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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Jana Aranya (The Middleman)
| image = Jana Aranya, 1976 film, poster.jpg
| director = [[Satyajit Ray]]
| producer = Indus Films (Subir Guha)
| writer = [[Satyajit Ray]] (screenplay) [[Sankar (writer)|Sankar]] (novel)
| starring = [[Pradip Mukherjee]] [[Satya Banerjee]] [[Deepankar De]] [[Lily Chakravarti]] [[Gautam Chakravarti]] [[Aparna Sen]] [[Sudesna Das]] [[Utpal Dutt]] [[Rabi Ghosh]]
| cinematography = [[Soumendu Roy]]
| editing = [[Dulal Dutta]]
| music = Satyajit Ray
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|df=y|1976|2|20}}
| runtime = 131 mins
| country = India
| language =[[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| budget =
}}

'''''Jana Aranya''''' is a [[1976 in film|1976]] [[Bengali language|Bengali]] film directed by [[Satyajit Ray]], based on the novel of the same name by [[Mani Shankar Mukherjee]]. It is the last among Ray's Calcutta trilogy series, the previous two being, ''[[Pratidwandi]]'' (''The Adversary'', 1970) and ''[[Seemabaddha]]'' (''Company Limited'', 1971).

==Plot==
The film portrays the economic difficulties faced by middle-class, educated, urban youth in 1970s India.

After achieving only moderate academic results and making numerous unsuccessful attempts to find a job, Somnath ([[Pradip Mukherjee]]), the central protagonist struggles in his daily life. One day while Somnath was walking down the lane in the crowded Burrabazar area of urban Kolkata, he slips over a banana peel, and coincidentally meets Bishuda([[Utpal Dutt]]). He confesses to Bishuda about his unsuccessful attempts in getting a suitable job for himself. Bishuda advises him to start his own business. Somnath finally decides to start his own business as a middle-man—i.e. a self-employed salesman. He soon however finds himself involved in unethical behaviours, which is contrary to his upbringing. His friend Sukumar, having gone through similar ordeals but finally being unable to land a job, becomes a taxi-driver.

One day, Somnath finds that in order to land a big order, he must propitiate a client by supplying him with a prostitute. Despite his hesitation and after trying several brothels, Somnath, with the help of a more experienced operator, finds a girl for the purpose. However, she turns out to be his friend Sukumar's sister. Embarrassed and at a loss, Somnath offers her money and requests her to leave, but the girl refuses. Her purpose is to earn money, not beg, she tells him. Somnath delivers her to his client and lands the contract but is remorseful.

==Cast==
* [[Pradip Mukherjee]] - Somnath
* Kalyan Sen - Mr. Bakshi
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051810/ Satya Bandyopadhyay] - Somnath's Father
* [[Deepankar De]] - Bhombol, Somnath's elder brother
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0080341/ Arati Bhattacharya] - Mrs. Ganguli
* Gautam Chakraborty - Sukumar
* [[Lily Chakravarty]] - Kamala,Bhombol's wife
* Bimal Chatterjee -Mr. Adok
* Bimal Deb - Jagabandhu
* [[Santosh Dutta]] - Hiralal Saha
* [[Utpal Dutt]] - Bishuda/Biswanath Bose
* [[Rabi Ghosh]] - Natabar Mittir
* Soven Lahiri - Goenka
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0222471/ Padmadevi] - Mrs. Biswas
* [[Aparna Sen]] - Somnath's ex-girlfriend
* Sudeshna Das - Kauna / Juthika

==Reception and awards==
The film is generally considered to be one of the darker and more cynical ones in Ray's filmography, even by Ray himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/jana-aranya-satyajit-rays-most-cynical-ruthless-film-resonates-with-todays-world-3766387.html|last=Chattopadhyay|first=Bhaskar|title=Jana Aranya: Satyajit Ray's most cynical, ruthless film resonates with today's world|work=Showsha|publisher=[[Firstpost]]|date=2 July 2017|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a score of 88% based on 8 reviews with an average rating of 6.53/10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jana_aranya? |title=The Middleman (Jana Aranya) (1975) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] of ''[[The Chicago Reader]]'' considers it to have "the best performances of any Ray film I've seen and a milieu that may remind you of both [[Billy Wilder]]'s ''[[The Apartment]]'' and [[John Cassavetes]]'s ''[[Faces (1968 film)|Faces]]''."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-middleman/Film?oid=1058516|last=Rosenbaum|first=Jonathan|title=The Middleman|work=[[The Chicago Reader]]|date=1 November 1995|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' considers it to be "absorbing viewing".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-middleman|author=GA|title=The Middleman|work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out London]]|publisher=Time Out Group|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> Leah Garchik of ''[[SF Gate]]'' compared the film to [[Michael Moore]]'s ''[[Roger & Me]]'' (released 15 years after this film), writing that "[w]here Moore hits you over the head with his point, though, Ray's presentation is much more sophisticated and elegant." Despite criticizing the film's middle as being "bogged down", she praises the film's use of sound as being "remarkable. [...] From the very start, when Somnath is pictured taking his final exam, there's no background music; all you hear is the squeaking of pens on paper. The film's silences are more attention-getting and mesmerizing than the most demanding background music." She concludes that the film "evokes an insidious amorality that he sees as an inevitable side effect of the huge pressures from within the family and outside to get ahead and make something of oneself."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-REVIEW-MOVIE-REVIEW-Innocence-Tested-in-3022609.php|title=FILM REVIEW -- MOVIE REVIEW / Innocence Tested in a Corrupt Calcutta|first1=Leah|last1=Garchik|first2=Chronicle Staff|last2=Writer|date=6 October 1995|website=SFGate}}</ref> Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, writing for [[Firstpost]], called it "Ray's most cynical, ruthless film". He writes that the "film’s most brutal scenes": "Ray literally, and perhaps for the first time in his filmmaking career, bares his fangs and pokes us in the eye to show us what a strange and hopeless world we live in. Shot beautifully in black and white, with the use of light to symbolically cover only one half of most faces in the night scenes, juxtaposing the ruthless streets and markets against a loving and caring sister-in-law at home who supports him no matter what, and once again focusing on the human content more than the external glamour, Ray puts Somnath in a world of shocks and surprises, only to make him realise, that beginning right from education, to employment, to entrepreneurship, there is no country for an honest man."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/jana-aranya-satyajit-rays-most-cynical-ruthless-film-resonates-with-todays-world-3766387.html|title=Jana Aranya: Satyajit Ray's most cynical, ruthless film resonates with today's world- Entertainment News, Firstpost|date=2 July 2017|website=Firstpost}}</ref> ''[[Times of India]]'' shared a similar view, calling the "film’s climax [...] an out and out shocker in which Somnath faces a startling dilemma of epic proportions, and just like Ray visualizes he fails to choose the right path, and he is now neither noble, nor a hero.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/controversial-bengali-films-on-political-issues/photostory/68064794.cms|title=Controversial Bengali films on political issues|date=19 February 2019|website=The Times of India}}</ref>

A negative review came from Elliott Stein of ''[[Film Comment]]'', who gave the film one star out of four. He called it "predictable" and criticized the central performance from Mukherjee, calling him " a drab performer whose loss of innocence is uninvolving." Despite this, he praised some of the film's "near-[[Dickensian]] passages" and praised Rabi Ghosh's performance as the "“public relations” man who becomes the Brahmin's mentor in petty capitalism."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/new-york-film-festival-review-hit-and-myth/|title=Festivals: New York 1976|website=Film Comment}}</ref>

The film has been nominated for and won the following awards since its release: Best Direction New Delhi, 1975; Best Film, Direction, Screenplay, Government of West Bengal, 1975 and Karlovy Vary Prize, 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.satyajitray.org/films/jana.htm|title=Jana Aranya (The Middleman)|work=SatyajitRay.org|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930030241/http://www.satyajitray.org/films/jana.htm|archive-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Preservation==
The [[Academy Film Archive]] preserved ''Jana Aranya'' in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=&filmmaker=satyajit+ray&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive|publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0074710|title=Jana Aranya}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140930030241/http://www.satyajitray.org/films/jana.htm Jana Aranya @ SatyajitRay.org]

{{Satyajit Ray}}

[[Category:Films directed by Satyajit Ray]]
[[Category:Bengali-language films]]
[[Category:1976 films]]
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Satyajit Ray]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:1970s Bengali-language films]]

Jana Aranya - Revision history

>FrescoBot at 02:45, 4 May 2021