SATYAJIT  RAY'S HEROES AND HEROINES

Satyajit Ray’s Heroes and Heroines by Amitav Nag  ; Published by Rupa ; Pages 232; Price Rs,  295/-

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 Shri.Amitava Nag, the author of the book under review, on Satyajit Ray, was editor of the film magazine ‘Silhouette ’ for seventeen years. An independent film scholar and critic, Nag is a prolific writer and has brought out  a book ‘Beyond Apu---20 Favourite Film Roles of Soumitra Chatterjee”.

Satyajit Ray first placed India on the map of world cinema with his 1955-classic Pather Panchali. In a career spanning nearly four decades and including twenty-seven feature films, Ray is undoubtedly the most-known Indian film-maker till date. Pather Panchali is described as a turning point in Indian cinema, as it was among the films that pioneered the Parallel Cinema  movement, which espoused authenticity and social realism. The tale of Apu's life is continued in the two subsequent instalments of Ray's trilogy :Aparajito and Apur Sansar. 

 Soumitra Chatterjee, Ray’s most favourite actor, says in the Foreword to this book , “Manik Da had a tremendous eye for details and that is reflected in the profiles he created on screen, even the apparently insignificant ones. I am not sure if there has been any book in English that covers the different profiles that he chalked out in his cinema.” 

Here is a book on Ray’s creations. This book examines some of the most memorable characters put up by him on the silver screen.

 It  studies closely  the actors and actresses  who were lucky to be picked up by Ray to portray his characters. Most of them have acquired status as legends.

The author has  divided them into types-- such as patriarchal father figure,  mother  and city hero. Ray was complete master of the medium and dictated every part of his films—be it story, script, music, photography and controlled their creators. Ray came under the spell of Neo-realist cinema of Europe and experimented with  non-professional actors and believed in shooting on location. His greatest talent was to extract “Pure Gold” from any actor he chose—however inexperienced. He  chose the actors who would play in his films and mostly they got chosen by sheer chance.

He designed the sets and costumes, operated the camera since Charulata .He composed the music for all his films since 1961 and designed the publicity posters for his new releases.

In addition to film-making, Ray was a composer, a writer and a graphic designer. He even designed a new typeface. In 1961, he revived and continued to publish the Bengali children's magazine "Sandesh", which was founded by his grandfather Upendrakishore Ray . 

 Every detail of his film were sketched out by Ray  much  before shooting.  One actor recalled : “I still treasure the script-reading session, every detail of his (Ray’s) film was in his red-bound book and the rest was in his brain.” 

Ray had  his magical manner  of  making  the children who appeared in almost all his movies act. His most famous child heroine  Dasgupta who played Durga in Pather Panchali recalls that Ray “never gave instructions to the children in the presence of others. It was always whispered exclusively to each child so that what he wanted us to do was like a secret between just the two of us. We liked him so much that we wanted to please him.” 

Ray chose his  actors — both professional and non-professional actors— who shared the attributes of the character and had grappled with similar situations in life as the character was facing onscreen. For example, Uttam Kumar who played the role of a matinee idol in Ray’s Nayak was indeed the superstar of Bengali cinema at that time. 

The book is rich in anecdotes of an unusual character.  Waheeda Rehman  played the role of Gulaabi in  the film about the taxi-driver “Abhijan.” Ray told Waheeda : “ You earn a lot of money in Hindi films. I make films on small budgets.” Rehman replied that it would be an honour to work in a Ray film and that Ray should not embarrass her by discussing the money part. 

 Ray proved  how a variety of elements — light, music, soundtrack can be made to work together to create an unique effect . Ray was the principal  force whose distinct stamp of creativity was writ large on every inch  of his film. Spectators of Ray’s movies  can readily relate themselves to the characters  appearing  on the screen. The characters of his  film  provide the fulcrum for the film’s exploration of moral imperfection. Ray was very Indian in his approach to characterisation as he did not see his villain as an all evil person. Villains in Ray’s films were characters with negative hues, people ensnared in their own belief systems just like the character of Ravana in all versions of the Ramayana. 

Ray made films in his own signature style. He was an auteur of Bengali cinema in every possible sense because as a filmmaker he was true to who he was — a Bengali bhadralok whose sensibility was forged in the fire of the Bengal Renaissance.

To recapitulate some of the main characters from Ray’s films.

Chhabi  Biswas was the aristocratic patriarch. In his roles in Kanchejunga and Jalsaghar he displayed his extraordinary theatrical abilities. Another actor Anil Chatterjee appeared as the hero of Mahanagar. He had acted in the films of Ritwik Ghatak too.  Dhritiman Chatterjee had difficult roles to play—a negative role in Ganashatru- which is the Ray version of Henrik Ibsen’s  “Enemy of the People”. Ray’s blue-eyed boy was, of course, Soumitra Chatterjee who had fourteen roles in fourteen of Ray’s twenty seven films. Shyam Benegal wrote of Soumitra, “His performance can be compared to a fine Persian carpet, subtle and exquisite. It is only when you turn to look at the back of the carpet do you see the intricate work that has gone into the making”.  Soumitra Chatterjee exemplified the camaraderie between the actor and the director. Uttam Kumar kicked up a crescendo of great acting with Ray’s  Nayak and Chiriyakhana. Uttam’s work showed rare virtues of grace, spontaniety and confidence. Utpal Dutt distinguished himself in Ray’s last film Agantuk.

Among women characters Karuna Banerji had a great role in Pather   Panchali and Aparajito. She was Sarbajaya and gave a solid performance. Madhabi Mukherjee acted in three of Ray’s films and she had natural grace and intelligence in Mahanagar and Charulata. Her Charu is sublime and multi-layered. Sharmila Tagore made an appearance as Aparna, Apu’s wife. She played five characters for Ray.

The book deals briefly with the comic films  and childrens’ films of Ray---especially the iconic ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. Who can forget Rabi Ghosh and the Dance of the Ghosts  in this classic?

Reading Nag’s book will  rekindle the old passion in many to watch Ray films in a new light. The book offers a wealth of  information on Ray’s heroes and heroines and is definitely a collector’s item for all those who once loved and watched Ray films.

                                                     

 P.P.Ramachandran.

26/05/2019.