The Big City (1963)
Director: Satyajit Ray · Writer: Satyajit Ray
Arati takes a job as a door-to-door saleswoman in Calcutta's wealthy neighbourhoods, in defiance of her traditionally-minded husband, Subrata, and his live-in parents. Emulating her Anglo-Indian friend Edith, who speaks equal to the men she encounters on the job, Arati quickly becomes her firm's top salesperson. When Subrata loses his job, the power dynamic begins to shift.
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Trailer
Director
Satyajit Ray
Cast
Madhabi Mukherjee
Arati Mazumdar 
Anil Chatterjee
Subrata Mazumdar 
Haren Chatterjee
Priyogopal Mazumdar 
Haradhan Bandyopadhyay
Himangshu Mukherjee 
Vicky Redwood
Edith Simmons 
Jaya Bachchan
Bani Mazumdar 
Sefalika Devi
Sarojini Mazumdar 
Prasenjit Sarkar
Pintu Mazumdar 
Shyamal Ghoshal
Anupam 
Gitali Roy
Anupam's Wife 
Tapan Chatterjee
Subrata's Colleague
Bibhuti Bhushan Banerjee
User Reviews (1)
Rating: 9.5 / 10 "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." — Milton Berle 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 th…
