The Music Room (1958)

Director: Satyajit Ray
Stars: Chhabi Biswas, Padma Devi, Gangapada Basu
Runtime: 95 minutes

Synopsis: Depicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity.

Verdict: Comparable to Shakespeare’s “King Lear” or Orson Welles’ 1941 classic “Citizen Kane”, famed Indian auteur Satyajit Ray’s “The Music Room” tells the tale of a middle-aged Zamindar consumed by his pride, vanity, and adoration for extravagant music concerts.

Set in Bengal during the final years of the controversial Zamindari system, this magnificently crafted pillar of Indian Cinema serves as a character study of Chhabi Biswas’ Huzur Roy, a phenomenally acted wealthy landowner who has lived his entire life in the shadow of his own privilege. His fortune was inherited and he believes that his prestigious family name shields him from any mishaps. He is blinded by his arrogance and refuses to accept the reality of his slow but certain bankruptcy, instead insisting on doubling down on his expenses to spite a neighbor of his, a self-made money-lender and representation of India’s new economic system. This rivalry, further emphasized by Roy’s love for music for which he dedicated a gorgeous music room in his gigantic palace, beautifully sets up the two components that this movie looks to convey: introduce western audiences to the Indian art scene and explore the effects of pride on disconnected men who will go to extreme lengths to avoid “going downstairs”, as the film so elegantly tells us.

“The Music Room” is clearly the work of a master who knows exactly how to communicate with his audience, no matter their background. I’d also be doing the film a disservice if I didn’t mention the absolutely stunning production design that it benefited from, awing us with its replication of a traditional Indian palace that efficiently parallels the protagonist’s character. I’m no Satyajit Ray expert by any means, but many consider the movie to be a great introduction to his extensive filmography and I’m tempted to agree with this instruction.    

FINAL GRADE: 9/10