World Cinema Series: Mahanagar, aka The Big City

Mahanagar, aka The Big City, is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Starring Madhabi Mukherjee in the leading role[1] and based on the short story Abataranika by Narendranath Mitra, it tells the story of a housewife who disconcerts her traditionalist family by getting the job of a saleswoman. The film marked the first screen appearance of Jaya Bhaduri, one of Hindi cinema‘s leading actresses.

Shot in the first half of 1963 in Calcutta, Mahanagar was the first film directed by Ray set entirely in his native Calcutta, reflecting contemporary realities of the urban middle-class, where women going to work is no longer merely driven by ideas of emancipation, but has become an economic reality. The film examines the effects of the confident working woman on patriarchial attitudes and social dynamics. According to veteran film critic Philip French, the film stands alongside The Apu Trilogy as some of Ray’s greatest work

Plot

In Calcutta in the 1950s, Arati, a homemaker, lives in a cramped apartment with not only her husband Subrata and their young son Pintu, but also Subrata’s younger sister Bani, father Priyogopal, and mother Sarojini. Money is tight with only Subrata’s income from working at a bank and doing some tutoring, so Arati tells him that she wants to get a job, and he helps her find work selling the Autonit, a knitting gadget, door-to-door. Subrata’s orthodox and conservative parents disapprove, but Arati, who is initially hesitant and nervous on her own out in the world, soon begins to prosper in her field. She befriends Edith, an Anglo-Indian colleague, who exposes her to some modern Western ideas, including wearing lipstick.

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