The Music Room (1958) Jalsaghar (original title)

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Tarashankar Banerjee (based on the story by)
Satyajit Ray (script)
(more)

Release Date:

1958 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

Biswambhar Roy is a zamindar (landlord) and the last of his kind. With the title, he has none of the perquisites...

Plot Keywords:

Landlord | Chandelier | Master Servant Relationship | Class Conflict | Falling Off Horse

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Chhabi Biswas	...	Huzur Biswambhar Roy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sardar Akhtar	...	Singer (as Begum Akhtar)
Gangapada Basu	...	Mahim Ganguly
Bismillah Khan	...	Musician
Salamat Ali Khan	...	Khyal singer
Waheed Khan	...	Ustad Ujir Khan (as Ostad Wahed Khan)
Roshan Kumari	...	Krishna Bai, dancer
Tulsi Lahiri	...	Manager of Roy's Estate
Tarapada Nandy
Padmadevi	...	Mahamaya, Roy's wife (as Padma Devi)
Kali Sarkar	...	Roy's Servant
Pinaki Sengupta	...	Khoka, Roy's Son
Pratap Mukherjee	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Satyajit Ray

Writing credits
Tarashankar Banerjee		(based on the story by) (as Tarashankar Bandhopadhaya)
Satyajit Ray		(script)
Santi P. Choudhury		(assistant screenplay writer) (as Shantiprasad Chowdhury)

Produced by
Satyajit Ray	....	production

Original Music by
Ustad Vilayat Khan
Robin Majumdar		(as Robin Majumder)

Cinematography by
Subrata Mitra		(photography)

Film Editing by
Dulal Dutta

Production Design by
Bansi Chandragupta

Art Direction by
Bansi Chandragupta

Makeup Department
Basanta Dutta	....	assistant makeup artist
Bhim Naskar	....	assistant makeup artist
Sakti Sen	....	makeup artist (as Shakti Sen)

Production Management
Anil Choudhury	....	production manager
Bhanu Ghosh	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nityananda Datta	....	assistant director
Shailen Dutta	....	assistant director
Tapeshwar Prasad	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ravi Chatterjee	....	assistant art director (as Rabi Chattopadhyay)
Prafulla Mallick	....	assistant art director
Ramchandra Sindhe	....	backdrops (as R. R. Sinde)

Sound Department
Amar Chattopadhyay	....	assistant sound recordist
Satyen Ghosh	....	assistant sound recordist
Durgadas Mitra	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Dhiren Das	....	lighting
Debu Mondal	....	lighting
Bijoy Roy	....	assistant camera
Nimai Roy	....	assistant camera
Mohan Sarkar	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Tapeshwar Prasad	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Sardar Akhtar	....	playback singer (as Begum Akhtar)
Shoukat Ali	....	musician
Gautam Basu	....	playback singer
Phani Bhattacharya	....	musician
Aloknath Dey	....	musician (as Alok Dey)
Anil Dutta	....	musician
Gopi Dutta	....	musician
Benjamin Gomes	....	musician
Imrat Hossain Khan	....	assistant composer
Laddan Khan	....	musician
Salamat Ali Khan	....	playback singer
Ustad Vilayat Khan	....	musical director (as Ustaad Vilayat Khan)
Waheed Khan	....	playback singer (as Ostad Wahed Khan)
Ashish Kumar	....	musician
Robin Majumdar	....	musician
Mahapurush Mishra	....	musician
Pratap Narayan Mitra	....	musician (as Pratapnarayan Mitra)
Rabin Pal	....	musician
Dilip Roy	....	musician
Madan Seth	....	musician
Krishnakumar Shukla	....	playback singer
Dakshina Mohan Tagore	....	musician

Other crew
Roshan Kumari	....	dancer
R.B. Mehta	....	processing supervisor

Thanks
Janendra Narayan Chowdhury	....	acknowledgment (as Raibahadur Gyanendranarayan Chowdhury)
Prasanta Deb	....	acknowledgment
Subir Hajra	....	acknowledgment
Syed Qasim Ali Mirza	....	acknowledgment
Dhirendra Narayan Roy	....	acknowledgment (as Rajarao Dhirendra Narayan Roy)
Surendra Narayan Singha	....	acknowledgment (as Raibahadur Surendra Narayan Singha)
Prabirendra Mohan Tagore	....	acknowledgment (as Maharaja Prabirendra Mohan Thakur)

Production Companies

• Arora (presents)

Distributors

• Contemporary Films (1962) (UK) (theatrical)
• Merchant Ivory Productions (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (restored version)
• NEF Diffusion (1981) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray Disc)
• Edward Harrison (1963) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Cameo Restoration Studio  digital sound restoration at: (2011)
• Pixion  digital picture restoration at: (2011)

Also Known As:

"Jalsaghar" - India (original title)

Runtime:

100 min | USA:95 min

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Australia:G | USA:Not Rated | UK:U

Company:

Arora

Trivia:

Voted #20 on the list of "100 Best Films" by the prominent French magazine 'Cahiers du Cinema' in 2008.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Jalsaghar Review

In the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray, Jalsaghar, we are treated to a magnificent spectacle of musical performances, Hindu dance, and a powerful film thrown some place in the mix. Jalsaghar tells the gloomy tale of a landlord living in Bengal whom has just lost his wife and beloved son in a horrid boating accident. The landlord, Roy (Chhabi Biswas), takes to a basic role of silence and mourning by spending his days sitting aside his hookah to pass the time. Biswas is exceptional in his performance of Roy by revealing a side to the character of near-perfect emptiness in a human being; he shows us what the empty body of a man can become.

The film is a decorative wonder to watch and hear to any degree. A graceful and vivid use of cinematography brings out the rich and sweeping palace in which Roy spends his time. Various close-ups of chandeliers and jewelry create a montage of empty wealth. Later on in the film when we are introduced to the many performances which will be carried out in the landlord's music room, the film comes full circle as an audio delight as well. Beautiful Hindu compositions are performed in full length throughout sweeping-music video like coverage scanning the pitch-perfect vocalists on to the unique Indian instruments tooting away. As the music grows to inspire Roy to overcome his grief, we grow along with Roy and feel the inspiration of the songs as well.

Despite its depressing subject matter, Jalsaghar is a great delight throughout its in entire runtime. Sympathizing with the victimized Roy as well as his loyal and motivational subjects, you will really overcome an exquisite experience as the characters try to pick Roy's spirits up through words, song, and dance. Overall this is a must-see film for anyone with a passion for film, music, or both although it is recommended you enter in good spirt.