Lipstick, Sunglass & The Bra | Decoding The New Indian Woman In Mahanagar | The Big City
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- #mahanagar #satyajitray #madhabimukherjee
In this video essay we analyze how Satyajit Ray constructs his vision of the new Indian woman in his masterpiece "Mahanagar" (The Big City) using style statements of lipstick, sunglass and the bra. We were motivated to make this video inspired by the writeup, "Neorealism, the Bra and the New Indian Woman in Satyajit Ray’s The Big City" by Lipi Begum and also add our own appreciation for the film and its characters. Hope you enjoy the video.
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Being a 'Rayphile', I have watched Mahanagar multiple times. The use of lipstick, and sunglasses as a symbol of emancipation has been immortalised by him, but never did I notice the visible outlines of Arati's bra through her transparent blouse, until you pointed it out. Your interpretation brings forward a new perspective and I thank you for it. Looking forward to more such analyses.
The bra is an element of modernity and evolution. There are a lot of things throughout the movie or throughout many Ray's movies which may have felt alient to the majority of rural Bengal or rural Indians in general. As the name suggests, it has nothing to do with sexuality or objectifying.
The dressing choice was bold indeed,even in todays day,where crop tops and torn jeans are common, wonder how many women would be brave enough to wear a white bra under black see through blouse, it wouldn't look tasteful, but Ray managed to portray this with elan and i am sure many women during that era wished they too could add such a piece to their collection
It wouldn't have been considered " bold" to wear a white bra under a black blouse. It only meant ( in those days) that you lacked the panache to wear a black bra or you couldn't afford so many bras. It was also considered classless to have your bra show sp the straps.
It is also such a transcendent performance by Madhabi Mukherjee. I have always seen Charulata and Mahanagr as companion pieces.
Loved this. Satyajit Ray's courage and his undaunted dedication to his own individual perspective and opinion is quintessential to his cinematic and artistic vision. He dares to push against the mainstream narrative and that is what endears his cinema to me - whether or not I agree to the arguments he presents.
Thank you for your kind comments. We have a lot of content on Ray but we are particularly proud of this video. Please check out the video interview with Sharmila Tagore, she talks about the female leads of Ray and how they had their own agency.
Really loved your explanation dear. Mahanagar is one of the best film I have ever seen. The lipstick, sunglass and last walk of arati with her husband, these were the simbol of neo feminism in Ray's film. U added the bra. Really loved it.
Actually the movie was based on a story by Narendranath Mitra. You had to thank him also.
When I first watched the movie and saw the bra outlines, I knew it must have had some meaning, because Manik Babu never did anything without any purpose. Today after watching your video, I have again fallen in love with Manik Babu’s movies. Truly he was a visionary. I think the bra showcases a kind of a tussle between modernity and tradition at the same time it also acts as a symbol of fight between gender roles. Really liked your video, great efforts. Keep up the good work brother. 😊
This was great, loved the thoughtful analysis :) Very few masters like Ray.
Satyajit Ray was also a human of an elevated stage. Howvever he was a human being after all. Please, we should not fool ourselves. We should never forget the evils industrialization.
The way you explain the work sounds like poetry.
Loved it!
Ohh wow mujhe nhi pta tha ki Ye movie Ray ji ki hai.. Haalaki inka ek adaptation Maine dekha hai aur mujhe bahut Pasand bhi aaya uss movie ka naam tha "HumKadam" Written by Gulzar Shahab... Aur Bra ke scene ko jis tarh se Ray ne capture kiya aur aapne Samjhaya it was Mind blowing kyounki sirf uss time ki hi nhi balki recent modern indian society mein bhi Bra ya Bta Strips ka dikhna aadmiyo ki Nazaron mein Aurton ko aaj bhi kahin zyada Modern, Western Culture se influence aur Aazad bnata hai aur ye baat aaj bhi Males ko pasand nhi aati... Society change zarur hui hai lekin khyaal abhi bhi wahin hain.. Uneed hai aisi aur kahaniya aati rahengi aur logon ko jagati rahengi❤❤
Thank you 🙏
Never got to talk to a woman about this but how does a showing bra strap mean freedom and self expression for a woman, how do women see this?
Even in 90s, young girls dared not wear partially-transparent* blouse over bra. Wearing lipstick too especially deep red was considered seducing & was taken with negativity . However some would go for pink shade of lipstick.
* fabric called rubia matching was available.
it was awaiting search for me, this utube channel is fantastic, u have great knowledge.
patriarchal Brahaomo Hindu code of dressing????? Where did this person obtain this from? It's been a long time since I viewed this, but are there any evidence that this family was Bhramins......The family Majumdar name is not used by brahmins, but by both the Bengali Hindu and Bengali Muslim communities. Wannabes these days , just to sound intelegent use phrases like patriarchal.....Brahaomo Hindu code...... and this commentary has no research, only assumptions and presumptions...
Outstanding analysis ❤❤
Would you like to analyse the film 'Subarnalata '.
Our favourite Bengali movie of all time. We will definitely make a video on Subarnalata
@@filmkopath Thank you, it's really great that there are still people who admire and acknowledge these kinds of films.
Love the unusual analysis. Subscribed.
Albeit ,the bra never helped breasts from sagging
it's almost same everywhere.... ....Though the 1st pair of jeans tailored for women, “Lady Levi's”, was created in 1934, it was not until Marilyn Monroe put on a pair of jeans in River of No Return, a film in 1952, that women's pants would begin to be a part of mainstream fashion. before that it was not a good thing fr GOOD GIRLS of Good Families to wear jeans.
if the study the old European fashion history ; popular 'Hobble skirt' was nothing but Shackle in name of Fashion.
Nice work
I know about this film. I wish the Hindi or English version of this film was available so that one could see.
it is available with English subtitles on Criterion
Someone replied in comment that Hindi remake 'Humdard' by Gulzar is there. Check it.
@@Nita0401 ok.. thanks
@@rahulkumardas5741
edit: Humkadam
First wearing only bra as an out wear came into “fashion” as indication of female empowerment and now nudity is cool .
more than being cool, as a girl, for me it’s more about just wearing whatever I like to wear.
@@peachcookie6624the above comment about nudity being cool is very stereotypical. Women wearing certain type of clothes, is a sign of confidence. Whoever tell females to wear appropriate clothes according to them is basically an attempt of controlling them. I as a male always want to have those pastel nail art with sunflowers or a marble styled nails but I will never be able to because society doesn't want the stereotypes to be broken. The will question my gender similarly if a female starts wearing something slightly revealing they will question their character like the above comment subtly did.
I like ur narration
Both genders were top less in old India, case and point kajaraho Temple. why such high-head-ness and moral upright-ness.
It is the Victorian English who considered themselves morally above others who instilled the thought of wearing dress into Indians. We were not ashamed of going topless(women didn't wear blouse and men wore only langot) but the English at that time saw us people without culture because of how we dressed and we also got influenced by what they were wearing. Funny thing is today's Indian think wearing saree or blouse even a shirt was part of the great Indian culture.
@@krackr6618 People talking about traditional / Sanatan clothing are usually referencing clothing that were worn well into the years of British imperialism and colonisation in India. Moreover, for me the dilemna lies in exactly how far back into history do we look when we say traditional clothing - tradition is not set in stone and have shown changes with time so any attempt at concretising the idea of a singular manner of dressing as "traditional" is inherently futile and ultimately laughable.
Any child in the world will prioritize all day long mother's presence around him/her over toy anytime in my opinion.
off course and also that of the father.
What is the meaning of “Bramho-Hindu” ???
First of all I am not getting any notification from Filmkopath again.
This is a very useful discussion on today's turbulent and emotional time. We as a society now have to understand what is healthy sexuality and how powerful sexuality can be to define society. Not sure about the protest and by products of that protest as it is proven beyond doubt that the last protest some 15 years ago produced nothing. I said this as in the context of the protest everybody is trying to define seduqlity and its 3dp43ssion.
Sqtyajit Ray unlike contemporary filmmakers was not afraid of shy away of defining sexuqlity and sexual expression in cinema.
From Apur Sansar to Jana Aranya he never ignored his right to define sexuality as a filmmaker. And those definition enriched his film making greatly. The film includes all his major films such as Charulata Aranyaer Din Ratri Pratodhandhi Simabaddha and even Ashani Sanket.
According to my analysis Mahanagar is a liberation of mind from extreme uncertainty. And as uncertainty engulfs us we look for a way to liberate ourselves to more certainty. But what exactly is the expression of that change we have to make to put ourselves in a more certain position.
The Mahanagar character realized she had to express herself in a certain different way to create a different perspective to her life. Ray masterfully created that subtle extremely decent motifs to express that changes. Without the expression of decent sexuality of the character it would not have been possible to define the character on its full dimension. And I definitely agree with all your observation about the sexual expression.
It hurts me deeply when so called lady intellectuals in this turbulent time comes out and talks about skirts and their sexual exploitations because of their dress from both sexes. That is so cliched and boring and so vague in the context of a heinous crime of this magnitude I feel Ray would have been alive today with his full intellectual capacity and would have done a film to show us the path and those intellectuals to specially who protested 15 years back to achieve nothing and also protesting today without having any convincing agenda.
Mahanagar needs a film like Mahwnqgar never more desperately than today with a meaningful sexual expression.
Thanks for a timely discussion.
❤❤
Item songs objectify women.
whole Bollywood is futile and useless but people still like bollywood movies and actor's
Then why female actress doing this sh*t ???
Feminism is become the sl*t of capitalism my friend
@@raja-jl9os True bollywood always have those dance routines " item songs " but also don't forget about bhojpuri films and commercial films from southern Indian states .
For many reasons peoples don't mention those films which results in that those films get a free pass .
All Indian commercial films have item songs . The practice of putting item songs in films could only come to an end if people criticize it and stop watching those films with item songs altogether or getting films with items songs banned irrespective of languages and states they are from .
@@Abhik979 I don't like bollywood because of melodrama and masala I don't like melodramatic movies
@@Abhik979 some time masala action movie look good but most of time masala movie's are garbage
Why you said bramo Indo? Why didn’t you reference Burkha ?
because the character we speak about is Hindu and the director we celebrate comes from a Bramho education system. When we talk about Abbas Kiarostami and his cinema, the liberation of Iranian women and related intricacies, hijab will be organically contextual. Please read cinema from context, not agenda 🙏
@@filmkopathSo, when you will make videos about that?
Cause it's easy to lecture feeble hearted hindu males , and there is no fear of being cancelled.See how they bring up Kiarostami and claiming an intellectual high ground over although anyone living in Calcutta has rarely confronts a traditionally dressed hindu woman while the streets are filled with Burqa clad Muslim khatuns.
@@filmkopath 👏 good reply to someone who sees everything only through Hindus vs 'other religion' in today's India
You can very well check out our Abbas Kiarostami Cinema retrospective. Its there on the channel
yeah, but the bra should have been black. or darker. the white bra is weird.
Only bra or under garments available at that time are all white. Watch the film .
I am sure that this visible bra was totally an unconscious thing. I am hundred percent sure that Madhabi was unaware that when she turned her back the bra was visible through the blouse.I am sure that Ray did not notice that the bra was visible, as he was busy thinking of other things.
ok… but why do you think so ? Ray is known for his detailing, his precise costume choices with detailed analysis and homework. Why do you feel he won’t notice something so obvious, that’s so uncommon for a Bengali cinema of that time… that too for a character who is coming out from the closed sphere of household to the open sphere of workplace.
@@filmkopath I think the men were less conscious of women's costumes. He must have looked at her from the front and been satisfied without realising that there was a problem at the back.
I agree @sunayanapanda. Women in India wear blouses made of thin material because of the heat and naturally the bra shows through. To Ray this must have been a very obvious thing.
@@profsoumya in Indian movies lead actress always wear skimpy dresses specially in mainstream movies
Ray never unconsciously did a thing in his masterpiece creations. He always precisely planned every scene with his sketch story boarding and elaborate costume drafts.
I think it doesn't look perfect. It is actually objectifying women, and nobody wears their blouse like this where the undergarments are so shamelessly visible. Only people who cannot afford good quality blouses look like these.
Your idea of the world is limited to your small radius. There is a world beyond that. Also, don't try commenting on Calcutta culture when you are clearly not aware of it.
It's not objectifying. It's natural and not eye-catching because it was normal at that time. In bengal everybody wears everything it's not about rich and poor things. At that time everybody used to wear blouses and bras like this. I think your knowledge about women is limited to hindi films.
Actually you people basically always want to
Tell that Bollywood item songs does not contribute rape culture
And by telling this you are justifying rape culture in India
Perhaps you have missed watching our last video. We tried to say exactly the opposite with enough underlining that it’s not about clothes but the gaze. This video is a celebration of the right gaze.
May be I missed watching that one
You are comparing arousal to rape
I am guessing you are too a Bengali from Kolkata like Ray. The problem with typical Kolkatan mindset is the inability to rise beyond the shado of Western European worldview. The movie's theme seems less about giving women's right to choose their lifestyle and more about the collation of the word modernity with western values. The funny thing is when the nations of Europe were rising, they tried to adopt Anvient Roman and Ancient Greek value system that was lost to them for thousands of years and even today America proudly takes inspiration from Roman history. From the bra to the bikini all was revived from Roman civilization, and yet somehow it's modern to Ray. India's inability to embrace its own ancient culture without the baggage of being called primitive shows that we have still not been able to free ourselves of our colonial subservience to Western Europe. We can't blame Ray as he was also a product of this colonial Indian education where modernism is somehow inseparable from Western aesthetics. But in the 21st century that all seems so incredibly cringe. Surely today's generation should have more confidence to call itself modern without resorting to copy the west.
have you watched the movie ? It seems you haven’t and hence the comment. While you are right about the impact of European neorealism on Ray or Bengalis (as the receptors of Renaissance in India), this is just one of the components of the film and the not the entire film. If you immerse into the filmography of Ray, neorealism won’t be the only impact you will find (hopefully). Even this aspect of the film has been hardly discussed or deliberated as you would understand from many of the comments here, which can only suggest that the film is well beyond this aspect.
Modernity & ostentatious display of female sexuality being conflated . I am afraid the concept of women's empowerment has to get rid of these shallow semiotics .
Grace & poise : that is what matters.
And you'll decide what constitutes grace & poise?
@@djokerdevil oh ! Dear me .
An opinion/ argument should be countered with an opinion / an argument ; not with anger or sarcasm.
What dumb pick me channel 😂
My thoughts, I think just as dressing well and showing bra straps are considered feminine nature, being the provider and protector for their family is masculine nature, thats why a woman working and earning more is uncomfortable for a man.
No one used to wear such transparent blouse to show bra ….my mother at that time everyone used to wear but not so transparent even in movies it was not so transparent now I don’t like satyajitbray
Tujhse pucha kisine?
But I have seen many old Bollywood movies where the bra was visible from the cotton blouse and I thought it was obvious if you wear cotton blouse. But definitely not that much visible.as in this movie
@@Manisha-mz3ni yes, I have seen the movies of 80s and before, heroines like Rekha, Mausami Chatterjee, Hema Malini, Rakhi, all there wore semi transparent blouses
Haha... Indeed because of all these gyaans people are playing with bra of PM of Bangladesh on camera. I am sure they will appreciate such bra baazi.
Please don't intellectualize bs for attention.
I think it would do the famed 56" some good if it was supported by a 'bro'
@@sreangsuacharyya5788 lol. your thoughts limited to electoral circus.
When you have too much time🙄