Paralleling The Adversary in theme and likewise set in Calcutta, Satyajit Ray's Jana Aranya (The Middleman) opens during a History final exam at Calcutta University. The proctors monitoring the test take no actions to suppress the widespread cheating taking place, but protagonist Somnath (Pradip Mekherjee) ignores this. A bright student, he's too intent composing his essay answers and has no need to cheat. Still he is drawn into the fray when he is urged to pass on a cheat sheet note on to a classmate—clearly foreshadowing his future role as a "middleman."

Due to the history professor's poor eyesight, Somnath receives only a mediocre grade and fails to graduate with honors due to this. That dooms his employment prospects since he's now lumped in with 100,000 applicants that respond to advertised positions. Getting in for a live interview doesn't bode well either—a montage shows the absurdity of the questions, like "How much does the moon weigh." Somnath is immediately dismissed from these interviews when he queries what these type of questions have to do with the position.

A slip on a banana peel plays a key role in Ray's tightly constructed social satire, as this causes Somnath to re-connect with an older acquaintance named Bishu (Utpal Dutta), who encourages Somnath to start up his own business and forget about seeking a job. Without prospects and intrigued by Bishu's success, Somnath says that he'll need to talk with his father, who has made his own deal behind Somnath's back—a proposal to marry the daughter of a cement factory owner (and take over). Not happy with this prospect, Somnath opts to learn about Bishu's "order supply" business.

Essentially this means acting as an independent agent between wholesalers and retailers for everything from stationery to elephants. In Bengali, the word is "dalaal" that translates as "pimp" but Bishu insists that e consider this by a more palatable connotation of "middleman." Somnath begins learning the trade and eventually strives for a major contract with a textile company that will ensure business success; however, this will test his moral fiber to the core.

Simple and direct, Ray creates strong and engaging drama that reflects contemporary life in Calcutta—and still holds in urban circles over three decades later. Calcutta provides an ideal setting, emphasized by one of the other businessmen in the drama seeking abandoned British colonial homes that he can turn over for a profit. Mr. Shaha (Santosh Dutta) takes a tour of the ruins while describing it as if it were in prime condition, but contrasting the ideals of capitalism and how this has translated to India forms the basis of Ray's critique.

Should you visit India, you will likely experience similar business practice in the cities; it's a networking frenzy where it seems you can barely travel more than a few steps before being approached by an entrepreneur or someone connected to one. A mindboggling variety of castes make up the cityscape. The chaotic streets are filled with the homeless, juxtaposed with myriad shop owners and businesses—each striving to survive, whether this means daily subsistence or has a longer range view.

Idealistic youth like Somnath inevitably must face the chaos of their surroundings and deal with difficult moral choices to survive in such a world. Somnath cannot escape dealing with the Bengali connotations of his profession to make his father proud of him—though he can never reveal exactly what was required to attain success. Like many of Ray's lesser known films, The Middleman has long been hard to find in the U.S. Fortunately, this insightful study of contemporary urban life in India is now available via Netflix and is well worth the visit. Fittingly, the ending remains unresolved—as does India's future in world politics and economics.