Satyajit Ray's Film From The Golden Era Of Indian Cinema 'Pratidwandi' Screened At Cannes 2022

The jubilant and star-studded 75th Cannes Film Festival commenced on May 17 with fervor. This year India is at the epicenter of the Cannes festival by being the ‘Country of Honour’ at Marche Du Films conducted alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France. Celebrating the Indian cinema, today a classic Indian film by veteran filmmaker Satyajit Ray titled Pratidwandi was screened at Cannes in 1970. The film was originally released in 1970.

Satyajit Ray is well known for his Calcutta trilogy which is the first three films he made and Pratidwandi is the first of the three films. In his trilogy, the legendary filmmaker tried to portray the urban culture and the characters based in Kolkata. Pratidwandi is one of the most acclaimed films by Satyajit Ray. The story of Pratidwandi revolves around the life of the character Siddharta played by Dhritiman Chatterjee who is an educated middle-class youth who found himself in the dilemma of social anarchy.

The official Twitter handle of the Cannes Film Festival tweeted about Satyajit Ray's film. Their tweet reads, "A rare film, an exclusivity: Pratidwandi by the Indian director and great author Satyajit Ray in screening today at 2 pm in the Salle Buñuel in a restored version. A screening #CannesClassics in the colors of India, "Country of Honour" of the @mdf_cannes this year. #Cannes2022 (sic)."

On the other hand Anurag Thakur, Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting, too shared the news on his Twitter handle. He wrote, "#SatyajitRay has a rich, historic association with #CannesFilmFestival. His 1970 movie ‘Pratidwandi’ will be screened in the #Cannes Classics section of 75th edition of the festival (sic)."