The Big City

1963

2h 16m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

30 Images

Drama

After her husband loses his job, a housewife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a salesperson.

Directors

Satyajit Ray

Writers

Satyajit Ray(screenplay by)

Narendranath Mitra(short story by)

Stars

Madhabi Mukherjee

Anil Chatterjee

Haren Chatterjee

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch The Big City (1963) - trailer

Top cast

Madhabi Mukherjee

Arati Mazumdar

Anil Chatterjee

Subrata Mazumdar

Haren Chatterjee

Priyogopal Mazumdar

Haradhan Bandyopadhyay

Himangshu Mukherjee

Edith Simmons

Bani Mazumdar

Sarojini Mazumdar

Pintu Mazumdar

Anupam

Anupam's Wife

Subrata's Colleague

Bibhuti Bhushan Banerjee

Directors

Writers

Satyajit Ray(screenplay by)

Narendranath Mitra(short story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Rating: 9.5 / 10 <blockquote> "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." — Milton Berle </blockquote> Owing to a banking failure typical of the post-independence India, Subrata(Anil Chatterjee) loses his job and must reconcile with the shortcomings of the situation, his insecurities as his wife Arati(Madhabi Mukherjee) becomes the sole breadwinner of the family. Arati's story feels both intricately real and extremely personal as the narrative flows from the tantrums at home to the politics at the office, and she must learn to be adept at handing either of them as she gets to mingle with other classes and races of the society, breaking through her shyness in both her appearance and her speech. The Big City (মহানগর) leaves us ruminating at the grappling for opportunities at the transience of hope and progress, regardless of race and gender, amongst a myriad of opportunities and the humdrum of the bustling citizens. This work from Ray gains its mammoth significance as he makes the viewers truly manages to care for this simple family with a simple narrative, with a true sense of depth and detail, yet somehow remaining weightless and effortless in depicting the social evolution. A true masterpiece.

thisissayantan09 Jul, 2018