Jana Aranya / The Middleman (1976) :
Brief Review -
Satyajit Ray ends 'Calcutta Trilogy' with a Cult Classic by exploring the horrible world of Brokers and PRO. Jana Aranya is the last chapter in Satyajit Ray's famous Calcutta Trilogy and without any doubts it is the Best Film in the trilogy. He saved the best for the last. It's a mind-shattering journey of a gentleman becoming a pimp and losing all the respect even in his own eyes. A bright and idealistic young man steels himself for the dog-eat-dog business world, only to flounder in a job market packed with thousands of other hopefuls. Once a gentleman, who hoped for an honest life loses self respect while making money and this boiling point surely burns your heart. Basically, the film portrays the economic difficulties faced by middle-class, educated, urban youth in 1970s India. Here we only see one of those thousands young fellas who battled tough times despite having capabilities and talent. The other factor is, the film shows a horrible reality of broker's business and PRO (Public Relations) which are still the most easiest trades to make money in India. But how many of us knows that how they actually deal with this, do they enjoy doing this job or were they forced into it? That's where the burning factor comes which left me stunned in the climax when he says, "I got it. The contract. I got it". And the burning silence is followed. Performances wise, Pradip Mukherjee is everything here. He gets a challenging character to play and he plays it like a master. The second best performance comes from Santosh Dutta, who plays a PRO, despite having less screentime. Dialogues, screenplay, cinematography and direction everything is top class. Nothing goes wrong about this film and therefore Jana Aranya is strongly recommended. Easily, in the Top 5 Films of Satyajit Ray. In short, A Cult Classic!
RATING - 8.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
