Satyajit Ray classic “Aranyer Din Ratri” to be screened at Cannes Film Festival for the first time.

The 1970 classic, from the legendary Oscar Awardee Satyajit Ray, Aranyer Din Ratri at last gets a never before recognition, and is poned to be screened at the 78^th. Cannes Film Festival on 19^th. May, 2025. Most notably, the film will be showcased in a newly restored version. The event which demands to be a nostalgic one would reunite, after 55 years, the only two living film’s legendary cast members, Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal, whose presence will add to the historic significance of the occasion.

It is noteworthy that the 1970 classic was restored by film maker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and the Film Heritage Foundation. Both, S.S. Dungarpur & Film Heritage Foundation have contributed immensely to safeguard endangered celluloid films, promote film literacy, and train archivists. Their dedication demonstrate that Ray’s auteur creations continue to inspire future generations – remarkably pragmatic. However, to the dismay of several film enthusiasts Esha Dutta of the Dutta family – the original producer of the film would remain absent due to certain pre-occupations. Mr. Dungarpur had initiated the restoration project with a missionary zeal in 2014.

Aranyer Din Ratri, based on Sunil Gangopadhyay’s novel of the same name, explores themes of urban escapism, class and gender dynamics and human relationships with unparalleled depth. The film follows four urban friends – Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee), Hari (Samit Bhanja), and Shekhar (Rabi Ghosh) – who escape their mundane city lives for a weekend trip to the

Forests of Palamau (Bihar). Their journey becomes a metaphor for self-discovery as their interactions with rural life and two local women – Aparna (Sharmila Tagore) and Jaya (Simi Garewal) – expose their urban pretensions, insecurities, and existential dilemmas. The film is celebrated as one of Ray’s finest works, blending psychological depth, social commentary, and lyrical storytelling.

A connoisseur Slavoj Zizek – the legendary Slovenian philosopher, had explained, with pertinence to the politics of pleasure and transgression, “What is undermined today, on our post-Oedipal ‘permissive’ societies, is sexual jouissance as the foundational ‘passionate attachment’, as the desired / prohibited focal point around which our life revolves…the direct injunction ‘Enjoy!’ is a much more effective way to hinder the subject’s access to enjoyment than the explicit Prohibition which sustains the space for its transgression”.

The film’s screening at Cannes – is somewhat a belated recognition compared to Satyajit Ray’s other films – underscores the festival’s enduring reverence for the Oscar-winning auteur, whose films remain a cornerstone of world cinema.

Team Maverick