Filmmaker Suman Ghosh calls it “the mother of re-releases”. Shoojit Sircar, the man behind films like Piku, Sardar Udham and many more, refers to its as “an unmissable cinematic experience”. Screen legend Sharmila Tagore, who starred in it, is happy that the new generation will get to experience it on the big screen. Nayak, Satyajit Ray’s 13th feature film and his first collaboration with Uttam Kumar, re-releases in cinemas in Calcutta as well as many parts of the country today.
The 2k restored version of the 1966 film, considered by many to be among one of Ray’s best works, will screen in about 15 cinemas in Calcutta and release simultaneously in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The re-release will not only be an introduction of the iconic film to younger audiences, it will also mark the first time that many of the older generation will get to experience the film on the big screen.
“We restored Nayak in 2013. At that time, when I approached multiplexes to re-release the film, they weren’t so keen because the trend of re-releases was hardly there. Even later, when the wave of re-releasing films started, they wanted to give us only a cinema or two, which would not have helped us in reaching out to audiences. I wanted a more India-wide release, which we are having now,” Varsha Bansal of RDB and Co, the production company founded by her grandfather RD Bansal, which has produced Nayak, as well as five other Ray-directed films, told t2.
Nayak, starring Uttam Kumar as a matinee idol who is highly successful but deeply troubled, and his life-changing conversation with a spunky journalist, played by Sharmila Tagore, on a train journey from Calcutta to Delhi, has been hailed for both its immersive storytelling and technical artistry. Ray’s second entirely original screenplay, after Kanchenjungha (1962), Nayak is distinguished by depth and nuance, with the writing skillfully weaving together the past and present and revealing the life and character of Arindam Mukherjee (played by Uttam Kumar) through seven flashbacks and two dreams. The thought-provoking dialogues provide insight into the struggles of fame and success, with the film touching upon themes of identity, morality and societal expectations.
Nayak is hailed as a landmark film in Ray’s rich oeuvre, feted both at the time of its release and later. Praise for the film — its masterful direction, impactful performances, Subrata Mitra’s evocative frames and the music scored by Ray himself — came in from all over the world, including Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor. The restored version was an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival, 2014.
“I am very happy Nayak is being released on the big screen. I congratulate the team that has restored this film, making it possible for today’s generation to watch the film. Subrata Mitra’s cinematography was superb. Matching the lighting of admirers outside on the platform with Uttam babu and I sitting inside the compartment, and also the back projection from when it is my preference to when it is his, Subrata took the shots of back projection hanging out of the train compartment. There were no mistakes, it was absolutely error free. Bansi Chandragupta’s recreation of the train compartment was also excellent. The teamwork on Nayak was really superb, I must mention that,” is how Sharmila Tagore, whose emphatic portrayal of Aditi in the film is considered one of her best, told t2.
Before its re-release in India, Nayak has travelled across the world, with RDB and Co. taking the six restored Ray films to regions as diverse as Albania and Australia, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia, totalling as many as 40 countries. “We have been very satisfied restoring Nayak because we have now showed it in so many different countries. Every time we write to any cinematheque or a museum or even any festival for that matter, they are more than interested,” said Varsha. In September 2024, the production house re-released Mahanagar, in which Ray directed Soumitra Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee, in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
“Due to the complexity of the work involved, restoration of films is an expensive proposition, which the producers invested into, not only to preserve the heritage of these classic films but also due to the demand for the films the world over for the new generation to watch these films. The entire process took about 18 months to be completed,” says Bansal.
The news of the re-release of Nayak has been greeted enthusiastically by cinephiles across the country. Social media has been abuzz with the news, with many planning to queue up for a big-screen watch within the first weekend itself. Like software professional Debarun Sengupta who watched Nayak as a boy in the ’80s and can’t wait to catch it in the theatre. “Despite the somewhat grainy images I watched on TV, Nayak had a profound effect on me. The metaphors and the subtle symbolism are something I appreciated when I watched it again in my late 20s. I have already bought tickets for a Friday-night watch on the big screen,” the Ray admirer beamed.
In Calcutta recently for the pre-release promotions of his latest blockbuster Chhaava, Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal revealed that Nayak was one of his favourite films. “Being a fan of Satyajit Ray, there can’t be better news than than that of Nayak releasing. I remember how during the shoot of my debut film Masaan, director Neeraj Ghaywan and I would sit together and watch Ray’s films. Nayak needs to be appreciated on the big screen,” Vicky had said at a media interaction a few days ago.
For filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, the re-release of Nayak is special. “Reviving a classic is an absolute delight for cinephiles as it not only allows us to revisit and re-appreciate cinematic masterpieces but also underscores the timelessness and enduring relevance of these works. The fact that a film continues to feel alive and resonate years after its initial release is a testament to the power and universality of the art form, and serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of preserving and celebrating our cinematic heritage. Nayak remains a landmark work, as it masterfully deconstructs the life of a star through an investigative narrative. Uttam Kumar delivers a tour-de-force performance, possibly the best of his career, as an insecure, lonely, and empathetic thespian at the pinnacle of stardom,” is how Sircar sums it up for t2.
After Uttam Kumar’s demise, Ray — who also collaborated with the star-actor in Chiriyakhana (1967) — wrote: “I hardly recall any discussion with Uttam on a serious analytical level on the character he was playing. And yet he constantly surprised and delighted me with unexpected little details of action and behaviour which came from him and not from me, which were always in character and always enhanced a scene. They were so spontaneous that it seemed he produced these out of his sleeve. If there was any cogitation involved, he never spoke about it.”
Filmmaker Suman Ghosh best sums up the magic of the collaboration between Ray and Uttam Kumar, most vividly seen in Nayak. “It was two different worlds of cinema coalescing in Nayak. Satyajit Ray and Uttam Kumar got together for Nayak and produced a work of great artistry. I can never forget Uttam Kumar’s shots and each of his dialogues. And some of them have become iconic. Though it is the life of a matinee idol, it goes on to deeper issues of theatre acting, cinema acting, the fragility of fame.... I have recently worked with Sharmila Tagore (on Puratawn) and I was hearing stories from her about the making of Nayak. It is a big event in the history of Indian cinema that Nayak is releasing on the big screen,” he said.