influenced by the English, stating that "this stratum of Indian life was more English than England". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film "extraordinarily vivid and fresh." In 1992 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll of Greatest Films of All Time Charulata received 4 votes. The film ranked 6th in the British Film Institute's critics' poll and 7th in its user poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time in 2002. Much to Ray's dismay, the film was rejected at Cannes, a move protested by the likes of David Lean and Ingmar Bergman. The film was, supposedly, an all-time favourite of Jean-Luc Godard. It was shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. It was awarded Best Director by the Berlin Film Festival. On the occasion of the birth centenary of Ray, senior journalist B.M. Hanif of Prajavani newspaper reported on 21 May 2020 that speculations were rife at the time of release that the story was based on the life of Rabindranath Tagore, his brother Jyotirindranath Tagore (who was 12 years elder to him) and his sister-in-law Kadambari Devi (who was two years elder to him) considering the fact that the story takes place in 1879-1880 when Rabindranath was 19 years old and that Kadambari Devi committed suicide four months after Rabindranath was married at the age of 23 in 1883 to the 9 or 11-year-old Mrinalini Devi. Preservation The Academy Film Archive preserved Charulata in 1996. Awards Tribute The film contains a famous scene in which Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee) sings Rabindranath Tagore's song "Fule Fule Dhole Dhole" on a swing while looking at Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee). The scene is referenced in the Bollywood film Parineeta during the song sequence, Soona Man Ka Aangan. Indeed, Parineetas Lalita (Vidya Balan) is dressed to resemble Nastanirh/Charulatas Charu. Furthermore, Parineeta is based upon the novel Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay who was a noted contemporary of Tagore (and who wrote novels concerned with social reform). Home media In 2013, The Criterion Collection released a restored high-definition digital transfer and new subtitle translations. In the United Kingdom, it was 2013's ninth most-watched foreign-language film on television, with 113,600 viewers on Channel 4. References Further reading Antani, Jay. "Charulata review." Slant Magazine, April 2004. Biswas, Moinak. "Writing on the Screen: Satyajit Ray’s Adaptation of Tagore" Chaudhuri, Neel. "Charulata: The Intimacies of a Broken Nest" Cooper, Darius.The Cinema