Aranyer Din Ratri: I'm sure Wes Anderson's Cannes renewal of Satyajit Ray's comedy will pave the way for modern audiences to experience classics better

Auteurs like Satyajit Ray have often inspired the cinematic sensibilities of Wes Anderson, and now it's a full circle moment as Anderson has helped restore Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1970). The film is a Bengali-language classic that is being resurrected through a six-year collaborative project that began with The Film Foundation World Cinema Project, founded by Martin Scorsese.

The film premiered in this year's Cannes Classics. For years, Satyajit Ray has been an inspiration to Wes Anderson; now the filmmaker returns the favour. Wes Anderson initiated the talks to restore the film in 2019 through his esteemed position on the board of Scorsese's film foundation.

Wes Anderson, The Film Foundation, and an unprecedented cross-continental collaboration

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Driven by Anderson’s admiration for Ray’s work, the project became a joint effort between The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and The Criterion Collection, with funding from the Golden Globe Foundation. While discussing the restoration of the project, Wes Anderson told Variety:

“Anything signed by Satyajit 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 and 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.”

The restoration was anything but cheap and interesting. The pandemic created logistical roadblocks that were putting the commitment of every stakeholder to the test. In the strict lockdown of 2020, director of Film Heritage Foundation Shivendra Singh Dungarpur took an all the way high-risk road from Mumbai to Kolkata to see what producer Purnima Dutta had stored in her home as film negatives. Talking to Variety, Dungarpur said:

"I managed to travel to Kolkata in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic to check the condition of the original camera and sound negatives of the film that were at Purnima Dutta’s home. Once the producers gave their consent, we arranged to ship the elements to L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna for scanning and restoration. When I look back I am amazed that I was able to do this given the severe restrictions that were in place at the time.”

Wes Anderson-backed restoration prioritised authenticity and artistic integrity

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The original camera and sound negatives were the main source of this restoration, processed by adepts of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. The lab had worked with Dungarpur closely, so he did his best not to tarnish Ray's look (the aesthetic), particularly Soumendu Roy's stunning grain and darkness in his cinematography. Explaining further, Dungarpur said:

“I worked closely on the restoration with Sandip Ray and the lab in Bologna on the whole process beginning from shipping the original negatives to the final restoration and I was struck once again by the mastery of Satyajit Ray as the beauty of the film emerged. We worked hard on maintaining the grain and blacks to match [DoP] Soumendu Roy’s original work as closely as possible.”

Sandip Ray, the director’s son, supervised the whole process:

“‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is, still today, one of my favorite films and the restoration work that has been done to it is absolutely stunning. I worked closely with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur through the whole restoration process and was quite amazed by the meticulous approach that was taken to the restoration. I’m tremendously grateful to Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Film Foundation’, Film Heritage Foundation, and The Criterion Collection for joining hands to make this restoration possible. My heartfelt thanks to Wes Anderson, who I know is a great admirer of my father’s work.”

Sound, subtitles, and influence on language accessibility

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The film’s sound restoration involved meticulous work, especially on reels 9 through 12 and compromised sections of reel 2, which were patched using materials from the BFI National Archive.

To make the restored film accessible to global audiences, Wes Anderson and the team emphasised the importance of subtitles. For this, they brought in Indrani Mazumdar, a close collaborator of Ray’s and his preferred translator. She was the only person Ray trusted with English subtitles during his lifetime, bringing an unmatched fidelity to Ray’s original dialogue. Producer Purnima Dutta added:

“I am overwhelmed that ‘Aranyer Din Ratri,’ a masterpiece by Satyajit Ray, has been restored. As the producer of the film, it is a great honor and pleasure for me. I would like to thank The Film Foundation for restoring the film and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of Film Heritage Foundation for his dedication and the time he spent to supervise and coordinate the restoration to ensure that ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is given a second life.”

Wes Anderson’s influence helps introduce Ray to a new generation

With Janus Films securing rights for the U.S. and U.K., Aranyer Din Ratri is poised to find new life among modern audiences. Actress Simi Garewal reflected:

“The restoration of ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is an extraordinary gift – not just to those of us who were part of the film, but to world cinema. I still remember the silence of the forests, the rhythm of the shoot… Working with Satyajit Ray was like stepping into the mind of a quiet genius – every word, every gesture mattered, and he had this rare ability to make you discover depths in yourself you didn’t know existed. I’m so pleased that this masterpiece has been so lovingly restored by Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, Film Heritage Foundation and the Criterion Collection for future generations to experience.”

Sharmila Tagore, who played the lead role in the film, added:

“I remember I was shooting for ‘Aradhana’ when Manik Da [Satyajit Ray’s nickname] 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. “Aranyer Din Ratri’ is such a contemporary film that I know it will resonate with new audiences across the world even today.”

Bridging the past and present of Indian cinema

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Wes Anderson’s role in rejuvenating Aranyer Din Ratri is more than just a curatorial act—it’s a cultural bridge. In helping bring this lesser-seen Ray gem to Cannes, he’s opening the door for younger generations and global cinephiles to experience India’s cinematic treasures as they were meant to be seen: with respect, integrity, and beauty. And with Wes Anderson’s spotlight on the film, that second life might just lead to a wider awakening to Ray’s enduring genius.