 In the post @-@ Charulata period , Ray took on projects of increasing variety , ranging from fantasy to science fiction to detective films to historical drama . Ray also made considerable formal experimentation during this period . He expressed contemporary issues of Indian life , responding to a perceived lack of these issues in his films . The first major film in this period is Nayak ( The Hero ) , the story of a screen hero travelling in a train and meeting a young , sympathetic female journalist . Starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore , in the twenty @-@ four hours of the journey , the film explores the inner conflict of the apparently highly successful matinée idol . In spite of the film 's receiving a " Critics prize " at the Berlin International Film Festival , it had a generally muted reception . 
