Jalsaghar - The Music Room (1958)

Synopsis

Biswambhar Roy is a zamindar (landlord) and the last of his kind. With the title, he has none of the perquisites, inheriting diminishing lands that are being eroded by the neighbouring river. But he must maintain the lifestyle of his heritage. This ostentation is most apparent in the grandest room of his mansion, the music room.

Here he inports the finest musicians and dancers to perform, and invites the area's most important commoners. His wife's entreaties to control spending are ignored, and the puberty party he throws for his son bring him down to the last few sacks of family jewels. Then, struck by tragedy, he locks the music room and slips into lethargy - until a final grand soiree consumes the last of his funds.



Cast:  
  
Biswambhar Roy:  Chhabi Biswas
Mahamaya, Roy's wife:  Padma Devi
Khoka, Roy's son:  Pinaki Sen Gupta
Mahim Ganguly, neighbor:  Gangapada Bose
Manager of Roy's estate:  Tulsi Lahari
Ananta, Roy's servant:  Kali Sarkar
Ustad Ujir Khan, Singer:  Ustad Waheed Khan
Krishna Bai, the dancer:  Roshan Kumari
Singer:  Begum Akhtar   

*****

"The Music Room" is his (Ray's) most evocative film, and he fills it with observant details. The insect in the glass, the bliss of an elephant being bathed in the river, the joy of the servants reopening the dusty music room, the way the chandelier reflects Huzur's states of mind, the way when the servant sprinkles the guests with scent he adds an extra contemptuous shake for Mahim.

Despite the faded luxury surrounding Huzur, the film is not ornate in any way. Perhaps as a reaction to the hundreds of overwrought Indian musical melodramas churned out annually, Ray made an austere character study--also with music. His hero deserves the comparison with King Lear, because like Lear he arouses our sympathy even while indulging his vanity and stubbornly doing all of the wrong things. Like Lear, he thinks himself a man more sinned against than sinning. Like Lear, he is wrong. (Roger Ebert / January 17, 1999)

Read about this film

Country: India
Language: Bengali
Color: Color
Runtime: 95 min.