Calcutta 71

The film brings four separate stories together. A young man of twenty walks among them. He is the same age in every part. The years change but the poverty does not. One part is set in the thirties, when monsoon rain hits a slum. One is set in the forties, in a time of famine. The morals of a lower middle class family are tested. In one part boys are smuggling rice. In another a wealthy circle gathers in a hotel. Politicians say how sorry they are for the poor. The account places these beside each other. Sen presents history as a weight. The film draws on stories by Bengali writers. It is the second part of the director’s Calcutta trilogy. Madhabi Mukherjee and Utpal Dutt appear in the hundred and sixteen minute film, an Indian production Mrinal Sen finished in 1972.