Pratidwandi
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Pratidwandi |
| Original title |
প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী (Pratidwandi) |
| Country of production | India |
| original language | Bengali |
| Publishing year | 1970 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Satyajit Ray |
| script | Satyajit Ray |
| production | Nepal Dutta , Asim Dutta |
| music | Satyajit Ray |
| camera | Soumendu Roy , Purnendu Bose |
| cut | Dulal Dutta |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
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Successor → |
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Pratidwandi ( Bengali প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী IAST pratidbandbī ; translated: The competitor / The rival ) is an Indian feature film by Satyajit Ray from 1970. It was based on the novel Pratidwandi by Sunil Gangopadhyay .
action
Because of the unexpected and violent death of his father, Siddhartha is forced to break off his medical studies and look for a job instead. In an interview he is asked what has been the most important world event of the last ten years. His answer "the human courage of the Vietnamese people" instead of the expected "landing of a person on the moon" does not bring him the desired job, but the question of whether he is a communist.
In a café he is offered work for the Communist Party, which he refuses. During a visit to the cinema, a bomb explodes, in the ensuing panic, Siddharta's wristwatch breaks and he cannot afford a repair.
His sister Sutopa does a pretty good job in a company. However, the wife of the company boss complains to the family of Siddharta and Sutopa that the latter has a relationship with her husband. Siddharta says with growing anger that his glamorous sister is being exploited for the job. He dreams of killing her boss.
He wanders aimlessly through Kolkata , looking back on memories and reflecting on his relationships with his siblings (his brother is Naxalit ) and his girlfriend Keya, who lives in a wealthy but crumbling family, in which her father marries the sister of the late mother.
For another interview, Siddharta and many other candidates wait in a crowded waiting room with too few chairs. A competitor collapses. Finally, he is overcome with anger at the employer's indifference, and storms into the office and rioted. He later took a modest sales job in a small town. It remains unclear whether he can keep his relationship with Keya.
background
Pratidwandi is the first film in Satyajit Ray's Kolkata trilogy , which also includes Seemabaddha (1971) and Jana Aranya (1975). All three films deal with the subject of well-educated youth and the situation they face after their education in the metropolis of Kolkata .
The 1970s were a difficult time for India and West Bengal in particular ; corruption was rampant and the Naxalite movement brought the city to the brink of chaos. When the Naxalite movement lost its strength around 1975, Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency on the country for the sake of her own political survival and thus again suppressed the basic rights of the citizens. Opposition leaders were imprisoned, and Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay (then designated successor to his mother, but without a political mandate) acted dictatorially.
Ray considered this 1970 film to be his most provocative to date.
Reviews
"Demanding and interesting study of the political and social problems in modern India."
Awards
-
National Film Awards 1971
- Best director
- Best script
- Second best film
- Best film in Bengali
Web links
- Pratidwandi in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Photos, plot, etc.
- Pratidwandi (The Adversary) ( Memento from August 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pratidwandi. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 29, 2017 .