Sharmila Tagore carts Bengali aristocracy to Cannes 2025 for Aranyer Din Ratri screening, Simi joins the party

The film's 4K restored version was screened at Cannes 2025 under the Cannes Classics section.

The restoration was led by Wes Anderson, a longtime admirer of Ray’s work, in collaboration with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and The Criterion Collection.

Tagore, who played an intellectual woman from the city in the film, was wearing a green saree (with blouse as a co-ord set) at the red carpet of the prestigious festival where she had earlier visited twice in different capacities.

While Tagore radiated her Bengali charm topping it with a flick of aristocracy, Garewal chose an ivory ensemble as the attire for the event.

The veteran was joined by her elder daughter, Saba Ali Khan, who was wearing an all-yellow traditional ensemble at the screening of the film, which continues to win the hearts of cinegoers with its sharp storytelling even 50 years after it was released in theatres.

An adaptation of  Sunil Gangopadhyay's eponymous novel, the film 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 film, which saw the pairing of Sharmila Tagore and late Bengali icon Soumitra Chatterjee, is centred on a 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.

The four men in the film were played by Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja and Rabi Ghosh.

While the female cast is led by Sharmila Tagore (as Aparna), other actors are late 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.

Sharmila Tagore's previous Cannes outing

Tagore first attended the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 when Ray's film Devi (1960), which was the filmmaking legend's exploration of superstition and treatment of women in a patriarchal society, was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Tagore, who was only 14, was the protagonist in the film that had stirred controversy for its bold take on religious superstition.

This marked her debut at the prestigious festival and was a significant milestone in her early career.

She returned to Cannes in 2009 as a member of the festival's jury.

(Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Facebook )