Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

biswanathdas86 Aranyer Din Ratri; this remind me the first tour I have with my friends. And believe me when I'm saying; it was hilarious! That's the spirit and effect beholds one after watching this movie. The film was made in an era where the 3-4 friends geared up for a bumpy fun-ride weren't invented. Thought it blended the freshness of youth and the complex relative relations between them and their surroundings. Here Ray masterfully achieved the characterizations, as there are several to notice (or even follow). Ashim, the main male of this story rapidly changes his reactions as the story rolls. On the other hand Shekhar (played by Rabi Ghosh) is the only caste for the uniqueness and some comic relief; His character represents the rapidly decreasing moral thoughts as the environment changed. The treatment for this kind of story needs a constant vigilance, and Ray did it. Finally the spot they hung up to - Palamou, was a treat for the eyes, as well as the key element. Originality of these characters only burst out into the wild. Here I want to quote Ashim: 'Rag koris na; Kolkata r baire ele lokeder boyas ta kome jay' (Don't mind; people feel younger when they goes out from Kolkata)... It's really a top notch, yet under praised!!! 9 out of 10.

Chrysanthepop -'Aranyer Din Ratri' opens with four Calcuttan friends on a hedonistic road trip to a forest. Each friend has a distinctive personalitry trait: Ashim (Soumitra Chatterjee) is successful, slightly dominating and slightly narcissistic, Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) is shy, conventional and neutral, Shekhar (Robi Ghosh) is the funny one, and Hari (Samit Bhanja) is rash and impulsive. While they almost forcefully settle down in the guest house much against the caretaker's request (as it will cost him his job) and observe the surrounding locales, they come across three different women: Aparna (Sharmila Tagore) an enigmatic confident and smart young lady, her widowed sister-in-law (Kaberi Bose) who is welcoming and cheerful and a tribal girl named Duli (Simi Garewal) who is ready to offer services in exchange of money. It is this encounter in the forest that leads to a development that will change the lives of Ashim, Sanjoy and Hari while Shekhar remains his own funny self. Ray proves again that less can be more if done properly. The lyrical story is told with sheer subtlety and profound depth. The sexual chemistry, the underlying themes such as class differentiation, poverty, loneliness and love are displayed with a skillful quietness. His fluid direction and the actors performances draws the viewer into this little forest of quiet enigma. It is no surprise that Ray has worked with the best actors and 'Aranyer Din Ratri' is no different in that respect. The two Chatterjees, Ghosh and Bhanja are superb. It really felt as though we were watching four close friends. Garewal provides some comic relief. She may be an unusual choice for Duli but she pulls it off quite well. Sharmila Tagore excellently downplays the part of Aparna. Ray's films have a timeless quality as they never feel outdated. Needless to say, the terrific 'Aranyer Din Ratri' is one such movie.

Aparna Gangopadhyay Aranya Din-Ratri (the days & nights spent in remote forest area) Story of 4 bengali males shown beautifully by Director Mr. Satyajit Ray ! 4 friends take a break – 3 of them are average looking & tall and one is short and below average to look at. They do not make proper arrangements – just barge into a Goernment Guest House and bribe the caretaker to let them in by giving him some money. The poor care taker has an ailing wife so since he could not go out to buy stuff for them, the porter boy agrees to buy & carry food stuff for them.A typical life style of average common men (looser men rather) is shown here – how they just crib about having to butter the boss and please him by attending late night parties, boozing and spending time with cheap rich girls with artificial expressions and revealing outfits.One the friends was ditched lately by an educated girl (played by Aparna Sen) – who was fashion conscious (wore wigs to look more seducing) as well as very intelligent & observant who had the sense to smell tricky / foolish people from a distance. She had written a 5 paged letter to her boyfriend who in return could barely write half a page – showing that he was not very sound as far as 'literacy in romanticism' was concerned. This the girl understood and washed her hands off the idiot ! (very well done I would say) – the fact that her decision was absolutely right is seen later as the movie proceeds … when the same fellow indulges in intercourse with a 'dirty, smelly, ugly looking maid servant category, drunkard woman he meets in the forest remote area !!He does IT with her on open ground in the forest on the thorny weeds !! – so utterly frustrated and sex starved - just anyone would do for such men – therefore his girlfriend definitely made the right decision to ditch him.A looser man in all respect.Second fellow was a bit intellectual and adventurous , well read – in the game of "remembering names' he said Shakespeare and Sharmila Tagore – a lady he meets there, says Cleopatra – in fact each one took the name of the historical/ literary figure he / she either hero worships/identifies – or admires in one way or the other. He meets this quiet & attractive lady and gets drawn towards her – she had a traumatic childhood – the reason of her quietitude – Mother had died of fire in front of her and elder brother had committed suicide !Another looser who knows it all but cannot do anything about it.Third fellow was decent – playing it safe kinds – the widowed sister-in-law of sharmila tries to seduce him (missing her husband I guess) – had said Rabindranath Tagore in the game of 'Remembering names' by the way. A decent man who could change if he wanted to – looser or winner depended on him.Fourth fellow – happy go lucky – the fact that he was ugly & short was taken very lightly by him – had no attitude problems – couldn't have any in fact – compensating on his below average looks – so he turned comical and made things appear funny. A very common Bengali man category since the average height of Bengali men is around 5'5" and also Bengali men are dark and not very good looking – so they make fun of everything and anything and spend time making merry – with or without any reason.

Ravenus ARANYER DIN RATRI – Satyajit Ray**MAY contain spoilers** (but it's not a mystery film so...)ADR is a beautiful chamber piece from a director who does this sort of thing very well.The opening sequence shows a motley quartet going on a holiday road trip to a forested area. They are friends, but each coming from a separate milieu and with a different temperament: Ashim (Soumitra Chatterjee, the lead in many of Ray's films), a suave and successful executive, is the unofficial leader. The neat and shy Sunjoy is a conventional pen-pusher tied to the mores of middle-class existence. Hari, a cricketer is short tempered and impulsive, while an unemployed Shekhar is the joker of the group. They halt en route at a vacant government guest house, where they intend to spend a few days. The film chronicles this interval, giving us an insight into the character of these men and the interaction they have with other people, often provoking them into reflection or change.We get an insight into their personalities in the initial period of their holiday, their sense of needing to break convention to feel some freedom from their daily routine – they bribe the caretaker to assign the guest room to them, refrain from shaving, launch drunken diatribes at the local arrack shop…the hedonistic lifestyle in short. These scenes are presented with a wholly observant attitude, never persuading the audience to either like or dislike the characters.Things take a big turn when they run into a couple of charming ladies living at a nearby bungalow. Invited by the surprisingly trustful and hospitable patriarch of the house, they meet the lovely enigmatic Aparna (Sharmila Tagore) and her cheerful but widowed sister-in-law Jaya. This part of the film is a beautiful study of the mental processes of male-female relationships in modern society: The rituals of socially acceptable cordial behavior mixed with the low-key sensuality and courtship that occurs at the outset of growing acquaintance with the opposite sex. Both Aparna and Jaya are warm-natured, confident and sophisticated women, and one well identifies with the sense of yearning mixed with hesitation that develops within the men when they interact with them. In the while Hari gets passionately involved with a young tribal woman, Duli (Simi Garewal, of all people).The last phase of the film is when their interactions have proceeded just beyond the preliminary stage. Ashim learns enough about Aparna for him to regard her as more than one of the city women he meets at so many parties, and observes aspects of her nature that lead him to feel guilt for his superficial self-oriented thinking. Sunjoy who grows increasingly comfortable in the company of Jaya gets a jarring moment; and Hari's heated pursuit of Duli ends in a rude blow. But this is not to say that the film ends on a dark note…not at all. Life for our characters goes on…and who knows what the future will bring? ADR's main strength is the completely natural way it presents its characters and situations. We've seen courtship rituals and the associated comedy thousands of times on film…a shipload of Bollywood films in the gaudily colored 60's and the 90's onward was devoted to increasingly bizarre and tasteless depictions of social romantic behavior. But you need to see a film like this to appreciate really how intricate and touchingly fragile the whole ritual can be, and how the anticipation of the man-woman relationship relates to and affects the existing behavior and thought process of the persons involved. It takes the deftness of touch of a Ray to show it to us in this light.Which brings me to the rare sour note in my experience of ADR: The 'transformation scene' of Jaya, the details of which I will not spill for the benefit of those that have not yet seen the film. I understand that Ray wanted to force some kind of a confrontation of the issue of Jaya being a widow and the social constraints upon her, but the way he has done it appears to me as very contrived and gauche, and a huge letdown given the immense easy-going charm of Kaberi Bose's performance up to that point.On a slighter note, Simi Garewal's hilariously accented Bengali makes her tribal character a hard act to digest.But on the whole ADR is a terrific movie of its type, leisurely but always focused, personal but never self-indulgent.