For this week’s programme, let us celebrate Deepavali together! NTU Film Society will be discussing ‘The Holy Man’ [Mahapurush] (1965) dir. Satyajit Ray and ‘The Boy in the Branch’ (1993) dir. Lalit Vachani!
Synopsis: Mahapurush is based on a short story Birinchibaba by Rajshekhar Basu. After the death of his wife, Gurupada Mitra (Prasad Mukherjee), an advocate, has not been at peace. He and his daughter Buchki (Gitali Roy), meet Birinchi (Charuprakash Ghosh), who claims to be ageless.
Thank you to those who joined us for our fourth screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Satyajit Ray’s bio:
Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Ray is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He brought the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (1955; The Song of the Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy. As a director, Ray was noted for his humanism, his versatility, and his detailed control over his films and their music. He was one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.
✏️ Director Lalit Vachani’s bio:
Lalit Vachani is a documentary filmmaker and producer/director of the New Delhi based Wide Eye Film. Vachani's films have received support from the Soros and Sundance Documentary Foundations, the Jan Vrijman Fund, and the India Foundation for the Arts. Vachani lives in Göttingen, Germany where he teaches courses on media and politics, the political documentary film and documentary theory and production at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS) at the University of Göttingen.