The adversary within

Have been bitten by the nostalgia bug lately which drove me to comb the labyrinthine passages of Youtube; the results were absolutely worth the MBs invested.

Rays Calcutta trilogy: Jana Aranya (The Middleman), Seemabaddha (Company Limited) and the first of the series Pratidwandi (The Adversary) were the results when the Master decided to train his ingenious gaze on the Mahanagari Calcutta. I had seen the first two mentioned here (which are actually the last two of the series as I mention them in a reverse chronological order) earlier, however I was completely unprepared for The Adversary; the opening scenes had me swept up in a vortex of memories of my own hometown Kolkata, with her vintage public buses and myriad businesses, her denizens a study in contrast. I could almost feel the hot summer afternoon sun drilling through the shirt on my back as Dhritiman Chatterjee becomes my eyes and ears on the urban battlegrounds that was 70’s Calcutta. The initial scenes see the protagonist Siddhartha (Dhritiman) latched precariously from public buses, shunted from one failed job interview to the other, resignation and annoyance jostling for space in his expression. The exchange with one particular interviewer, where Siddhartha cites the Vietnam War as the most significant event of recent times, eclipsing mankind’s conquest of the moon, is telling, underscoring the strong political undertones of the film. The dilemma of the intelligent and educated youth is well conveyed: sell out, bag the job and look away when faced with a mirror or wear your ideology on your sleeve and survive on ideals and little else.

Siddhartha’s character is well contrasted by his younger sister, an attractive office worker whose contempt for traditional values is brilliantly depicted in her nonchalance. Her disdain at the family’s outrage upon her being accused of having a dalliance with her boss is used as a metaphor for a girl losing her innocence and coming of age. These are juxtaposed with flashbacks of brother and sister communing with nature as children, epitomized by the lilting call of a songbird which constantly teases the adult Siddhartha’s memory, unable as he is to recall which bird it was. The mores of a changing social order clash, with Siddhartha’s widowed mother and his uncle despairing at what they perceive as their offspring’s blithe and reckless behavior but powerless in the face of a youth unfettered by feudal mores. Siddhartha’s younger brother Tunu is the face of a brave new world, whose conviction and spirit seem to unnerve him. Siddhartha’s ego is left scampering for cover at Tunu’s brutal ripostes at his concern over the latter’s radical leanings and the possible repercussions, in an era when the regime was brutally putting down subversive elements. Tunu has grown into a self possession which Siddhartha secretly desire, but cannot, as his close friend sums up aptly: when the time to act comes, all his talk of a bloody revolution will evaporate as empty bravado.

This film is nothing if not about the Kolkata. Her spirit pervades all the characters and their unease reflects the social churn the city was witness to in the 70’s. The incendiary smell in the air stands in contrast to the stream of hippies into the city with their other worldy air. She manages to embrace all, be it the ambitious, the licentious or the hopeless starry eyed revolutionary. The manner in which Siddhartha disrupts an interview in progress, unable to live with his passive existence any longer, is symbolic of the city’s ability to inspire defiance from even those who seemingly have reconciled to fate. There is a hint of melancholy as he leaves Calcutta in the end, accepting in no small measure the death of his idealism as much as the reality of having to eke out a living.

Perhaps one of his best works, for once Ray eschews his lyricism to delve deeper into the existential questions. He doesn’t provide easy answers here; a number of metaphors remain ambiguous. Dhritiman is brilliant in his portrayal of Siddhartha, conveying the conflict of ideals with elan. A possible sequel to this could have been one with the protagonist in his middle years, perhaps even more battle hardened and cynical. Wonder what treatment the master would have imparted!