stepping into the world
by Douglas Messerli
Satyajit Ray (screenplay, based on a
story by Narendranath Mitra), Satyaji Ray (director) মহানগর (Mahānagar) (The Big City) / 1963, USA 1964
The Mazumdar family, husband, wife, son, daughter and the
husband’s parents are having a difficult time given the low pay of the father,
Subrata’s job at a bank. Although they are a loving and caring group, Subrata
(Anil Chatterjee) cannot afford to bring his children the toys they might
enjoy, and his father, Priyogopal (Haren Chatterjee), a former teacher,
desperately needs a new pair of glasses. He’s been thinking of trying to get an
extra job but is already overworked.
Almost by accident, he mentions that a
friend’s wife has begun working to help with finances of her family, which sets
the conservatively raised Aarti (Madhabi Mukherjee) to thinking. Although she
has only one year of college, perhaps she too might find a job to help out and
breaches the subject with her husband. At first, he opposes her idea; surely
his father and mother will never come round to accepting her decision to enter
the working force.
But, finally, realizing their plight,
he agrees, helping her to pick the right job (as a salesgirl) and to write a
letter of application. After an interview, Aarti is hired. Surprisingly, she is
quite adept at selling the knitting machines, despite the fact, that unlike
some of her colleagues such as Edith (Vicky Redwood), she can speak little
English and dresses in a traditional sari, without makeup. Soon she is being
praised by her affable boss (Haradhan Bannerjee) and is promised a future job
as manager of other saleswomen. Edith even encourages her to use lipstick and
demonstrates how to negotiate for commissions.
Ray gently and
delicately reveals how her new position in life begins to transform her, as she
becomes far more self-assured and learns to not fear her natural beauty. Yet
her in-laws are angry for her activities, creating, as Subrata describes it, a
“cold war.” Her young son, Pintu, is also angry with her and his lack of
maternal attention. Yet when she brings home her first pay along with gifts for
the entire family, they temporarily recognize the wisdom of her decision.
As Aarti gradually changes, becoming a
proto-feminist before their very eyes, Subrata insists she resign and return
home to work as a house wife. Still obedient, she agrees to do so, and plans
the next morning to tender her letter of resignation.
As she begins to explain to her boss her
decision, however, he interrupts her several times telling her of his pleasure
in her work. That very morning, Aarti arrives at the bank where he works to
discover that it has failed and closed, putting him entirely out of work. He
quickly calls his wife, asking her to keep her job.
Aarti does so, working even longer
hours when Edith becomes sick for a few days. But Subrata, now unable to find a
new position, becomes more and more discontented with her absence, one day
accidentally discovering her in a cafe in conversation with another male, even
though she is praising her husband and pretending to her companion that he
works long hours.
She visits Edith to find out how she is
recovering. But when she returns to the office, she discovers her boss has
fired Edith. In Ray’s wonderful story, the formerly meek Aarti, demonstrates
her complete transformation by boldly telling her employer that he is unjust
and demanding that he change his mind.
When he refuses, she takes the letter of resignation she still carries
in her purse and hands it to him. Meeting her husband on the street, she
explains what has just happened and apologizes for being so rash.
Yet Subrata now
recognizes how much courage she has shown, and commends her for actions,
promising her that in a big city such as Calcutta, they will both find new
jobs.
If Ray’s ending is not entirely a
positive one and feels a bit hackneyed, it reveals how both husband and wife
have grown in their perceptions of themselves and the world, which bodes well
for a more westernized and sexually equal society in the future.
This film—which represents also Ray’s
return to his home city—serves almost as a sociological picture of Calcutta,
representing its combination of urban modernity and ancient backstreets where
the older traditions survive. Even being able to leave the house clearly makes
for major changes for women who we most often represented in this and Ray works
sitting low on the floor cooking dinner for the husbands and children. At one
point her daughter even marvels to see her parents eating together, actually
sharing a meal instead of dining separately. And we recognize just how easy and
necessary it is to upend patriarchal systems. The lives of women can change
only as they involve themselves in the world at large instead focusing simply
on their families.
Los Angeles, November 11, 2018
Reprinted from World Cinema Review (November 2018).
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