Abhijan (1962)
Director: Satyajit Ray
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Producer Bijoy Chatterjee planned to direct his friend Ray's adaptation of a novel by Tarashankar Banerjee himself, but got cold feet when shooting began, and left it to Ray. As a result, its story of taxi driver Soumitra Chatterjee (not ideally cast) making a new start in rural Bengal, but falling under the influence of a local opium runner, is not altogether characteristic Ray, tending as it does towards slightly rough-hewn melodrama. Even so, the gradual build-up of tension is expertly controlled, Bollywood star Waheeda Rehman is affecting as a village girl kidnapped into prostitution, and there's deft use of local landscape with the imposing Shyamnagar rocks a metaphor for the guilt carried by the protagonist as he becomes increasingly aware of his waywardness. Not major Ray, but effective and accessible enough to register his greatest success at the Bengali box office.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Satyajit Ray
Producer: Bhola Nath Roy
Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Waheeda Rehman, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Gyanesh Mukherjee, Charuprakash Ghosh, Robi Ghosh, Shekhar Chatterjee full cast
Duration: 150 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now