About accepting empowerment!

Mahanagar (Big City, Bengali; 1963)

Director: Sathyajit Ray
As always, Ray's drama portrays subjects close to the the structure and evolution of society. This time around he talks about the empowerment of women and their ascent to shoulder the responsibility of the family hand in hand with the culturally appointed head of the family.

This story, which is as old as me, narrates the turn of events in the extended family of a bank clerk, Subrata (Anil Chatterjee) who works part time as tuition teacher to supplement his income to run his household. The people under his roof comprise his father, a sickly frustrated retired teacher, who holds strong to traditional beliefs; his mother, a devoted wife; his teenage sister (a teenage Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan debut); his wife Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee- also in Charulatha) and a young son, Pintoo.

Seeing her husband working day and night to support the family and the increasing cost of living, the wife (Arati) starts work as a sales girl after an initial lukewarm response but later encouragement from her husband. The father, a conservative, feels ambivalent about his current status. As a teacher, he educated many students to secure important jobs, he is now in his twilight years living on a measly pension and off his son's income. He is depressed for being dependent on his son to live. At the same he disapprove of his daughter-in-law working as it is humiliating as he is from the old school where it is degrading to send the fairer sex out of the house to earn.
The mother in law and Pintoo are also unhappy that Arati is working.
Father sees an ophthalmologist who happened to be his old student. He pours his sorrows (of his dire straits) to him who gets him a pair of spectacles for free. He also appears to spill his sob story to his other ex-students for sympathy.
Arati, a shy girl who is not so well versed in English starts her job of selling expensive home items from door to door in a rich neighbourhood. She befriends an Anglo Indian lady named Edith at work who presents her a lipstick as a gift. The lipstick acts as a tool of empowerment in the film. The fact that a lady can appear beautiful not just for her husband, stands out as a body of a lady's self empowerment. 

Arati is doing well in her work and is happy. Meanwhile, small inconveniences happen in the house, like Pintoo falling sick and yearning for his mother. Feeling insecure after seeing Arati so confident at work, Subrata insists for Arati to quit. Just about then, Subrata's bank winds down and he becomes jobless. The family is now at the liberty of Arata for financial support.

Edith falls ill and Arati covers her work appointments. Meanwhile, Subrata makes a casual visit to Arati's boss' office. The Boss promises to get him to meet someone in the evening regarding a job. As Edith returns to work from her illness, the Boss, who has certain preconceived misconception against Anglo-Indian girls and has deep seated hatred against the past colonial masters, dismisses Edith on the spot. Arati, who sees her crying, goes in defence of her friend who was actually genuinely ill. After a few exchange of words, she put in her resignation letter. As she descents the office stairs crying, she bumps into her husband who was going up to meet her Boss (ex-Boss). Arati, apologises for losing her job and putting the family in jeopardy. Subrata, knowing that his chance of getting the job recommended by the Boss is gone, praises her for standing up for her friend. Together, they decide to search for a job, saying, "This Big City (Mahanagar) will have job for both of us!"

As in all his movies, Ray does not over dramatise poverty and hopelessness. Small things illustrate the inconveniences of living in a crowded low middle class dwellings. The constant melody and changing radio stations from supposedly neighbour's house illustrates the crowded neighbourhood they are living in without showing their neighbours. A simple flimsy partition of saree between rooms and the constant movement of family members between rooms shows their lack of privacy!

This film denotes the uprising of educated women in the 1950s Calcutta into the work force and how the society finds it difficult to accept this practice. The husband who is at one point supportive of his wife, even feels intimidated. Any small problem arising in the house is blamed on the absence of the wife in performing her homely duties. At the end of the day, as in the story, the entry of women into the work force is approved...

Listening to the dialogue in Bengali, I just discovered that 'Ferringhi' is a Bengali word for 'Anglo-Indian' or maybe 'European'! And I am still wondering what Batu Ferringhi in Penang stands for. Maybe the huge stones on the beaches there would have been favourite sun bathing spots for the European masters in the pre Merdeka era!