Nayak - The Hero (1966) - Bengali Movie

15th Movie of Satyajit Ray and yet again as I said earlier too - he had some fetish with trains that none of his movies be complete without having to do something with the trains. This one is entirely shot in a train going to Delhi. What an amazing journey. This is the story of Movie Star Arindam Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar) and his chance meeting with other travellers including Aditi (Sharmila Tagore) and various people from the different walks of life. Each one has a different story and background to it and how their lives crisscross during this over night journey to Delhi. How everybody has his / her own opinion on the Star and how they all want a glimpse / autograph from him is heartening to see. Its so real life like that you cant stop smiling yourself on the situation and the way his own life is going is too good to see.

A day in the life of a movie star who is taking a train ride to journey to Delhi cause all the flights are booked and he has an important function to attend where he would be felicitated too. It goes on and off to the flashbacks to give us a fairly good idea of where his life is going and from where he has come this far in his career. I haven't seen much of Uttam Kumar anyways so cant comment at this stage but he fits to the role of a Super Star as he himself was a Super Star of Bengali / Hindi cinema at his times. My mom is a big fan of him and the likes from Bengali Cinema. Sharmila Tagore works with a small time magazine and is on the look out to take his interview during the course of the journey as the magazine she works with - wants to start a dedicated section for entertainment industry and this could have been a perfect opportunity to print the interview of a Super Star.

There are a couple of more characters thrown in good measure here like the Political Leader travelling in the next compartment from our Hero who dislikes him, Then we have his wealthy businessman travelling with his wife, who is about to strike a deal with another businessman during the course of the journey, A family with a young daughter who is not well for almost a month, who again happens to be a big fan of Arindam. he himself is going through a bad phase and his past is haunting him. We do see some of the flash backs of his early life where his mentor is telling him to not to join the commercial cinema and become a puppet in the hands of the directors working for only commercial success. Then we see him dreaming and jumping with all the success he has attained atop a mountain of currency notes, finally to sucked deep down inside a quicksand of money and fame.

This whole train journey is actualy an introspection into his life by himself. He gets so much time to think about his own life, where is it going, what is he upto and he realizes that his life isn't going anywhere, he has no one to fall back on. If something happens to him, he knows no one will come for his rescue. He confesses all that to Aditi while giving the interview and thinks himself too about the same. Success, Fame and Money doesn't mean happiness always, we all know that and its a lesson we all learn the harder way, the way he has learned in his life. He is shown as Arrogant, Selfish, Mean, Never helped anyone in the hour of need and all those people come in his dreams to haunt him and make him realize, what he has done in his life so far. Its heartening to see him get drunk to over come his weakness, how he is helped by his co-passengers, who happen to be his fans and somehow they understand his mental state. Its an amazing insight into the life of our Movie Stars, who we adore big time, never knowing the truth behind those close doors and personalities. This movie gives a glimpse to us into their lives.

Its a must watch for all movie lovers. True to its core and very convincing. I totally loved it. Its a heart touching drama and almost a real life account. Too good.