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Chiriakhana (The Zoo)
| Year | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Producer | Star Productions |
| Screenplay | Satyajit Ray |
| Based on | The novel Chiriakhana by Saradindu Banerjee |
| Photography | Soumendu Roy |
| Editor | Dulal Dutta |
| Art Director | Bansi Chandragupta |
| Music | Satyajit Ray |
| Sound | Nripen Paul, Atul Chatterjee, Sujit Sarkar |
| Length | 137 min. |
| Black & White |
Cast:
| Byomkesh Bakshi | Uttam Kumar |
|---|---|
| Ajit | Sailen Mukherjee |
| Nisanath Sen | Susil Majumdar |
| Damyanti | Kanika Majumdar |
| Bijoy | Subhendu Chatterjee |
| Doctor Bhujangadhar Das | Syamal Ghosal |
| Nepal Gupta | Prasad Mukherjee |
| Mukul | Supira Roy |
| Muskil Mia | Nripati Chatterjee |
| Nazarbibi | Subrata Chatterjee |
| Banalakshmi | Gitali Roy |
| Rakiklal | Kalipada Chakravarty |
| Panugopal | Chinmoy Roy |
| Jahar Ganguli | Ramen Mullick |
| Bankim Ghosh | Brajadas |
| Inspector | Nilatpal Dey |
Ray made this film, like Abhijan before this to his assistants who conceived of the initial idea. He had almost no input in the choice of the story and casting. However he agreed to direct the film when the producers insisted on inclusion of Ray himself.
The director of a retirement home calls in a private detective, Byomkesh, to investigate one of his residents, a former film star. While delivering some new information on the phone, the director is assassinated. A deaf-mute is a witness. He is killed in turn when he writes down what he has seen.
Ray, though pleased with the final result, was aware that "the vital clue is a matter of semantics which is untranslatable." In addition he thought it might be too subtle and introspective for the wider audiences. "Certainly not for Bond-addicts!" he said. Therefore it is not surprising that few have seen this film outside Bengal.
