Western Intellectuals loved Ray, Soviet Masses loved Kapoor. Talk to an old Russian and they will tell you their love of Indian cinema and even sing the songs.
Disagree, Ray had more socialist realism in his films than Raj Kapoor. However, it is indeed true, that for the Soviet masses seeing the victory of the working class over seeing the pathos of capitalism was more cheerful.
The first film analysis video that doesn't play to the gallery, narrated with a formidable command over the language(double entendre intended, the layers of pastiche present are addressed)
A key difference between the two is that Kapoor's target audience was the general public, while Ray's films, in his own words, were not for "the unintelligent audience"...
Awesome documentary, well-paced! I didn't realise 20 minutes were over in a breeze! Even though I am a fan of movies which are realistic (and yes Satyajit Ray is one of my favourite directors), mass movies can be good entertainers if they are well written, which I realized as I grew up watching more movies. I feel, both are needed, one for letting us away from the current reality we are facing, and the other being films which are more like studies/documentaries which bring out a newer meaning every time it is watched.
Now while watching this, I realized that there was one industry which was walking somewhere on the middle path. The Marathi film industry! The films like Shejari, Sadhi Manase, mumbaicha javai etc. Could be seen somewhere in the middle of the spectrum!
When I was younger I used to watch movies that depicted the characters and the setting in a realistic yet poetic way, but as I grew older and started getting buried in more and more of the REAL WORLD of just wanted to escape into a world of fantasy😂. My point is for people who are already struggling with their real life the fantastical world of cinema can create a way to escape for a couple of hours and there's nothing wrong with that, I personally love both the worlds equally ❤
This is so true .. Most of the people watch films to get relief from their day to day lives. When they are already struggling in life they want entertaining, dramatic and masala films. Back in the days , realism was only appreciated by the rich who watched movies for hobby . So at the end of the day , it is the perspective that matters .
Raj kapoor as director - 6 All time blockbusters 2 Super Hit 2 Flop 5 highest grossers of the year Even his two flops (Aag and mera naam joker) are no less than masterpiece Truly he is most successful director of bollywood He also hold unique distinction of winning filmfare award for both actor as well as director He also hold record for giving blockbuster in 5 decades continously which are 1940s - Barsaat 1950s - Shree 420 1960s - Sangam 1970s - Bobby 1980s - Ram teri ganga maili
Yes, stupid films for uneducated masses, of course they were blockbusters just like today's films, sadly India remains backward, unsophisticated and uneducated.
ray got the cannes, oscars, and every major film festival awards, plus he has inspired countless major directors like Scorsese, wes anderson and much more, his films are being restored by oscar film association for academy film archive, akira kurosawa said, not to watch ray film is like not seeing sun or moon, met and worked and been friends with every major world film figures in history
Great essay. However, I disagree on two points though. 1) The Shantiniketan school didn't even reject the western tradition even in the Gandhian way of cottage industries, in fact Rabindranath championed the ideals of enlightenment which he always felt without whose appreciation India was stuck in its dark days of Smriti and Sruti education imparted in the traditional education. However, he hated the industrial mass produced education colonialism brought to India. He kind of wanted a Humboldtian education system, where knowledge is for sake of learning, free thought and self actualisation but with Indian characteristics free from the ideals of Western supremacy which the Enlightenment gave the west. 2) Satyajit Ray's films are more socialist and collectivist, than the West's understanding that capitalism has won. In fact Mahanagar, Hirok Rajar Deshe, Seemabaddha, and Jana Aranya, critiques the individualist direction of the post colonial bengali society and also especially Hirok Rajar Deshe calls for a collectivist overthrow of such a society. While Raj Kapoor's films, trying to serve us a socialist fantasy we can achieve via collective action distances itself from the material reality, Satyajit Ray's films reflect the social and material reality of colonial and post colonial society; and firmly upholds the notion that without an honest conversation about these realities, a collective action is anti-dialectical. In this viewpoint its very much socialist.
Very well written, you are spot on about the naivety in Raj Kapoor's Cinema, it truly lacks a grasp of material reality. Can you shed more light on how Satyajit Ray's Cinema lays bare the anti diaelectic approach of it's protagonists? I hope I am making sense here.
Growing up I got to watch a couple of Raj Kapoor's films with my parents but, I've only see one short film by Satyajit Ray, never seen any full length films of his if there are any films of his that you could suggest for a first time viewer I would appreciate it 😊
@@MoonBeam-fv8wbYou really can't go wrong with Ray. But, as a soft entry point I would suggest something lighter like Agantuk or Hirak Rajar Deshe. However, none of Ray's works fall into the category of frivolous, escapist movies that are so common today. Even with a film like Hirak Rajar Deshe, while the plot depicts the exploits of Gupi and Bagha, two average individuals endowed with magical powers by Bhuter Raja ( the king of ghosts), at its heart is a story of an uprising against a despot. It uses humor to comment on fascism.
@@MoonBeam-fv8wb as the other person said, try Hirok Rajar Deshe. It is perhaps his best production, and it's universal requiring absolutely zero understanding of any historical context of Bengal.
STELLAR video essay. Thank you immensely for your sensitive introspection on the racialization of authenticity within the politics of Indian cinema ❤❤❤
Even though i am currently 16, I've grown up on seeing Raj Kapoor, Gurudutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee,Bimal Roy Mehboob Khan and Shakti Samath. These people are my childhood, the songs from Aawara, shree 420 and ton of other films were an important part of my childhood. When it comes to Mr Roy, it's true that he said that Indian audience isn't that educated..but in my opinion they will see what's more relevant to them, no wonder his works are unparalleled..but besides Nayak ( Uttam Kumar), charulata and pather Panchali..I'll always prefer Indian cinema directors like Gurudutt and Hrishikesh Mukherjee...
Good Video ❤ Could you tell where have you taken scenes from the Awara movie? They’re of good quality and most of the movies uploads on RUclips are low quality.
Felt that the former's films were unIndian enough and tried to imitate european and hollywood style filmmaking, apparent from the recreation of Chaplinisque tramboy cinema. Mr. Ray on other hand focused on a larger impoverished section of Indian society and pioneered something unique to world.
Good video essay just wanted to point out at 3:16 India never really was socialist, i would phrase it differently but a great video essay nonetheless thank you.
Social democratic nation at best bc in the world of global capitalism, countries like india would be couped and destroyed by the imperial core nations,if the govt of the imperial peripheral nations tried a socialist project like china and Soviet union union Look at cuba,south america,north korea, Vietnam ,etc ,they have suffered military destruction not just extreme economic coercion which every imperial peripheral nation has to endure from the IMF, world bank.
Satyajit Ray was product of the Ray-Tagore mindset, which were key proponents of Bengal Renaissance , very nationalistic yet globalists, dreamers but realists, faithful but not dogmatic or superstitious, he was a polymath and deep thinker, illustrations, music, filmmaking , professionally writing as an author, translator(many stories into Bangla Language) he was master of all...cannot just compare such a towering personality (literally!) with the hindi -punjabi belted Kapoor, khanna etc kinds
you do not understand what you're talking abt if the earliest generations of the kapoor family are not anything but towering themselves in your imagination. In the global "third world", they are still remembered as foundational filmmakers. The impact of films like Awaara is nothing short of extremely extraordinary, and your disdain for popular cinema seems to be overshadowing your judgement and perception if you truly think that the popular filmmakers of the Golden Age, from V. Shantaram to the Kapoors, are little more than Hindi-Punjabi belt types
@@pankajmandal_2648 satyajit ray is a legend but Raj Kapoor is not a common person, his film awara was nominated at cannes for jury prize , time magazine included it in top 50 greatest movies of all time and performance was counted among best,another point to be noted that awara was produce and directed by himself at a young age of just 26, you can call it luck if 1 movie got hit but man gave 6 all time blockbusters across five decades, he also created for selling 100 million tickets in China and Russia
Raj Kapoor was a producer, director and actor. And not just someone who did some average movies but someone who was popular in India, Turkey, USSR, Middle East and China. And not just simply popular but SO DAMN POPULAR. Mao reportedly had a private print for Awara (1951). Satyajit ray is good but Raj Kapoor is the greatest 🤷♂️- it’s obvious.
@@xanaxcelSatyajit Ray's cinema is qualitatively superior to anything Raj Kapoor has ever made. Popularity is not a good measure of how good a film as a piece of art is. Even Mithoon's films were quite popular in the USSR and Central Asia, would you put his films on the same league?
@@vipulparmar6974He was talented no doubt but it might also be true that he got hold of a trope, a trick to captivate the audience, even Karan Johar gave blockbusters in the late 90's and early 2000's.
@@adityasharan9568 Why? I have read all Feluda novels and watched Aparajito. Ray's mind is underwhelming and mediocre. He is seriously over-celebrated. Tarkovsky at home:
@@Yashodhan1917 Just Aparajito? Aparajito is one of his least sophisticated films. Pratidwandhi, Jana Aranya, Nayak, Charulatha, Agantuk all these films are masterpieces in their own right. There is no Indian Filmmakers right now of Ray's calibre.
Western Intellectuals loved Ray, Soviet Masses loved Kapoor. Talk to an old Russian and they will tell you their love of Indian cinema and even sing the songs.
This is not meant to insult Ray or praise Kapoor, this is my observation
Disagree, Ray had more socialist realism in his films than Raj Kapoor. However, it is indeed true, that for the Soviet masses seeing the victory of the working class over seeing the pathos of capitalism was more cheerful.
The first film analysis video that doesn't play to the gallery, narrated with a formidable command over the language(double entendre intended, the layers of pastiche present are addressed)
Thank you so much!!
@@mustafashabbirfilm Did you just finish your masters in film ?
My bachelors :)
@@mustafashabbirfilm wait you're 22
@@AashishSrinivaastavaa 21 actually hahah
A key difference between the two is that Kapoor's target audience was the general public, while Ray's films, in his own words, were not for "the unintelligent audience"...
“Those who don’t understand or watch movies are Unintelligent Audience” - well, not really a good thing.
@@xanaxcel nope. She said what Satyajit Ray had said. Go and watch his interviews first. And he said absolutely right.
@@xanaxcelRay actually said so many derogatory things about the general audience.
Don't know about other things but the songs of Raj Kapoor will be played till eternity❤❤❤❤
Awesome documentary, well-paced! I didn't realise 20 minutes were over in a breeze! Even though I am a fan of movies which are realistic (and yes Satyajit Ray is one of my favourite directors), mass movies can be good entertainers if they are well written, which I realized as I grew up watching more movies. I feel, both are needed, one for letting us away from the current reality we are facing, and the other being films which are more like studies/documentaries which bring out a newer meaning every time it is watched.
Master of Commercial cinema + master of art cinema
Well said
Now while watching this, I realized that there was one industry which was walking somewhere on the middle path. The Marathi film industry! The films like Shejari, Sadhi Manase, mumbaicha javai etc. Could be seen somewhere in the middle of the spectrum!
When I was younger I used to watch movies that depicted the characters and the setting in a realistic yet poetic way, but as I grew older and started getting buried in more and more of the REAL WORLD of just wanted to escape into a world of fantasy😂. My point is for people who are already struggling with their real life the fantastical world of cinema can create a way to escape for a couple of hours and there's nothing wrong with that, I personally love both the worlds equally ❤
This is so true .. Most of the people watch films to get relief from their day to day lives. When they are already struggling in life they want entertaining, dramatic and masala films. Back in the days , realism was only appreciated by the rich who watched movies for hobby . So at the end of the day , it is the perspective that matters .
Raj kapoor as director -
6 All time blockbusters
2 Super Hit
2 Flop
5 highest grossers of the year
Even his two flops (Aag and mera naam joker) are no less than masterpiece
Truly he is most successful director of bollywood
He also hold unique distinction of winning filmfare award for both actor as well as director
He also hold record for giving blockbuster in 5 decades continously which are
1940s - Barsaat
1950s - Shree 420
1960s - Sangam
1970s - Bobby
1980s - Ram teri ganga maili
Yes, stupid films for uneducated masses, of course they were blockbusters just like today's films, sadly India remains backward, unsophisticated and uneducated.
ray got the cannes, oscars, and every major film festival awards, plus he has inspired countless major directors like Scorsese, wes anderson and much more, his films are being restored by oscar film association for academy film archive, akira kurosawa said, not to watch ray film is like not seeing sun or moon, met and worked and been friends with every major world film figures in history
Great essay. However, I disagree on two points though.
1) The Shantiniketan school didn't even reject the western tradition even in the Gandhian way of cottage industries, in fact Rabindranath championed the ideals of enlightenment which he always felt without whose appreciation India was stuck in its dark days of Smriti and Sruti education imparted in the traditional education. However, he hated the industrial mass produced education colonialism brought to India. He kind of wanted a Humboldtian education system, where knowledge is for sake of learning, free thought and self actualisation but with Indian characteristics free from the ideals of Western supremacy which the Enlightenment gave the west.
2) Satyajit Ray's films are more socialist and collectivist, than the West's understanding that capitalism has won. In fact Mahanagar, Hirok Rajar Deshe, Seemabaddha, and Jana Aranya, critiques the individualist direction of the post colonial bengali society and also especially Hirok Rajar Deshe calls for a collectivist overthrow of such a society. While Raj Kapoor's films, trying to serve us a socialist fantasy we can achieve via collective action distances itself from the material reality, Satyajit Ray's films reflect the social and material reality of colonial and post colonial society; and firmly upholds the notion that without an honest conversation about these realities, a collective action is anti-dialectical. In this viewpoint its very much socialist.
Very well written, you are spot on about the naivety in Raj Kapoor's Cinema, it truly lacks a grasp of material reality. Can you shed more light on how Satyajit Ray's Cinema lays bare the anti diaelectic approach of it's protagonists? I hope I am making sense here.
Growing up I got to watch a couple of Raj Kapoor's films with my parents but, I've only see one short film by Satyajit Ray, never seen any full length films of his if there are any films of his that you could suggest for a first time viewer I would appreciate it 😊
@@MoonBeam-fv8wbYou really can't go wrong with Ray. But, as a soft entry point I would suggest something lighter like Agantuk or Hirak Rajar Deshe. However, none of Ray's works fall into the category of frivolous, escapist movies that are so common today. Even with a film like Hirak Rajar Deshe, while the plot depicts the exploits of Gupi and Bagha, two average individuals endowed with magical powers by Bhuter Raja ( the king of ghosts), at its heart is a story of an uprising against a despot. It uses humor to comment on fascism.
@@adityasharan9568 try Hirok Rajar Deshe or Jana Aranya
@@MoonBeam-fv8wb as the other person said, try Hirok Rajar Deshe. It is perhaps his best production, and it's universal requiring absolutely zero understanding of any historical context of Bengal.
Excellently written essay, well done 👏
Thank you!
I really appreciate the existence of this video
Love this, hope your dissertation earned you top scores.
Have been learning about India's history a lot through movies.
STELLAR video essay. Thank you immensely for your sensitive introspection on the racialization of authenticity within the politics of Indian cinema ❤❤❤
Damn I'm impressed, I'm genuinely quite impressed. Best of luck dude
Loved the video da!
SATYAJIT RAY 🙏👌✨⭐🌟👏🌹
Your video is authentic to cinema and cinema analysis
Wonderful work my friend!
Bold of you to question Ray’s sense of authenticity as clickbait for the video
Even though i am currently 16, I've grown up on seeing Raj Kapoor, Gurudutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee,Bimal Roy Mehboob Khan and Shakti Samath. These people are my childhood, the songs from Aawara, shree 420 and ton of other films were an important part of my childhood.
When it comes to Mr Roy, it's true that he said that Indian audience isn't that educated..but in my opinion they will see what's more relevant to them, no wonder his works are unparalleled..but besides Nayak ( Uttam Kumar), charulata and pather Panchali..I'll always prefer Indian cinema directors like Gurudutt and Hrishikesh Mukherjee...
Lovely, thank you
You my friend just got another subscription
Very nicely done 👏🏼
thankyou for this
Please also consider movies of V Shantaram including the marathi movies like Pinjra also alongwith Hindi for analytical review
Great examination
Good Content 👍
Good Video ❤ Could you tell where have you taken scenes from the Awara movie? They’re of good quality and most of the movies uploads on RUclips are low quality.
Felt that the former's films were unIndian enough and tried to imitate european and hollywood style filmmaking, apparent from the recreation of Chaplinisque tramboy cinema.
Mr. Ray on other hand focused on a larger impoverished section of Indian society and pioneered something unique to world.
19:51 and 20:39 the creator of this video refute ur point on ray.
"Italian cinema and documentaries"
But former was also artistic and endured lot of creative choices in its own way
Beautiful fucking analysis
Good video essay just wanted to point out at 3:16 India never really was socialist, i would phrase it differently but a great video essay nonetheless thank you.
Social democratic nation at best bc in the world of global capitalism, countries like india would be couped and destroyed by the imperial core nations,if the govt of the imperial peripheral nations tried a socialist project like china and Soviet union union
Look at cuba,south america,north korea, Vietnam ,etc ,they have suffered military destruction not just extreme economic coercion which every imperial peripheral nation has to endure from the IMF, world bank.
Neither it was truly capitalist
👍
great essay!!! Do you have letterboxd account??
Hey yes! It’s @probablymustafa
Satyajit Ray was product of the Ray-Tagore mindset, which were key proponents of Bengal Renaissance , very nationalistic yet globalists, dreamers but realists, faithful but not dogmatic or superstitious, he was a polymath and deep thinker, illustrations, music, filmmaking , professionally writing as an author, translator(many stories into Bangla Language) he was master of all...cannot just compare such a towering personality (literally!) with the hindi -punjabi belted Kapoor, khanna etc kinds
you do not understand what you're talking abt if the earliest generations of the kapoor family are not anything but towering themselves in your imagination. In the global "third world", they are still remembered as foundational filmmakers. The impact of films like Awaara is nothing short of extremely extraordinary, and your disdain for popular cinema seems to be overshadowing your judgement and perception if you truly think that the popular filmmakers of the Golden Age, from V. Shantaram to the Kapoors, are little more than Hindi-Punjabi belt types
Like this comment is just so profoundly pretentious and lacking in knowledge and empathy i don't think I know how to approach it.
Your audio needs to be clearer and louder homie
Maybe 70 years from now someone will make a video comparing Bhojpuri films and Influencer reelers...
First of all comparing satyajit ray with raj Kapoor itself is a crime 😂 and you have committed this crime
@@pankajmandal_2648 satyajit ray is a legend but Raj Kapoor is not a common person, his film awara was nominated at cannes for jury prize , time magazine included it in top 50 greatest movies of all time and performance was counted among best,another point to be noted that awara was produce and directed by himself at a young age of just 26, you can call it luck if 1 movie got hit but man gave 6 all time blockbusters across five decades, he also created for selling 100 million tickets in China and Russia
Raj Kapoor was a producer, director and actor.
And not just someone who did some average movies but someone who was popular in India, Turkey, USSR, Middle East and China. And not just simply popular but SO DAMN POPULAR. Mao reportedly had a private print for Awara (1951).
Satyajit ray is good but Raj Kapoor is the greatest 🤷♂️- it’s obvious.
@@xanaxcel it can be luck to have 1 blockbuster but man gave 6 blockbusters ,clearly he had talent and charm
@@xanaxcelSatyajit Ray's cinema is qualitatively superior to anything Raj Kapoor has ever made. Popularity is not a good measure of how good a film as a piece of art is.
Even Mithoon's films were quite popular in the USSR and Central Asia, would you put his films on the same league?
@@vipulparmar6974He was talented no doubt but it might also be true that he got hold of a trope, a trick to captivate the audience, even Karan Johar gave blockbusters in the late 90's and early 2000's.
Ray is highly overrated
Your knowledge of cinema is overrated
Blasphemy!!
@@susantbhoi2419 I think it is unrated
@@adityasharan9568 Why? I have read all Feluda novels and watched Aparajito. Ray's mind is underwhelming and mediocre. He is seriously over-celebrated. Tarkovsky at home:
@@Yashodhan1917 Just Aparajito? Aparajito is one of his least sophisticated films. Pratidwandhi, Jana Aranya, Nayak, Charulatha, Agantuk all these films are masterpieces in their own right. There is no Indian Filmmakers right now of Ray's calibre.