''Seemabaddha'' ( ''Shimabôddho''; English title: ''Company Limited'') is a

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

social drama Bengali film directed by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

. It is based on the novel ''Seemabaddha'' by Mani Shankar Mukherjee. It stars

Barun Chanda Barun Chanda is an Indian Bengali people, Bengali advertising professional, actor and author based in the city of Kolkata. He is mostly remembered for his role in Satyajit Ray's ''Seemabaddha''. Biography Chanda was born in Dhaka in present-d ...

, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, and

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

in lead roles. The film was the second entry in Ray's Calcutta trilogy, which included '' Pratidwandi'' (''The Adversary'') (1970) and '' Jana Aranya'' (''The Middleman'') (1976). The films deal with the rapid modernization of Calcutta, rising corporate culture and greed, and the futility of the

rat race A rat race is a metaphor used to describe an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase is sometimes used to relate the human life to that of rats attempting to earn an ultimately pointless reward when Mortality salience, death ...

. The film won the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Award at the 33rd Venice International Film Festival, and the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...

in 1971.

Plot

Shyamal (Barun Chanda) is an ambitious

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

manager in a British fan manufacturing firm in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where he is expecting a promotion shortly. He is married to Dolan and lives in a company flat. He aspires to become the company director. His sister-in-law, Tutul (Sharmila Tagore), arrives from

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

to stay with them for a few days. She is given a tour of the life they lead and the many upscale spaces they inhabit—the restaurants, the beauty parlours, clubs and race courses. Tutul, whose father Shyamal had once been a student under, greatly admires him and his idealism. Secretly she is envious of her sister's marriage with him. Life goes on smoothly for Shyamal until he learns that a consignment of fans meant for export is defective just before the shipment of a prestigious order. The problem is that the fans were painted with a flaw. The company is under a contract requiring the shipment be delivered on time. There is a clause permitting delay in case of civil disturbance. To escape blame, Shyamal hatches a plan with the labour officer to provoke a strike at the factory. A factory watchman is badly injured, a false riot is organised, and a lock-out is declared. The delay caused by the strike and riot are used by the company to allow strikebreakers to make needed repairs. For his "efficient" handling of the crisis, Shyamal is promoted, and there is congratulations all around. However, he has fallen in the eyes of Tutul and himself. He is finally at the top, both successful— and desolate.

Cast

as Tutul (Sudarsana) *

as Shyamal (Shyamalendu) Chatterjee * Paromita Chowdhury as Dolan (Shyamal's wife) * Harindranath Chattopadhyay as Sir Baren Roy * Dipankar Dey as Sen * Ajoy Banerjee as Talukdar * Haradhan Bandopadhyay as Nilambar * Indira Roy as Shyamal's mother * Promod Ganguli as Shyamal's father *

Miss Shefali Miss Shefali, also known as ''Arati Das'' (1944 – 6 February 2020) was an Indian Bengali actress and dancer who was recognized for her work in Bengali cinema. She had worked with film director Satyajit Ray in classics like Pratidwandi and ...

Awards

* 33rd Venice International Film Festival:

Award *

References

External links

satyajitray.org on the film

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilm Films directed by Satyajit Ray Films based on Indian novels 1971 films Films set in Kolkata Best Feature Film National Film Award winners Films with screenplays by Satyajit Ray 1970s business films Bengali-language Indian films 1970s Bengali-language films Films based on works by Mani Shankar Mukherjee