Under the Blue Sky

Set in the turbulent 1930s, this is the story of a poor Chinese hawker selling his merchandise, Chinese silk, in the streets of Calcutta. This was the time when China was repulsing a brutal attack of militarist Japan and when an outraged Rabindranath Tagore wrote to his friend in Japan, the great poet Noguchi: “I wish your countrymen, whom I love so much, not success but remorse”. This film holds the dubious distinction of being the first to be banned (though temporarily) in independent India.

Director: Mrinal Sen

Cast: Kali Bannerjee, Manju Dey, Smriti Biswas, Bikash Roy, Suruchi Sengupta, Ajit Chatterjee, Priya Chatterjee, Rasaraj Chakraborty

Audience-only score — full critic data not yet in the ReelXO vault.