Classics By Satyajit Ray (Aranyer Dinratri, Jana Aranya, Parash Pathar, Pratidwandi)

Four friends from Calcutta city venture out to the forests of Palmau for a holiday excursion in car. They arrive at a little village in the state of Bihar. Not having made any arrangements for their stay, they come across a rest house. As they have not made reservations, they bribe the caretaker, who risks his job, as he needs the money for his wife?s illness.

The four young men are full of the over-confidence of the big city and scant respect for the rural villagers. The group is led by Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), the richest of the four. Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) is a timid person who always plays it safe. The sportsman, non-intellectual Hari (Samit Bhanja) wants to forget a girl who recently rejected him. Sekhar (Robi Ghosh) is self-confident and comical. The journey into the forest turns out to be a journey of self-discovery.

They spend their first night getting drunk at a local liquor shop. Hari is drawn towards one of tribal women, Duli (Simi Garewal), whose untamed quality enhances her appeal.

The following morning, while debating whether to shave or not, they spot some other women from Calcutta, they locate the women?s cottage and introduce themselves to the family. Asim is interested in Aparna (Sharmila Tagore), a cool, self-confident young woman whose widowed father jokes that he never knows what she is thinking. Sanjoy is attracted to her widowed sister-in-law, Jaya (Kaveri Bose).

A series of episodes reveal the characters. Drunken sprees, social embarrassments, adventures with servants, officials, romance. The four friends? youthful arrogance gets them into a series of disastrous and often hilarious adventures.

Hari makes love with Duli, the servant Lakha ambushes him in revenge. The inhibited Sanjoy does not dare to respond to Jaya's bold seduction while Aparna leaves Asim after giving him her address - perhaps a promise of love. The friends depart again for the city, each with a better appreciation of life.

Jana Aranya

The film begins with blatant cheating in the examination hall. Somnath (Pradip Mukherjee), an honest student, finds himself doing badly in the exams due to an overworked examiner, without his glasses who is unable to read his small handwriting. As he is in no position to marry, his girlfriend gets married to someone else due to pressure from her family.

A bright and idealistic young man, Somnath begins search of a job along with his more realistic friend Sukumar (Gautam Chakravarti). With the job market flooded with thousands of hopefuls, Somnath faces some absurd interviews. He gives up his search after an interview in which he asked, 'what is the weight of the moon?' Later, he encounters an older man, the street-smart businessman, Bisuda (Utpal Dutta). On Bisuda's advise, Somnath becomes a middleman, an order supplier paid on commission. His father, an upright middle-class man considers this business to be disgraceful to the family reputation.

Somnath, soon, finds himself earning through petty deals but he is ambitious and wants to grow his enterprise. His friend Sukumar, however, has not had much luck and now works as a taxi driver.

There is chance of Somnath landing up with a big order but the client seems to be in no hurry to sign the deal. An acquaintance, Mr. Mitter, advises him to supply the client with a prostitute to clinch the deal. After much hesitation, he agrees.

They go in search of a prostitute. After visiting two brothels, they finally find a girl. She turns out to be his friend Sukumar's sister. Somnath asks her to take the money and leave, but she is a professional and would not take money with out earning it. Somnath agrees and delivers her to his client's room in a hotel.

He gets the contract but it does not bring him any happiness. Finally, as he enters his family house through a dark door, he is no longer an innocent boy but a corrupt man who has discovered the advantages of corruption.

Parash Pathar

On a rainy afternoon, an elderly bank clerk - Paresh Dutta - finds a mysterious "Parash Pathar" as he his returning from work after learning that his office is closing down. "Parash Pathar" or the Philosopher's stone can transform any piece of metal into gold.

At home he demonstrates the stone?s magical power to his wife by changing a few household items into gold. Soon, Dutta?s are among the richest and most respected citizen of Calcutta. From a modest dwelling, the childless couple move to an opulent mansion. Paresh now has a personal secretary - Priyatosh Henry Biswas, a young man preoccupied with his girlfriend. The source of Paresh?s sudden wealth is a mystery and Paresh is very careful to keep it a secret. He is now much sought after in social and political gatherings.

Paresh is invited to a cocktail party at the house of a businessman and gets drunk. The guests are treated to a magic show by the inebriated Paresh ? turning metal into gold. The cunning host covets the secret, however, Paresh manages evade him. Frustrated, the businessman goes to the police with allegation of gold smuggling.

The panic stricken Paresh gives the stone to his personal secretary ? Priyatosh and attempts to escape. Paresh?s car breaks down and is arrested on a charge of smuggling gold. Paresh has only one way to prove his innocence ? demonstrate the power of stone in the court. But Priyatosh has swallowed the stone. Police wants to operate Priyatosh and remove the stone. The x-rays reveal that the stone is slowly being digested in the young man?s stomach. Once the stone is digested, all gold reverts to iron. The crisis is over. Paresh and his wife seem relieved.

Pratidwandi

Siddartha (Dhritiman Chatterjee) is forced to discontinue his medical studies due to unexpected and brutal death of his father. He has to now find a job in stead. In one job interview, he is asked to name the most significant world event in the last ten years. His reply is 'the plain human courage shown by the people of Vietnam', instead of the expected - man landing on moon. The interviewer asks is he is a communist. Needles to say that he does not get the job.

He reaches a coffee shop where he is offered to work for the communist party. When he does not show any interest the party leader tells him about an opening for a medical representative. To escape from the heat and have a snooze, he goes in to a cinema. As a government propaganda newsreel is being shown before the feature, a bomb explodes in the cinema hall. In the stampede that follows, Siddartha, breaks his watch. He goes to a watchmaker but he cannot afford the repairs.

Waiting to cross the road, he notices a sexy girl. He drifts back to his days as a medical student in a flashback. The professor is explaining anatomy of female breast. Many flashbacks and dreams occur to Siddartha through the film.

On his way to hostel, he has an encounter with some hippies. Along with an ex-classmate, he goes out to see a porn film but to their disappointment, the film turns out to be not-so-pornographic.

In such constant wandering in a Calcutta, disintegrated relationships with his sister and a Naxalite (militant communist) brother, his friendship with Keya is only thing that keeps him sane.

Keya is a simple girl. They enjoy each other's company but they cannot make any commitment to each other due to the circumstances.

After yet another attempt at a job interview, Siddartha leaves the big city to take a modest job of a salesman in a far off small town. He writes to Keya that he still cherishes their relationship. And that he has heard that bird call again but this time it is for real, and not his mind. After completing the letter, he comes out to the balcony of his modest room. The bird calls again. He also hears the sombre chants of a funeral procession. As he turns to the camera, the picture is frozen.