Nayak: The Hero (1966)

En route to Delhi to receive an award, a Bengali film star reevaluates his success through his fellow passengers, dreams and past experiences.

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Satyajit Ray (story), Satyajit Ray (screenplay)

Stars:

Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Bireswar Sen

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Uttam Kumar	...	Arindam Mukherjee
Sharmila Tagore	...	Aditi
Bireswar Sen	...	Mukunda Lahiri
Somen Bose	...	Sankar
Nirmal Ghosh	...	Jyoti
Premangshu Bose	...	Biresh
Sumita Sanyal	...	Promila Chatterjee
Ranjit Sen	...	Haren Bose
Bharati Devi	...	Manorama (Mr. Bose's wife)
Lali Chowdhury	...	Bulbul (Mr. Bose's daughter)
Kamu Mukherjee	...	Pritish Sarkar (as Kamu Mukhopadhyay)
Susmita Mukherjee	...	Molly (Mr. Sarkar's wife) (as Susmita Mukhopadhyay)
Subrata Sensharma	...	Ajoy (as Subrata Sen)
Jamuna Sinha	...	Sefalika (Ajoy's wife)
Hiralal	...	Kamal Misra

Storyline

A matinee idol Arindam Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar) is going by train to collect an acting award. On the train, he is confronted by a journalist Aditi (Sharmila Tagore) who somewhat unwillingly starts to take his interview. Arindam, won over by Aditi's naivete, starts to disclose his past, his fears and his secrets. On a parallel track, a number of sub-plots unfold (involving an advertising executive and his wife, a businessman and his family, a silent swami and a cranky old man) to reveal the hypocrisies and frailties of the society. The film reaches a climax when Arindam, overcome by his guilt, contemplates suicide and is dissuaded by Aditi. The next morning, Aditi who had surreptitiously taken notes of their conversation destroys them - not wanting to reveal Arindam's darkest secrets. When the train reaches its destination, Arindam alights and is surrounded by his fans and is back to his normal star self where there is no place for guilt, confessions and Aditi.

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Plot Keywords:

train | film star | interview | journalist | price of fame | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The train service shown in this movie still runs in the present days in between Howrah (Kolkata) and New Delhi. At that time the train was called as 'AC Deluxe Express' since the train was consisted of AC coaches only. But later Non-AC coaches were added and the train was renamed as 'Poorva Express'. Everyday it leaves Howrah at 8AM and Reaches New Delhi at 6AM next day. The return journey starts from New Delhi at 5:30PM and reaches Howrah at 5:15PM next day. Before the introduction of Rajdhani Express this train was one of the most prestigious trains in India. However, majority of the train interiors were replicated in the studio for this film, but they were created as the life replicas of the train itself in order to reflect the actual train interior.

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Quotes

Sankar: A film actor is nothing but a puppet, a puppet in the hands of the director, a puppet in the hands of the cameraman, in the hands of the sound-recorder. He is also a puppet in the hands of the editor who cuts and pastes the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Autograph (2010)

User Reviews

catch the two giants of 1960s Bengali cinema in one movie

Uttam Kumar is regarded the greatest star of Bengali Cinema (a MahaNayak). It is quite apparent that Ray's favourite actor was Soumitra Chatterjee. Nayak and Chiriakhana are the only two films Ray made with Uttam. It is an ironic film made at a time Uttam was at his peak of his star status like his character Arindam and this movie almost feels like a Ray's satirical tribute to Uttam - smooth professional that he was Uttam unperturbed gives a superb performance. Nayak is my personal favourite of Ray films and certainly the best of Uttam's films. Sadly, I have never been able to see Chiriakhana. has anyone seen this film? It is the only whodunit Ray filmed without Soumitra in the lead role. Wonder why Satyajit didn't continue with Uttam after this performance...

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Release Date:

6 May 1966 (India)

Also Known As:

Nayak: The Hero

Company Credits

Production Co:

R.D.Banshal & Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1