When Nayak (1966) won a special award at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, the great Italian poet-filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was on the jury and was known to have shown great enthusiasm for the film. Sixty years later, the crisis of conscience depicted in the film, newly restored, forces one to reimagine its contours. Ray’s cinema evokes new sensations with each viewing, the intricacies in his films taking on new life for the introspective audience. Years ago, Marie Seton, in her magnum opus, Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray (1971), had alluded to the presence of allegory in Nayak. A European critic, in reviewing the film, had found its content to be more substantial than the Greta Garbo-John Barrymore classic, Grand Hotel (1932), more lucid than the Italian auteur Fellini’s 8½ (1963), and more alluring than Bergman’s Wild Strawberries (1957), and far more entertaining than all three.
The restored version of the international and National Award-winning film – Satyajit Ray’s Nayak: The Hero starring icons such as Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore will be releasing in the theatres across India this February with English subtitles.
The film is restored in 2k resolution to pristine quality and has had screenings in over 40 countries since its restoration. The re-release in India comes at a special moment, as Sharmila Tagore celebrated her 80th birthday last year in December, and the film turns 59 in 2025.
It is already known that a proud son of the Telugu states, Murali Nayak had sadly passed away due to the shielding operation done by Pakistan in the border region of Jammu and Kashmir last week.
This warrior soldier attended martyrdom in the border while defending the country and this passing is being mourned by everyone.
