Another classic from Satyajit Ray
in the 70’s which got nominated for Golden Bear for Best Film at 20th
Berlin International Film Festival – and now I know why. It’s a simple story of four friends from a
metro breaking the routine of daily life – go out for a drive in the jungle,
stay at a guest house, come across another family from the city, gel well,
enjoy, relax, chill and get back to their regular life after couple of days. Like
any other typical Satyajit Ray movie – my eyes search for a visual of a Train
and he didn't disappoint me here too as this had a goods train passing by their
guest house in the dead of the night – I totally love his fetish for trains in
almost all his movies. What I loved about this movie is Gorgeous Sharmila
Tagore looking damn good in trousers and the way he projected her widowed
sister in law, I am sure none other Director would have dared to show her the
way he did, gelling well with strangers in front of her father in law, wanting
to live life as it should be for all. It’s a damn good one time watch for all
cinema lovers as haven’t we all done the same at some point in our life? Too
good and what fun it was to see this one.
The Movie: It’s a very simple
story of a group of four friends, who are on a road trip to some part of Bihar which they have never visited earlier. They just
look forward to some good quality time in each others company. In the first
half hour of the movie, we realize they all are way too different and are all
unique characters. Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee) being their leader, owns the car
that they drive in with three of his friends Sanjay, Hari and Shekhar. They
bribe the caretaker of forest rest house to allow them to stay without the
knowledge of the forest ranger. All the characters are so well written and cut
out from the regular people like you and me, who do not plan to shave or do
anything on the vacation but just chill relax and have fun. They all get drunken
big time drinking the local wines barring one of them who is the joker of the
pack so he could control them and bring back to the guest house once they are
totally drunk. They do come across a gang of local tribal girls getting drunk
in the local liquor bar cum shop – one of them happens to be Simi Grewal and
that was a shocker for us to see her in that kind of a role, they call her Miss
India jokingly.
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| Sharmila Tagore and her Sis in Law |
While they stay in the forest
rest house, the twist comes in the shape of the forest officer that visits them
and informs that the ranger may come and visit one of these days but they pay
no heed to it. They do come across a family quite close to their rest house and
they become friends with them quite fast as they become the only company to
each other from the same life style back in town. It has its own little twist
and turns with some shocking moments which I am sure would have got debated
back then, but for now they aren’t that big a shocker – you’ve got to see it to
believe what I am trying to say here. Like, the way Sharmila’s sister in law
falls for one of the guys and the scene following that. The game that they play
in the woods, one of the friends falls for the tribal beauty and what comes out
of it, the ranger’s visit to the rest house, getting drunk and making a scene
on the road etc. But it’s too good a movie and totally hilarious in parts cause
of the lively cast it had. Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee are a
revelation for me at least in this one, never imagined that she could look this
good that too in a Ray movie of all. Check it out guys – if nothing else – it
does entertains you thoroughly.
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