Subrata Mazumdar (Anil Chatterjee) and his extended family live in a small apartment, though he doesn’t earn enough as a bank clerk to comfortably provide for his father (Haren Chatterjee), mother (Sefalike Devi), sister (Jaya Bhaduri), wife Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee), and young son (Prasenjit Sarkar). With a mix of pride and frustration, Subrata’s father, a retired teacher, describes seeing his former students go on to lucrative careers in medicine, law, and business while he continues a life of abject poverty. While he realizes that his son faces financial pressures, he remains steadfast in his belief that he and his wife are entitled to their son’s support.
After learning that a friend’s wife is working as a tutor, Arati gets a job with a knitting manufacturer in the city, a move Subrata initially supports. The company uses women as door-to-door saleswomen to ply their products to customers in the wealthy suburbs. Ray shows us Arati’s initial tentative attempts—she abruptly runs away when an angry looking man answers the door and is noticeably hesitant during the second call. However, Arati manages to find a comfort zone rather quickly, earning high marks from her boss. Befriending Anglo-Indian co-worker Edith Arati learns how to wear lipstick, sunglasses, and speak more boldly to contacts, all things forbidden for a proper Bengali woman just a short time before, on her way to becoming the firm’s top salesgirl.
Arati models herself after Edith, understanding that her assertive westernized personality is the key to success at her job. Edith is selected as the leader for the five salesgirls, and she is able to negotiate a raise fir them. Naturally, this doesn’t please the boss, who would much rather deal with the soft spoken Arati. This eventually leads to a pivotal confrontation that illustrates just how much Arati has grown since the start of the film.
Arati’s new sense of self isn’t particularly well received at home. Subrata’s parents strongly object to her defying custom—her father-in-law going so far as to declare a silent “cold war.” Supportive initially, Subrata begins to object to his wife working just as she is gaining confidence in herself and her skills. Just as he’s about to get a second job and demand that Arati leave hers, Subrata loses his job at the bank. Despite their conflict, it’s clear that Arati and Subrata have a love for each other that will get them through these tough times in the big city.
In The Big City, Satyajit Ray shows us a transition. More specifically how traditional people are forced to adjust to life in contemporary India. Arati’s transformation from meek housewife to elf-confident modern woman is elegantly played out by Madhabi Murherjee. A wonderful actress, she communicates much through her eyes, facial expressions and body language. Ray himself doesn’t come down hard on either side of the modernization debate. Instead, The Big City shows modern Indian family life in the most intimate and realistic way possible.
The Big City‘s cinematography is gorgeous, and criterion’s remastered 1080p presentation really brings that to the fore. Presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the grayscale is strong throughout, with strong whites and deep blacks. There are some a few scenes where the grayscale appears slightly uneven, but even still, this is a wonderful transfer. The white subtitles are easy to read.
The restored monoaural soundtrack features the combination Bengali language with English words and phrases constantly floating in and out of conversations. It’s all clearly recorded and pleasantly rendered. Considering that older Indian films didn’t use the best recording methods, this is a nice listen.
English subtitles are included.
The following special features are available:
- Interview with Actor Madhabi Mukherjee (HD, 16:33) Recorded in 2013, the actress shares her wonderful memories of working with Ray, and how the film accurately reflected Indian life at the time.
- Satyajit Ray and the Modern Woman (HD, 22:25) This video essay by film historian Suranjan Gangily focuses on Big City, Charulata and The Coward, three Ray films that featured women in positions of economic and/or social power.
- Sayajit Ray (HD, 13:35) A vintage documentary short directed by B. D. Garga, featuring footage of Ray directing The Big City. The disc menu says it dates from 1974, although it looks at least a decade older.
- The Coward (HD, 1:08:48) A 1965 short feature directed by Ray. It involves a screenwriter (Soumitra Chatterjee) who is accidentally reunited with his long-lost love (Madhabi Mukherjee) now married to a tea plantation owner (Haradhan Banerjee).
- Booklet: A 34-page booklet containing production photos, an essay on the film by historian Chandak Segoopta, and a mid-’80s interview in which Ray discusses both The Big City and The Coward.
