The Music Room

One of Satyajit Ray's most cited films, and its subject is the collapse of a class. Biswambhar Roy is a zamindar, a landowning aristocrat. He lives in his mansion by the river, but the income from the land is gone, the house is decaying and the servants have thinned out. All he has left is the music room, the hall where for years he has brought in famous musicians to perform. Facing him is a newly rich neighbour who made money from moneylending, has just built his house and keeps throwing larger parties. Each time, Roy spends what remains to him in order to answer. The concerts at the centre are real: well-known Indian musicians of the period perform their own music in the film, and the scenes are watched at length without cuts. Chhabi Biswas plays Roy. The last section shows how expensive pride can be, and Ray defends the man nowhere. An important work for anyone who loves Indian classical music and stories built on class. For a viewer not used to the pace, the concert scenes are long and the plot is close to standing still.