The Home and the World (1985): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1985, The Home and the World is a drama film directed by Satyajit Ray, running about 140 minutes.

What it’s about. When the movie opens, a woman is recalling the events that molded her perspective on the world. Years ago, her husband, a wealthy Western-educated landowner, challenged tradition by providing her with schooling, and inviting her out of the seclusion in which married women were kept, to the consternation of more conservative relatives. Meeting her husband's visiting friend from college, a leader of an economic rebellion against the British, she takes up his political cause, despite her husbands warnings. As the story progresses, the relationship between the woman and the visitor becomes more than platonic, and the political battles, pitting rich against poor and Hindu against Moslem, turn out not to be quite as simple as she had first thought.

Who’s in it. The Home and the World stars Soumitra Chatterjee as Sandip Mukherjee (as Soumitra Chattopadhyay), Victor Banerjee as Nikhilesh Choudhury, Swatilekha Sengupta as Bimala Choudhury (as Swatilekha Chattopadhyay) and Gopa Aich as The Sister-in-Law, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.2/10, The Home and the World has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Criterion Channel. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Home and the World page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Home and the World tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.