The Music Room (1958)

Depicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity.

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Tarashankar Banerjee (based on the story by) (as Tarashankar Bandhopadhaya), Satyajit Ray (script)

Stars:

Chhabi Biswas, Sardar Akhtar, Gangapada Basu

Top Rated Indian Movies #25 | 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Huzur Biswamghar Roy is a rich landowner who lives in a palace with his wife and son and his many servants. His passion - his wife would call it his addiction - is music and he spends a great deal of his fortune on concerts held for the locals in his magnificent music room. His wealth is in decline however. His lands are being eroded by the local river and he pays for the concert he arranges for his son's coming of age party by selling some of the family jewels. When his neighbor Ganguli invites him to a party at his house, Roy decides to one up him and organizes a lavish party for the same day - costing him the last of the jewels. After his wife and son are killed in a storm, Roy becomes something of a recluse, closing up the music room. Now, many years later he decides to have one final concert, spending the last of his money to again outdo - and spite - Ganguli.

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Plot Keywords:

landlord | storm | one word title | spider | flashback | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

YOUTUBE [India]

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali English

Release Date:

10 October 1958 (India)

Also Known As:

The Music Room

Box Office

Gross USA:

$94,886

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arora, Angel Digital Private Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Quotes

Huzur Biswambhar Roy: [laughing drunkenly, deriding the moneylender's son, Ganguly] He failed. He failed!
Huzur Biswambhar Roy: [now talking to his servant Ananta, who is refilling his glass with liquor] He couldn't do it. He couldn't do it! That moneylender's son! He wanted to be king of the mountain. What arrogance, huh? What arrogance! A dwarf reaching for the moon! He couldn't do it. You know why he failed?
Huzur Biswambhar Roy: [speaking directly to Ananta] Blood! The blood in my veins! You know whose blood flows in my veins? You want to see? Come...
Huzur Biswambhar Roy: [...]

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Connections

Features Conversation with James Ivory (2010)

User Reviews

The Greatest Film You Never Heard Of

At the time I post this, only 123 people have cast a vote of any kind for The Music Room. What a shame.

Satyajit Ray is one of the greatest directors of all-time and The Music Room is his masterpiece. Correction: The Music Room is a masterpiece of world cinema.

How to describe this movie? In Hollywood lingo, you could call it Citizen Kane meets Black Narcissus with a big dose of King Lear. Of course, if you called it that, they'd shelve the project and spend the money on the sequel to XXX.

Pity poor Biswambhar Roy, a king in a lonely castle. He's lost not only his family but his entire way of life. He is a mistake. A forgotten man waiting in his empty shell of a world.

He spends the last remnants of his once vast fortune on a final, lavish musical performance in his crumbling home, a last-ditch attempt to connect to the pride and joy he once felt in his life.

Not that he is innocent. He is proud and oblivious, spoiled and selfish. But surely not a bad man. Merely a displaced man. So we can cheer as he is granted one last moment of happiness and weep for him as he meets his inevitable end.

How is that Satyajit Ray remains unknown even to many die-hard cineastes in the States? I hope one of the companies will come along soon and release some of his work on DVD.