Nayak (Coaster)

Nayak (also released under the translated title The Hero, and as Nayak: The Hero) is a 1966 Indian Bengali-language drama film scored, written, and directed by Satyajit Ray. It was Ray’s second entirely original screenplay, after Kanchenjungha (1962). The story revolves around a matinee idol on a 24-hour train ride from Kolkata to Delhi to receive a national award. En route, he ends up revealing his mistakes, insecurities, and regrets to a young journalist during a multi-part interview, while his life story is gradually revealed through seven flashbacks and two dreams. The film stars Uttam Kumar as the titular nayak (hero), and Sharmila Tagore as the journalist. Arindam Mukherjee, a Bengali film star, is being given a prestigious award in Delhi. He did not plan to make the trip from Calcutta to accept it in person, but changes his mind at the last minute to try to escape from thoughts about the underperformance of his latest film at the box office and reports in the morning newspaper about an altercation he was involved in. As he is unable to get a plane ticket, he has to take an overnight train, but he is actually kind of looking forward to having more time away. On the train, the parallel and intersecting stories of a number of the passengers play out in tandem with that of Arindam, including a business executive traveling with his wife and sick daughter, an advertising man willing to use the attentions of his lovely wife to get close to the business executive, and an elderly man who writes letters to the editor critical of the film industry and does not like that Arindam is on the train. In the train’s dining car, Aditi Sengupta, the young editor of a small modern women’s magazine, Adhunika, sees Arindam. Although she has a negative view of celebrities and her magazine does not usually cover film, a fellow passenger convinces her to try to interview Arindam to attract more readers, but her first attempt does not go well, as he senses her feelings of superiority and is not interested in answering her searching questions. After taking a nap and having a nightmare, Arindam sees Aditi in the dining car again and begins to open up about his past, regrets, and insecurities. He tells her how Shankar-da, his mentor in the theatre, urged him to stay away from films, but he took his first film role almost immediately after Shankar-da died; he talks about his first day on a film set with Mukunda Lahiri, an arrogant older star, and how he refused to help get the man a job years later, when their fortunes had reversed; he tells her about Biresh, a childhood friend who became a labor activist and wanted him to use his platform as a star to help the cause, and how, to avoid controversy, he refused. Aditi does not just listen, but challenges and pushes Arindam, leading to further introspection on his part. She initially takes notes surreptitiously, but later on, out of empathy almost bordering on pity, stops. As she begins to see behind his celebrity and Arindam begins to openly question everything about his life, Aditi even defends his work to him as something that gives many people pleasure. That night, a drunk Arindam asks the conductor to get Aditi, and, while waiting for her to arrive, contemplates jumping off the back of the train to his death. Aditi’s arrival interrupts him, and he offers to complete her interview by telling her about his fight, saying he feels a need to further unburden himself, and there is no one else he can talk to. She says she does not need to hear what she has already guessed (that he had an affair with a married co-star and the fight was with the woman’s husband), and then tells him that his newest movie only flopped because his heart was not in it. Concerned for Arindam, Aditi makes sure he returns to his sleeper compartment before going back to her seat, and he says she can write anything about him that she wants. In the morning, as the train approaches Delhi, Arindam and Aditi are again reunited in the dining car. When she asks how he is, he responds by asking her to tell him, and she says he is fine and will continue to be a big star for a long time, and then tears up her notes about their interview, deciding to let the hero preserve his public image. Arindam is surrounded by reporters as soon as the train reaches the station in Delhi, and, after one last glance at Aditi as she walks away, he slips back into the role of the star.