4K Restoration of Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk to be premiered at Toronto International Film Festival

Satyajit Ray’s final film Agantuk (1991), starring Utpal Dutt, Dipankar Dey, Mamata Shankar, Bikram Bhattacharya, will have the world premiere of its 4K restoration and will be screened in the Cinematheque section of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The festival note on the Bengali film reads, "The final film by Satyajit Ray has been cited as the auteur’s most philosophical, intellectual, and personal. Ray enthusiasts would probably infer that the views of the protagonist are in fact Ray speaking his mind. Ray’s deep study of human behaviour is reflected most prominently here.”

The film was originally released in 1991, a year before the auteur passed away. The 4K digital restoration has been done courtesy the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI).

Jessica Smith, manager at TIFF Cinematheque, spoke to the newspaper Hindustan Times who reported the news and stated, “Agantuk is an important film in Ray’s oeuvre and one he was quite proud of. We hope it will appeal to audiences less familiar with Ray’s body of work and also be a treat for the many TIFF audiences who came out to enjoy the recent series.”

In August, TIFF celebrated the centenary of Satyajit Ray, from 4-27 August, when ten films of his were screened. The selection of films included the popular, well-known titles such as Charulata (1964), Devi (1960), and Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), while showcasing a selection of films by four Ray contemporaries and latter-day directors.

Nandita Das's Zwigato, Shubham Yogi's Kacchey Limbu, Rima Das's Tora's Husband, and Vinay Shukla's documentary While We Watched are amongst the films from India that will be screened at the festival. Shekhar Kapur's What's Love Got To Do With It? and Gurjeet Kaur Bassi's The Chase short film are also among the films revolving around South Asian storylines.

Other films in the TIFF Cinematheque section includes Tales From The Gimli Hospital Redux (1988) by Guy Maddin, Strictly Ballroom (1992) by Baz Luhrmann, I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) by Mary Harron, and Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky.

The 47th edition of the Canadian festival is being held from 8 - 18 September.