Mahanagar

Mahanagar (মহানগর ) is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Starring Madhabi Mukherjee in the leading role 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, this was also 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. Besides The Apu Trilogy, the film, according to veteran film critic Philip French, is one of Ray's greatest films. Plot Set in Calcutta during the 1950s, Mahanagar explores the evolving independence of middle-class women of the city. Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee), a homemaker, takes a job as a door-to-door saleswoman to meet the increasing financial pressure on her orthodox and conservative family, who share a cramped apartment. Despite the disapproval of her father-in-law, Priyogopal (Haren Chatterjee), the hesitant and nervous Arati soon begins to prosper in her field and gradually starts to enjoy her new-found financial and psychological independence. Her begrudgingly supportive husband, Subrata (Anil Chatterjee), starts to feel insecure and asks Arati to quit her job after he tentatively secures another part-time job. Before Arati can quit, Subrata loses his full-time job when the bank he was working for shuts down in the last of the Calcutta bank crashes. Subrata has no choice but to let Arati continue to work.