Interview (1971, Bengali, d:-Mrinal Sen)

• There’s a noticeable continuity in the films of Mrinal Sen. When I rewatched ‘Interview’ recently, I found similarities in this film with his later work ‘Chalchitra.’ In both the films, the protagonist is seen frantically circling the city of Kolkata in pursuit of advancing his career. In Interview, the search is for an appropriate English attire to appear for an interview in a multinational company with its colonial Eurocentric culture, whereas in Chalchitra the search is for an appropriate journalistic story by a wannabe scribe of a Bengali newspaper. There’s almost a feeling of deja vu when you hear the protagonist in Chalchitra call out ‘Taxi!’ for a public conveyance akin to the shout belted out similarly by the lead character of Interview to board a cab on the streets of Kolkata.
  Stylistically, Interview bears the breezy style of his earlier iconic work ‘Bhuvan Shome’, but Interview goes beyond and introduces newer modes of expression hitherto unseen in Indian cinema. Like for instance when Ranjit Mullick, the protagonist, is introduced to us in the bus in the initial part of the movie, the cameraman K. K. Mahajan is shown filming the sequence in a cinéma-vérité style. Even the ending monologue where the protagonist converses with the unseen follower talking to the viewer directly before unclothing the mannequin in frustration bears a striking originality. Karuna Bandopadhyay, Shekar Chaterjee and others act in supporting roles.
  Rating: 4.4 out of 5