films]]		[[Category:Indian drama films]]
	[[Category:1953 drama films]]		[[Category:1953 drama films]]
	[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]		[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]

imported>KungfuPanda2008: Release date added

2021-07-04T11:27:17Z

Release date added

New page

{{short description|1953 film by Ritwik Ghatak}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Nagarik "The Citizen"
| image = Nagarik.jpg
| director = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
| producer = Film Guild: Pramode Sengupta Bhupati Nandi Ritwik Ghatak
| writer = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
| starring = Satindra Bhattacharya Prova Debi [[Kali Banerjee]] [[Sova Sen]] Ketaki Dutta Geeta Shome [[Ajit Banerjee]] [[Keshto Mukherjee]]
| music = Anil Chandra Sengupta
| cinematography = [[Ramananda Sengupta]]
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1977|9|20}}
| runtime = 125 minutes
| country = India
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| budget =
}}

'''''Nagarik''''' ({{lang-bn|নাগরিক}}), also spelled as '''''Nagorik''''', '''''The Citizen''''' in English, was the first feature-length film directed by legendary [[India]]n director [[Ritwik Ghatak]].<ref name="The Citizen (1952)">{{cite web|title=The Citizen (1952)|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130065940/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/146621/The-Citizen/details|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2013|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]]|accessdate=3 August 2012}}</ref> Completed in [[1952 in film|1952]], it preceded [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' as perhaps the first example of an [[Parallel Cinema|art film]] in [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali cinema]], but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in [[Kolkata]], India.<ref name="set1">{{Harvnb|Ghatak|2000|pp=134–36}}</ref> Ritwik Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as [[Satyajit Ray]]<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Harvnb|Ghatak|2000|pp=ix}}</ref> and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as [[Derek Malcolm]].

== Synopsis ==


Ramu, a fresh graduate is searching for a job like many others in post-[[Partition of India|Partition]] Kolkata. The mother is yearnful of older times when the family used to live in a better house, but she bears her suffering quietly, for the most part. The father is myopic and full of cynicism for he does not share the idealistic aspirations of his two children that better times will come. The light of Ramu's life is his girlfriend Uma, who lives in an equally precarious situation with her sister Shephali and her mother. Jatin is an even poorer minor character living near Uma's dwelling who Ramu avoids because he cannot help the former out financially. To make ends meet, Ramu's mother takes in Sagar, a poor chemist, as a paying guest. Ramu does not get a job and cannot pay rent even with the meagre money that he gets from Sagar and is insulted by the landlord. Ultimately the family is evicted.

Just before the family has to leave to go stay in slums, Ramu visits Uma and tells him they are moving. Uma offers to help them set up in the new dwelling, an obvious sign of humanism on Ghatak's part. Shephali, her sister, cannot bear to live in poverty any longer, so she leaves home with a shady man. Seeta confesses that she loves Sagar, a love that Sagar reciprocates. However, Sagar, is now rendered homeless and destitute and mentions that he does not have the audacity to expect them to even be united. Ramu overhears parts of Sagar and Uma's conversation and is touched by the moment. He appeals to Sagar for him to come and live with the family. The film ends with the characters walking out in the rain, a symbolic sign of hope and renewal.<ref name="set1" />

==Credits==

===Cast===
* Satindra Bhattacharya as Ramu
* Prova Debi as his mother
* [[Kali Banerjee]] as his father
* [[Sova Sen]] as his sister, Seeta
* Ketaki Dutta as Uma
* Geeta Shome as Shephali
* [[Ajit Banerjee]] as Sagar
* [[Keshto Mukherjee]] as Jatin
* Master Pintoo
* Anil Ghosh
* Umanath Bhattacharya

===Crew===
* Direction and Screenplay, [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
* Cinematography, [[Ramananda Sengupta]]
* Editing, Ramesh Joshi
* Sound, Satyen Chatterjee
* Narration, Ritwik Ghatak
* Music, Anil Chandra Sengupta
* Lyrics, Govinda Moonish
* Art Direction, Bhupen Majumdar
* Production, Film Guild

== Soundtracks ==
All music of the film composed by music director Anil Chandra Sengupta * ''Majh ye to majhdhar...''
* ''Majhu pran kathin kathor...''

==Critical analysis==
''Nagarik'' is considered a prototype for Ghatak's subsequent films since all of the main ingredients are present.<ref name="set2">{{Harvnb|Hood|2000|pp=21–24}}</ref> The tone is deliberately didactic and the treatment melodramatic, elements which Ghatak in no way considered inferior to realism.<ref name="set1" /> The pain of the Partition is poignant among the protagonists, all refugees from [[East Bengal]], now suffering from the loss of homeland and livelihood. This is a theme that Ghatak helped portray when working on ''[[Chinnamul]]'', and one that would permeate most of his later creations. The film is not a study in pessimism but ends on a positive note with a speech by Ramu hoping for a new future. This has been considered overtly [[Marxist]] considering Ghatak's involvement with group theatre and the [[Indian People's Theatre Association|IPTA]]. The film is thought to be well scripted, acted, and filmed with scenes that show unique visual and aural registers.<ref name="set1" /> However, it is also criticized as being slow and long-drawn.<ref name="set1" /> Although the film shows the influence of French director [[Jean Renoir]], it lies very much in a developing tradition of Indian film. Its [[film noir]] feel and stylised manner has something in common with contemporary works in Hindi cinema by [[Guru Dutt]] and [[Kamal Amrohi]]. It particularly shows the influence of the latter's ''[[Mahal (1949 film)|Mahal]]'' (1949) in its use of narration, use of music, stylised direction of the acting and in several verbal echoes. It was also clearly known to Ghatak's Bengali contemporary [[Satyajit Ray]] and strongly influences his ''[[The World of Apu]]'' (1959), the third in the [[Apu Trilogy]]. ''Nagarik'' is, therefore, a pivotal work in the history of [[Cinema of India|Indian cinema]].<ref name="set1" />

== Screening of Nagarik aka The Citizen in different festivals ==
2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK<ref>{{cite web | title=The Citizen | website=Dundee Contemporary Arts | date=2017-05-13 | url=http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-citizen | access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of works of Ritwik Ghatak]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Ghatak
| given1 = Ritwik
| year = 2000
| title = Rows and Rows of Fences: Ritwik Ghatak on Cinema
| publisher = Ritwik Memorial & Trust Seagull Books
| isbn = 81-7046-178-2
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Hood
| given1 = John
| year = 2000
| title = The Essential Mystery: The Major Filmmakers of Indian Art Cinema
| publisher = Orient Longman Limited
| isbn = 81-250-1870-0
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/essentialmystery00hood
}}.

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title|0044952}}

{{Ritwik Ghatak}}

[[Category:Bengali-language films]]
[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]
[[Category:1970s Bengali-language films]]
[[Category:Indian drama films]]
[[Category:1953 drama films]]
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]