The Big City (1963)

Anil Chatterjee: Subrata Mazumdar

Photos 

Quotes 

• Arati : You wouldn't recognize me on the job.

  Subrata Mazumdar : What about at home? Would I recognize you at home?

  Arati : You don't recognize me? Tell me honestly.

  [Subrata shakes his head no] 

  Arati : Why not?

  Subrata Mazumdar : It all feels a bit unfamiliar. It feels a bit...

  Arati : What about this?

  [points at her cheek] 

  Arati : You don't recognize my mole? I'm still the same housewife.

• Subrata Mazumdar : [to Arati]  Peace within the family is more important than money.

• Subrata Mazumdar : If you were a bit less attractive, I might have wanted you to get a job. If a girl like you worked in an office, all the male employees' output would drop. There's a saying in English: A woman's place is in the home.

  Arati : You believe that?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Yes. I'm very conservative, like my father. A housewife should stay in her house and not wander about.

• Subrata Mazumdar : Someone can make a million manufacturing cheap cigarettes, but a bank employee with a BA can only go bald worrying about finances.

• Subrata Mazumdar : I suppose you'll say you supported a large family all by yourself and that Ma never had to go out an work. I'm not denying that. But times have changed. It's a new day and we have to change. We have to accept it. Change comes by necessity. We have no choice but to take this step.

  Priyogopal (Subrata's father) : What does Arati say?

  Subrata Mazumdar : She took the job of her own free will. It wasn't a whim.

• Arati : Do you write our last name in English with a J or a Z?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Z. Z - the first letter in zoo.

  Pintu : Who's going to the zoo?

• Arati : I'm worried about one thing.

  Subrata Mazumdar : What?

  Arati : The girls I saw the day of the interview all looked so fashionable. So tip-top. How can I go to work in my tattered slippers?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Give me a list of what you need to look fashionable. I'll get an advance from the office.

• Arati : What if they call me in for an interview?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Then you go.

  Arati : Yes, but...

  Subrata Mazumdar : But what?

  Arati : What do I say here at home?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Say you're going to your father's house. It wouldn't be too far off. A boss is like a father. Both are providers.

• Arati : I'll sign it?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Why not?

  Arati : Me?

  Subrata Mazumdar : If you don't sign it, who will? Lady Mountbatten?

• Arati : You really don't want me - to work?

  Subrata Mazumdar : No, I don't. And Baba doesn't. Ma doesn't. Even he doesn't. You'd rather go on making so many others unhappy?

  Arati : It's not the others that concern me. What matters is what you want.

• Arati : I'm going.

  Subrata Mazumdar : Not going to put on your lipstick?

• Arati : Shall I tell you some good news?

  Subrata Mazumdar : Good news?

  Arati : I got a 50-rupee raise.

  Subrata Mazumdar : That's great. The wife's a hero, the husband's a zero.

• Subrata Mazumdar : You stood up to injustice. Was that wrong? I could never have done what you did. I wouldn't have had the courage. Earning our daily bread has made us cowards. But you weren't a coward. Is that a small achievement? Why should I be angry with you?