In a cinematic crossover that no one could have anticipated, Sharmila Tagore will be joining acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson in presenting the restored version of her 1970 film Aranyer Din Ratri ( Days and Nights in the Forest ) at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. The idea to restore the Satyajit Ray classic, which has been selected for a premiere in the Cannes Classics Section, came from Anderson. He has always acknowledged the late filmmaker’s influence on his cinematic oeuvre.

In fact, Anderson’s last film, Asteroid City, starring Tom Hanks, features an entire segment on stargazing that was inspired by Ray’s film. In an interview, Anderson was quoted saying, “We stole that (segment) absolutely wholesale from Satyajit Ray’s Days And Nights In The Forest. It’s a great movie. If that movie had a genre, it would be whatever genre The Darjeeling Limited is in. These guys (characters) get in a car and go off somewhere together, and they discover things.”

​When Anderson, who is also a board member of Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation (TFF), suggested restoring the film in 2019, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and his Film Heritage Foundation stepped in to access the original camera and sound negatives, and initiate the restoration process. After four years of pandemic-induced delays between Mumbai, Calcutta, and Italy, the film was finally restored in 4K at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. The primary elements used for the restoration were the original camera and sound negatives. Producer Purnima Dutta said, “The film will certainly spark conversations at the festival.”

​Speaking about the film, Anderson said, “Anything signed by Ray must be cherished and preserved; but the nearly-forgotten Days And Nights In The Forest is a special/ particular gem... made in 1970. Modern and novelistic. Ray worked in terrain perhaps more familiar to Cassavetes. A clash/negotiation between castes, sexes. Urbans and rurals. Selfish men and their hopes and cruelties and spectacular lack of wisdom. Women who see through them. The great Soumitra Chatterjee: lost but searching. The great Sharmila Tagore: mysterious, cerebral, mesmerizing. From the master, another masterpiece.”

​Aranyer Din Ratri is a film about four young men from Calcutta, driving together for a few days in the country, and the women they meet.

Talking about the film, Tagore says, “I remember I was shooting for Aradhana when Manik da approached me to shoot for this film for a month at a stretch. It was incredibly hot during the shoot and we could only shoot in the mornings and late afternoons. I have wonderful memories of the time spent with my co-actors and Manik da’s precision, especially in the way he shot the memory game sequence, was incredible. I can’t wait to watch the restored film. Aranyer Din Ratri is a contemporary film that I know will resonate with new audiences across the world even today.”