Nayak

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Nayak

1966

2h 0m

Drama

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

100%

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11 Reviews

92%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

While riding in a train on his way to collect an award, movie star Arindam (Uttam Kumar) encounters reporter Aditi (Sharmila Tagore) and begins pouring his heart out to her, almost against his will. By the end of the journey, he is so distraught over the feelings that have been dredged up about his personal life, he's contemplating suicide. He is dissuaded by Aditi, who destroys the notes she'd taken. When the train arrives, Arindam is ready to perform for his public as if nothing had happened.

Penelope Gilliatt

The New Yorker

It is the achievement of a great film director working outside of his usual style, fumbling sometimes with surrealism... but sometimes illuminating it by lines that suddenly show character in movement.

Mar 6, 2024

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Pat Graham

Chicago Reader

Satyajit Ray's 1966 feature comes at the tail end of his early realist period, which included most of the films that won him his reputation in the West.

Jul 14, 2007

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New York Times

Mr. Ray, best known for his Apu trilogy, handles the proceedings with formidable deftness marked by a penetrating vision of performers and film-making.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 9, 2007

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Nandini Ramnath

Scroll.in

Ray packs a world into the train’s cramped compartments, creating a lasting chronicle of the reality behind the artifice in actors and beyond.

Feb 21, 2025

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Jimmy Cage

Jimmy Cage Movie Reviews (YouTube)

NAYAK is a wonderful film that once again proves Satyajit Rays keen sense of profound characters and places. Uttam Kumar shines in the role of the two-edged hero who is caught in a jumble of desire, accomplishment and remorse.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 8, 2022

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Arun A.K

Film Inquiry

The Hero takes a compassionate look at the shortcomings of human nature that make a person fall prey to greed and moral corruption.

Jun 3, 2021

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Audience Member

Full review on my blog max4movies: Nayak (international title "Nayak: The Hero") is an Indian Bengali-language drama about a famous actor traveling to Delhi to receive an important award. At the height of his career, he is confronted with his past as a struggling theater actor, when an educated young woman interviews him. The movie is a thoughtful drama, that pays great attention to its characters, who behave in an authentic and believable way. Without becoming pretentious, the movie addresses several important social issues – while not shying away from also criticizing how the movie industry often only produces cheap entertainment. In addition to the mostly efficient writing and the strong and down to Earth performances, the cinematography is marvelous and makes for some memorable scenes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

The Countenance and depiction of Nayak Played by Uttam kumar is inspiring..

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

A superb Satyajit Ray film based on his own original screenplay. Uttam Kumar is just brilliant.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

gr8 movie. one of the best Bengali movies ever made

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

I might be beginning to really fall in love with Ray. Did Sharmila Tagore kill it a leetle bit? maaybe.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Clearly one of the big inspirations for "The Darjeeling Limited", Satyajit Ray's train movie "Nayak" takes place on a train from Bengal to Delhi 90% of the time. It's well shot, well acted, and I'd say it is Ray's own "8 1/2". Loved it. A popular Bengali film actor is on his way to Delhi by train to go to an awards show to claim his prize. But just a few days before, he was accused of getting into a brawl, which he is afraid now might damage his career. On the train, he meets fans of his films, haters of cinema, children, and a journalist who is not interested in Indian cinema. During his train ride, it all becomes an introspection of his life, how he came to become an actor, the pressures around him, and the nightmares of fame and destruction.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Satyajit Ray

Director

Uttam Kumar

Arindam Mukherjee

Sharmila Tagore

Aditi

Bireswar Sen

Actor

Somen Bose

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Premangshu Bose

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Synopsis

While riding in a train on his way to collect an award, movie star Arindam (Uttam Kumar) encounters reporter Aditi (Sharmila Tagore) and begins pouring his heart out to her, almost against his will. By the end of the journey, he is so distraught over the feelings that have been dredged up about his personal life, he's contemplating suicide. He is dissuaded by Aditi, who destroys the notes she'd taken. When the train arrives, Arindam is ready to perform for his public as if nothing had happened.

Director: Satyajit Ray
Screenwriter: Satyajit Ray
Production Co: R.D. Banshal & Co.
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Original Language: Bangla
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 20, 2018
Runtime: 2h 0m

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