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Vidor's The Crowd is the starting point, Shaw on feminine domesticity is mentioned but not quoted. Close quarters in Calcutta, the household crowded and strapped, three generations under one roof. The breadwinner (Anil Chatterjee) works at a bank, his ex-teacher father (Haren Chatterjee) is proud yet envious of successful former pupils and all too aware of the financial strain he places on the budget. "The Almighty's accounts are out of balance somewhere." The wife (Madhabi Mukherjee) decides to contribute as a saleswoman, nervous at first and then delighted at her skill and confidence. (The trolley ride on the first day finds her in gorgeous profile, suddenly concerned about her boy's bath time.) The husband is uncomfortably supportive, the father-in-law is sorrowfully disapproving. "The cold war has begun." The Satyajit Ray woman tentatively embracing modernity, awakening to her identity amid the tangle of familial and professional relations. Scent of crisp bills in the company lavatory, the satisfaction of one's own salary plus the gift of lipstick courtesy of the young Anglo-Indian colleague (Vicky Redwood). More befuddled than villainous, the Old Guard is a matter of failing sight, the eye examination magnifies the father-in-law's embarrassed tears. (A wobbly POV during a sweltering climb yields to his wooden cane clattering down a flight of stairs.) As the unemployed husband eavesdrops on the heroine's business lunch at a restaurant, Ray pans from her table to a split composition featuring his emasculated visage caught in a mirrored vertical and her smiling client reflected on a black marble pillar. "You wouldn't recognize me on the job." "What about at home?" The couple is reunited to face the metropolis together, the closing shot suffuses Antonioni's in L'Eclisse with hope. With Haradhan Banerjee, Jaya Bachchan, Sefalika Devi, and Prasenjit Sarkar. In black and white.
--- Fernando F. Croce |