‘Nayak’ review: A magnificent study of the fame game

Soumitra Chatterjee was Satyajit Ray’s favourite actor. He made his debut in the Bengali master’s Apur Sansar in 1959 and went on to star in 13 more productions. But when Ray came up with Nayak in 1966, he cast Bengali icon Uttam Kumar, both as a version of himself and a composite of matinee idols past and present. Who else but Uttam Kumar, then at the peak of his career, to play a movie star at the peak of his career?

Nayak (Hero) marked Ray’s final collaboration with the gifted cinematographer Subrata Mitra. For Nayak, Mitra created some of his most haunting close-ups, evocative lighting patterns and mirror shots. Nearly every frame of the movie can admired in of itself.

The black-and-white film, one of the six collaborations between Ray and producer RD Bansal, has been restored and re-released in cinemas. Nayak is a sophisticated psychological portrait of a movie star who looks back on his progress from the summit of his popularity, disaffected by what he sees.

Arindam Mukherjee (Kumar) is on his way from Kolkata to Delhi to receive an award. Having swapped a plane for a train, Arindam sportingly makes small talk with his fellow travellers, only to be challenged by journalist Aditi (Sharmila Tagore).

Despite her serious black spectacles and prim manner, Aditi isn’t…

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