Ray

Being Bengali has its perks! Its not just about the delicious food but also about the Ray factor. Well the Ray factor functions this way that the day you seem smart enough to make logic outta moving pictures, you are pushed into the world of Satyajit Ray. And thank God for that! I can't even recall how old i was when i first watched his movies cause it seems like forever. It was all because of one lady called Madhuri Poddar, who happens to be my grandmother that i had the opportunity of experiencing the magical world of cinema, created by Ray. I remember in those days she had a VCR, of which she made good use. She'd record each of those movies and meticulously list them in her black diary. The VCR was her domain, she completely monopolised it.

So every summer vacation when I'd visit her in Calcutta she hand me the diary and ask me to pick a movie. I started out with Goopy gyne bagha byne i think. Oh what a phenomenal film. What exceptional use of fantasy. Those lights around Bhooter raja's face, those giant size sweets and of course the three amusing wishes! (I can recite them in the voice of the bhooter raja!) Ah those were the days! It was only recently that i realised while watching the movie again that how he wrote the dialogues in couplets. I couldn't believe it. I was awe struck. Undoubtedly Goopy Bagha and Hirok rajar deshe were my childhood favourites.

And which kid could watch Felu Da and not fall in love with it. The patent felu da theme music....ta ta tara ta ta tara ta ta tara ta ta ta ta! hehe! Jotayu saying "oot jodi tar logboge theng diye lathi mare!" I have lost count of how many times i have watched Jai baba Felu nath. My favourite. Soumitra's perfectly sharp looks suited phelu da so perfectly that every remake was rendered tasteless after that. Captain Felu and his assistant Topshe along with Jotayu, and their adventures. Captain Phelu and his secret weapon, mogojastro! The entire Felu da series is brilliant.

Then i watched Aguntuk and loved it. The bohemian intellectual Uncle whose intriguing character leaves everyone flabbergasted. His movies have a language of their own which convey much more than the apparent. Aguntuk is one of the movies where you find yourself totally taken in by the film. I loved the kid, yes he was the only one who had his innocent ways to expressing complex realities. The last scene is a complete killer!
I remember having to watch Charulata when i was young and i didn't like it one bit. However later in life i had a deeper understanding of what the film was trying to convey and loved it. I think that movie has a couple of scenes that i can never forget. One would be Soumita's literally storming entry, and the scene where charulata is making shoes for her husband and soumitra says...."Dadar ki shoubhaggo!" And she says, "tomaro hobe."
"ki jooto?"
"Na bou."
That was really funny. However my favourite scene from that movie would be the scene where charulata is searching for a book and goes close to the bookshelf singing "bonkim bonkim...", eventually then she looks through the spaces between the window panels with opera glasses, while we hear the noises of the monkey man(i mean madari!).
I think teen konnar shomapti is one of his cutest movies. Liked it.

Unfortunately i haven't seen pather panchali but i was seen the other two movies from his Apu trilogy. Thats his first movie and i hate not having seen that. Aparajito is rather depressing, i am not much of a fan of that film. Though i think Apur Sansar is one film that i am extremely fond of. I love the symbolism in the film, love the little little details that builds up the narrative and its so entertaining. Can't help but say that Soumitro looks like a complete Hunk in it and makes me love apu even more than id like him otherwise. Apu the poet, Apu the idealist, Apu the cigerette smoker, apu's flute, apu's reflexes, apu's madness....i love it all all all. I am absolutely in love with apu and it almost borders obsession.

So Ray, the man who made these movies that have been such a big part of my growing up years. Always something to learn from, so deep and so entertaining. I was watching a documentary on Satyajit Ray, where he was being interviewed by Shyam Benegal. That man used to illustrate his scripts. isn't that phenomenal? He was such a hugely talented man and such a great vision. Ah how unfortunate he had to die so early. But thank you, thank you so much Mr. Ray for making these wonderful movies that leaves an everlasting impression in every man's mind. Those movies are timeless, and I am glad i realised soon enough what a treasure my grandmother possesses(i am eyeing them!). Even though i have given up on grammar and syntax in this post, i am happy to have written about something so close to me. And boy am i glad to be Bengali.....movies are never half as fun with subtitles!