Pratidwandi: Satyajit Ray’s classic to get a theatrical re-release for seven days

Pratidwandi, Satyajit Ray’s 1970s classic and the first part of the Calcutta Trilogy, will be screened at Priya Cinema Hall from August 19 onwards in the original 35 mm print. The film that features Dhritiman Chatterjee, Miss Shefali and others were officially selected as the opening film for a special screening at the 75th Cannes Film Festival Classic Section. The film is known for experimenting with specific techniques such as photo-negative flashbacks. After its release, Pratidwandi bagged three National Awards, including Best Direction in 1971. It also won a nomination for the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1971.

Arijit Dutta, the family member of producers Nepal Dutta and Asim Dutta, and also the owner of Priya Cinema, said, “I am delighted and so is my mother Purnima Dutta that we could showcase our production Pratidwandi for movie buffs of Kolkata. For the next seven days, I expect cinema lovers of the city and Ray’s fans shall flock to Priya to catch this classic on a 35 mm print. This opened the Cannes 2022 classic section and Kolkata gets to revisit the classic once more.” 

Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970) whisks us away to the streets of Kolkata, where medical student Siddhartha is forced to put his studies on hold following the death of his father. Set against a backdrop of a bustling, violent city in the throes of upheaval, he sits interview after interview, moving from one disappointment to the next. The film serves as the starting point of Satyajit Ray's Calcutta trilogy, in which a light is shone on the socio-economic turbulence of West Bengal's capital and the landmark shifts occurring in both the city and its locals' personal lives. The protagonist of Pratidwandi (The Adversary) is seeking his path and is a ball of contradictions. Sometimes on edge, other times nonchalant, Siddhartha is full of big dreams that come crashing down when faced with bitter reality.

The film incorporates documentary archive material, and switches back and forth between sweeping wide shots and up-close-and-personal perspectives, shifting from the comic to the tragic as it unfolds. The result is a rich, complex work, a tangle of styles and emotions that lend Pratidwandi all its power and muscle.