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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 | | 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]] | ||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Nagarik''''' ({{ | '''''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. | 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 == | ||
| Line 95: | Line 95: | ||
{{Ritwik Ghatak}} | {{Ritwik Ghatak}} | ||
[[Category:Bengali-language films]] | [[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]] | ||
[[Category:1953 films]] | [[Category:1953 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: | [[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]] | ||
Latest revision as of 13:03, 7 March 2026
| Nagarik "The Citizen" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Produced by | Film Guild: Pramode Sengupta Bhupati Nandi Ritwik Ghatak |
| Written by | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Anil Chandra Sengupta |
| Cinematography | Ramananda Sengupta |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
Nagarik (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), also spelled as Nagorik (transl. The Citizen), was the first feature-length film directed by legendary Indian director Ritwik Ghatak.[1] Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in 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.[2] 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[3] and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as Derek Malcolm.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Ramu, a fresh graduate is searching for a job like many others in post-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.[2]
Credits[edit | edit source]
Cast[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
All music of the film composed by music director Anil Chandra Sengupta * Majh ye to majhdhar...
- Majhu pran kathin kathor...
Critical analysis[edit | edit source]
Nagarik is considered a prototype for Ghatak's subsequent films since all of the main ingredients are present.[4] The tone is deliberately didactic and the treatment melodramatic, elements which Ghatak in no way considered inferior to realism.[2] 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 IPTA. The film is thought to be well scripted, acted, and filmed with scenes that show unique visual and aural registers.[2] However, it is also criticized as being slow and long-drawn.[2] 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) 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 Indian cinema.[2]
Screening of Nagarik aka The Citizen in different festivals[edit | edit source]
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[5]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "The Citizen (1952)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Ghatak 2000, pp. 134–36
- ↑ Ghatak 2000, pp. ix
- ↑ Hood 2000, pp. 21–24
- ↑ "The Citizen". Dundee Contemporary Arts. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Ghatak, Ritwik (2000), Rows and Rows of Fences: Ritwik Ghatak on Cinema, Ritwik Memorial & Trust Seagull Books, ISBN 81-7046-178-2.
- Hood, John (2000), The Essential Mystery: The Major Filmmakers of Indian Art Cinema, Orient Longman Limited, ISBN 81-250-1870-0.