Text credits: Lakshmi Priya

”Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon” – Akira Kurosawa, the cinema luminary quoted this about Satyajit Ray. Many years have passed and still, Ray’s movies are watched and rewatched by the film enthusiasts around the world. Ray’s movies reflected the life of normal people. His movies spoke about their dreams, aspirations, miseries. They are simple but has powerful messages. And above all, he successfully portrayed the real life of women on the big screen.

Ray’s women always appeared in their traditional attires yet having a modern outlook. They were bold and independent. Let’s take a look at some of Satyajit’s movies with strong women characters in them.

Charulata ( 1964)

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Shot in the background of the 19th century, the movie Charulata portrays the boredom and loneliness faced by a married woman named Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee). Charu who is living a luxurious life with her husband in Calcutta confronts ignorance from her workaholic yet loving husband. Charu gets attracted to her husband’s cousin who provides her intellectual companionship. Ray portrayed the emotional variations of Charu, who is circled with the dissatisfaction of the marriage and confusions in an extra-marital affair  The movie was way ahead of its time, bravely opened up about the sexuality and ambitions of women, which was novel during that period of time. The movie is an adaptation of the novel  Nastanirh written by the Rabindranath Tagore.

The Apu Trilogy

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Capturing the love, innocence, poverty and sufferings of rural India in the reel, Apu Trilogy had garnered worldwide attention for its realistic bestowal. Pather Panchali (1955), the directorial debut of Ray is the first in the list followed by Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959).The movie revolves around the life of Apu. Throughout the trilogy, Apu is influenced by the women in his life.  Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee)- his mother, Durga (Uma Dasgupta)- his sister and Aparna ( Sharmila Tagore) – his wife combines into portraying different versions of women. Durga appears to be a girl who is loving, caring and close to nature. Sarbajaya, as a dignified and bold woman who took care of the family in her husband’s absence. Aparna is represented as a loving wife who is always concerned about the well-being of her husband. The movie is the adaptation of the Bengal novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay.

Devi (1960)

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The movie Devi is a depiction of India’s age-old superstitious beliefs. Set in the 19th-century rural-Bengal, the movie is about Dayamoyee (Sharmila Tagore), a 17-year-old girl who gets labelled as a goddess by her father-in-law. Unable to remedy the situation, Dayamoyee believes herself to be the avatar of Kali.  The movie portrays the blind faith of people and how women are victimised because of this. The movie is based on s short story written by Provatkumar Mukhopadhyay. 

Mahanagar (1963)

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Set in the backdrop of Kolkatta, Mahanagar portrays the life of  ‘Arati’ (Madhabi Mukherjee) a married woman who set-out to work to battle the financial pressure of her family. She turns out to be the sole breadwinner of the family after her husband lost his job. Her initially supportive husband and in-laws were not happy with this but later-on accepts it. She shines on the job and turns out to be a responsible, efficient and bold woman. The movie conveys that a woman should not be restricted from working as she can be a boon to the family. Mahanagar represents how the status of women was transforming in India during the 19th century.

Ghare- Baire (1984)

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On the background of Swadeshi movement, the movie Ghare- Baire is the life of Bimala  (Swatilekha Sengupta), the wife of a Zamindar. Bimala loves and worships her husband as per the norms but when encouraged to discover the world outside she finds a different path. She falls in love with a swadeshi leader and tries expressing her love. Later on, Bimala realises the love of her husband and tries to mend back the relationship. Bimala portrays a woman who falls in love after her marriage which was an unusual theme in movies during the period. Satyajit Ray had wonderfully conveyed that women’s life is not only inside the house but outside as well.

Aranyer Din Ratri

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Aranyer Din Ratri is a movie that revolves around four friends who set out to a forest to find a break from their busy city life. In the forest, they meet two urban women- Aparna and her sister. Ray portrays Aparna as a more composed, intelligent and simple women. The movie also normalised women drinking and not afraid of experimenting their sexuality.

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