Set over a single night, Sombhu Mitra and Amit Maitra’s Jagte Raho (1956), is about a villager who gets into an apartment block in the city in search of water to quench his thirst and gets wrongly accused of theft.
The entire night goes in him running from one flat to the other to remain in hiding, and in the process witnessing far bigger crimes being committed by privileged and respectable people.
With dialogues penned by the legendary Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, the film is a leading example of the neo-realistic and humanist concerns of the Indian cinema of the 50s, holding the urban elite and middle class up for rebuke, calling out their hypocrisies while underlining the innocence and simplicity of the villagers.
Sriram Raghavan, much celebrated for his sharp thrillers like Andhadhun , Badlapur , Johnny Gaddaar , Agent Vinod and Ek Hasina Thi , joins The Hindu in discussing a film that appears to have gained in significance over time, specially now when the urban-rural chasm is at its widest.
Tune in on May 22 at 8 pm on @the_hindu on Instagram
