Mahapurush

Mahapurush
Poster for Mahapurush
Poster for Mahapurush
Directed bySatyajit Ray
Screenplay bySatyajit Ray
Based onBirinchibaba
by Rajshekhar Basu
Produced byRDB & Co
StarringCharuprakash Ghosh
Satindra Bhattacharya
Rabi Ghosh
Santosh Dutta
CinematographySoumendu Roy
Edited byDulal Dutta
Music bySatyajit Ray
Release date
  • 7 May 1965 (1965-05-07)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Mahapurush (transl. The Holy Man) is a 1965 Indian film directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a short story Birinchibaba by Rajshekhar Basu.[1]

Plot

After the death of his wife, Gurupada Mitra (Prasad Mukherjee), an advocate, has not been at peace. He and his daughter Buchki (Gitali Roy), meet Birinchi (Charuprakash Ghosh). Birinchi Baba claims to be ageless. He tells stories from the past; about his arguments with Plato about time, how he taught E=mc2 to Einstein, and was on first-name terms with Jesu (Christ) and Gautam (Buddha). Birinchi Baba has a growing band of rich devotees.

Gurupada decides to patronize the holy man and become his disciple. Daughter Buchki is disappointed with her lover Satya. To teach him a lesson, she tells Satya that she is going to leave him and become a disciple of Birinchi Baba.

Satya turns to his friend Nibaran for his help. It does not take Nibaran long to realize that Birinchi Baba is a fraud. Nibaran and friends expose Birinchi Baba. The devotees feel foolish and perhaps have learnt a lesson.

Cast

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved Mahapurush in 2005.[2]

References

  1. ^ Robinson, Andrew (23 September 2021). Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-25851-8.
  2. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.