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When his best friend Pulu (Swapan Mukherjee) asks him to his sister's wedding, Apu has no idea that he'll be the one going home with the bride. Poor Aparna (Sharmila Tagore) is betrothed to an insane man and when his illness becomes apparent, the wedding is cancelled. But Aparna will be cursed unless another bridegroom is found. Apu, in a weak moment, agrees to marry Aparna in return for a job.

Then the unexpected happens. Aparna and Apu fall deeply in love. But will it last? Knowing Apu's luck in the past, the obvious answer is "no," and when Aparna dies in childbirth, Apu is left hating his son, Kajal. Finally, driven by guilt, Apu approaches his son, five years after the death of his beloved wife. Will they be able to salvage some happiness in an already too bleak life? You won't be disappointed in the ou...

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When his son Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee, The World of Apu) returns from university in Calcutta, he is appalled to find that his wife has been made a virtual prisoner of his father's obsession. Doyamoyee is decorated as a living goddess and forced to sit all day in the temple where people come to offer her prayers.

When an impoverished man brings his only son to this reluctant goddess and he is cured, everyone believes that she has performed a miracle. Then her beloved nephew Khoka gets sick. Will another miracle happen? Or is simply believing not enough?

Dark and brooding, this is another powerful human portrait by the Svengali of Bengali filmmaking. Ray exposes the underbelly of twisted human desire and the overwhelming compulsion to rob others of the right to control their own destiny.

Based on the story Devi by Prabhart Kumar Mukherjee, the film is 93 minutes long and is shot in black and white. The music is by Ali Akbar Khan. --Lu...

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Bhupati is not a bad man, just a distracted one, and in an effort to appease his guilt, he asks his young and very handsome cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee) to encourage Charulata in her writing. After all, she is an intelligent woman and such an undertaking will keep her occupied. But he tells Amal not to let Charulata know of his mission.

Over the course of time the inevitable happens and the two fall in love, never revealing their feelings to each other. Bhupati finds out accidentally how his wife feels and is crushed. This isn't his only problem. Another relative, the bookkeeper at Bhupati's paper, embezzles money and compromises The Sentinel's chances for success.

Ray manages to create a highly charged atmosphere of restrained yet innocent lust. Inspired by New Wave f...

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His wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Bannerjee) must suffer her husband's long absences as he searches for work and the hostile pity of extended family members who are better off financially and socially. Her daughter, Durga (Uma Das Gupta), has the bad habit of stealing mangoes from the neighboring orchard, which adds to her mother's shame. When a son, Apu (Subir Bannerjee), is born, things seem to be looking up for the family. But it is only a short-lived illusion.

First films don't come any better than Pather Panchali. Made in 1955 by Satyajit Ray, this truly remarkable feat of storytelling is a must-see kind of movie. Ray reveals a gift for presenting stories that unfold gently, one engaging scene at time. This film delivers an amazing emotional punch that will linger in your consciousness for some time, no...

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"The Postman" is a charming and poignant look at the life of a poet turned bureaucrat. Nandalal (Anil Chatterjee) leaves his family in Calcutta to work as a postmaster in the smallest of Bengali villages. There he teaches his young servant girl, Ratan (Chandana Banerjee), to read, write, and keep herself clean. When he gets malaria, Ratan nurses him back to health. Nandalal eventually decides that the country life is not for him and leaves his post. Ratan's reaction to his departure is one of the most startlingly honest moments in filmmaking.

"The Conclusion" is an equally charming but more complex story. Amulya (Soumitra Chatterjee, star of another Ray masterpiece, Charulata) returns to his village after finishing college in Calcutta. His calculating mother wants to arrange his marriage, but Amulya thinks the girl she has chosen for him is totally unsuitable. He prefers the wild, uninhibited Mrinmoyee (Aparna Das Gupta), whose family has been devastated by a recent flood. Amulya and Mrinmoyee do marry, bu...

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The better she does at her job, the happier and more confident she becomes. But this change makes her husband extremely unhappy. He finally insists that she resign her position. He'll find a part-time job instead. But just before she can do this, there is a run on Subrata's bank and it must close. Jobless, he has to live with the shame of having his wife support him. Like Charulata, this film eventually resolves itself on a more hopeful note than much of director Satyajit Ray's work.

Although made in 1963, this film has a surprisingly modern feel to it. The problems faced by the Mazumdar family in Calcutta do not seem too different from those faced by families in Cincinnati or Cairo today. Ray does a masterful job of visual storytelling, and th...

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Huzur is reminded of this opulent past by a tendril of music emanating from the house of his annoying nouveau riche neighbor, Mahim Ganguly (Gangapanda Basu) who likes to throw his good fortune in Huzar's face. Ganguly hosts the kind of lavish parties Huzar used to host, while Huzar's music room sits as empty and cold as his wounded heart.

Finally, unable to stop Ganguly's taunting, Huzar uses his last 500 rupees to reopen the jalsaghar for one more glorious performance. The loyal manager of his estate, Taraprasanna (Tulsi Lahiri) tries to stop him, but it's hopeless.

This film, ...

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Apu, by now an adolescent (played by Smaran Ghosal), is extremely bright and hungry for knowledge. Good fortune befalls him, and he is able to attend school, eventually going to Calcutta to attend the university. Sarbajaya is reluctant to let her son go, but she is unable to stop him. She waits patiently for his return, but at the same time is growing weak from illness. When Apu learns of his mother's illness, he must decide if he's going to sacrifice his final exams and return to her side or take the exams and risk the chance she might die before he gets there.

As compelling as its predecessor, Pather Panchali, this film was made only one year later, in 1956. Karuna Bannerjee is riveting i...

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