Days and Nights in the Forest (1970)

A group of Calcutta city slickers, including the well-off Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), the meek Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) and the brutish Hari (Samit Bhanja), head out for a weekend in the wilderness.

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Sunil Gangopadhyay (original story), Satyajit Ray (screenplay)

Stars:

Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal

Top Rated Indian Movies #20 | 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sharmila Tagore	...	Aparna
Kaberi Bose	...	Jaya (as Kaberi Basu)
Simi Garewal	...	Duli (as Simi)
Soumitra Chatterjee	...	Ashim (as Soumitra Chattopadhyay)
Subhendu Chatterjee	...	Sanjoy (as Subhendu Chattopadhyay)
Rabi Ghosh	...	Shekhar (as Robi Ghosh)
Samit Bhanja	...	Hari (as Shamit Bhanja)
Pahadi Sanyal	...	Sadashiv Tripathi
Premashish Sen	...	(as Premashis Sen)
Samar Nag
Khairatilal Lahori
Dibyendu Chatterjee	...	(as Shriman Dibyendu Chatterjee)
Aparna Sen	...	Hari's former lover

Storyline

A group of four middle class workers in India take the week off to have a holiday. When they get to the forest, they meet up with another group and spend their time flirting with women. Well it's more than that.

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Plot Keywords:

youtube | forest | drinking | tribal girl | sex | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali English

Release Date:

16 January 1970 (India)

Also Known As:

Days and Nights in the Forest

Company Credits

Production Co:

Priya Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Quotes

Sanjoy: You are now on an ascending curve. The more you live, the higher you'll go.
Ashim: The higher I'll climb, the lower I'll fall.

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Connections

References Conversation with James Ivory (2010)

User Reviews

Epiphany In The Forest

-'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.