About

The Hero will screen from an archival 35mm film print.

The Hero is Satyajit Ray's second original script moving away from his history of adapting literature. He breaks new ground as a director who often worked with lesser known or non-actors by casting the biggest star of Bengali cinema, Uttam Kumar, in the main role. Uttam Kumar plays Arindam, a movie star who while travelling by train to an award ceremony meets a sincere journalist, Aditi (Sharmila Tagore). Arindam let's down his guard and pours out his life story as the critical Aditi surreptitiously makes interview notes.

While Ray was dismissive of celebrity in his personal life, the director paints his famous protagonist sympathetically and pushes Arindam's celebrity beyond his constructed image into a nuanced character study. The film earned comparisons to Bergman's Wild Strawberries 1957 for its self-reflexive protagonist evaluating the span of his life.

Ages 12+