Cannes today revisits Satyajit Ray's iconic Aranyer Din Ratri starring Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee

The movie, which saw the pairing of yesteryear actress Sharmila Tagore and late Bengali icon Soumitra Chatterjee, was 4K restored for the iconic film event. The film is being showcased in the Cannes Classics section on May 19.

The holiday of four  jaded middle-class bachelor friends from Kolkata in the forest and their encounter with the opposite sex remains one of Ray's best explorations of youth, sexuality and modernity as the characters undergo their own journey of self-discovery.

In a statement, Film Heritage Foundation, said: "Satyajit Ray’s landmark film 'Aranyer Din Ratri' (Days and Nights in the Forest) restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and the Criterion Collection will have its world premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2025."

According to reports, actress Sharmila Tagore, filmmaker Wes Anderon, actress Simi Garewal, Purnima Dutta, Head of Piyali Films and producer of the movie, Film Foundation Executive Director Margaret Bodde and Film Heritage Foundation member Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, are expected to attend the screening.

'Significant films'

Sharmila Tagore said Ray's movie was one of the significant films of her career.

"It's one of my most significant films. And it's surprisingly contemporary, then and now," she told The Times of India.

"The themes remain relevant," she said of the film with the iconic memory game sequence .

Speaking on Ray's decision to cast her as a tribal girl in the movie, Simi Garewal told The Telegraph: "I was floored that he chose me to play a tribal girl — especially after seeing me in Mera Naam Joker — where I am a westernised Anglo-Indian teacher. Two ends of the spectrum."

"But that’s what sets a great director apart," she said.

Simi Garewal plays a tribal girl in the film. Photo: YouTube Screenshot

An adaptation of  Sunil Gangopadhyay's eponymous novel, the movie revolves around four men, played by  Soumitra Chatterjee (plays Asim), Subhendu Chatterjee (Sanjoy), Samit Bhanja (Hari), and Rabi Ghosh (Sekhar), who decide to spend a weekend in the wilderness.

The female cast is led by Sharmila Tagore (as Aparna0) besides Kaberi Bose (as Jaya) and Simi Garewal as the seductive tribal belle Duli,  Aparna Sen was seen in a small cameo as Hari's former lover.

The movie, a cult classic of Indian cinema, earned a nomination for Best Film at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival in 1970.

The ongoing edition of the Cannes Film Festival is being held from May 13 to May 24.