by Barun Chanda
On his 89th birth anniversary, Satyajit Ray belongs to all our possession, an eternal symbol of life that still makes Shyamalendu and all of us, writes Barun Chanda.
It was a fine morning, sitting by the window while I picked up the daily newspaper, I saw the date. It was April 30. Saw the calendar on the wall and realized that May 2 was not far away. May 2 the birth anniversary of world greatest film-maker, director, script writer, editor and many tags can be added behind the name, the name “SATYAJIT RAY”. It seemed as if I went back to the sets of ‘Simabaddha’, where I had met him. It’s amazing that so many years have passed by and still Ray lives, in our hearts. When the whole world acknowledges, applauds, tries to learn, I feel happy, proud to have worked, worked with one of the Pioneers of Indian Cinema, but it is very wrong to restrict his works, the creations within the boundary of India.
It is Ray's 89th Birth anniversary and almost every Bengali TV channels show his movies to pay him homage. Satyajit Ray's relevance is very much important in Kolkata and West Bengal. There are many celebrations planned for the occasion and I believe that this year will not be an exception. On the other hand I remembered the quiz contest which Somnath Roy conducts every year on "Ray, his life, his works" and many college students participate on this contest. It proves interest in Ray is live still and Ray is still alive among us. It just came into my mind at instances when these contestants fail to answer, how easily the audience answers the question. Though the questions are always very integrate about Ray’s works and life. It reassures me that Ray’s relevance will not fade out from the hearts of people of Kolkata.
The most important thing is his work or his creation is his technique of editing, as I have seen. Today’s and tomorrow's film directors should follow his way of editing, specially his style of narrating the whole story. If I talk about the film 'Simabadha', the Shankar's novel 'Simabadha' had changed into the film. Many important elements in Simabadha the book were not in the film and also many important elements in the film that Ray added was not in the book. As an example, in the novel the lead character Shyamalendu had a long dialogue with Shakespeare about the morality of that age, where the character finds it difficult to match the ideas and notions suggested by his idol or inspiration Shakespeare; which has not been shown in the film "Simabaddha". Ray did not want to show the long monologue of Shyamalendu. He always believed that in reality every individual prefers small swift conversation, especially after returning from his work. That what exactly Ray showcased in the Film, he broke up the main conversations into small but significant segments, where a counter question arises. These conversations or dialogues always had a sense of humor to it, making it interesting at the same time conveying the message to the audience with ease. In the book "Simabadha" Tutul is Shyamalendu's sister-in law not more than that, but in the film Tutul is not just sister-in law, she is the contrast of Shyamalendu's character. She in the movie always inquired about the nature of everything, the origin of an event, every desiccation towards her brother-in-law by saying "eta thik na bhul" (is this right or wrong…) in Ray's film. In the film Tutul became greater than her character because her sister was not aware about what actually was going on around her 'peaceful, sophisticated' life. Ray had introduced Tutul as Shyamalendu’s ‘conscience’. Thus by all these Ray always tried to highlight the minute details, which often get unnoticed. He brings out the nitty gritties of life but in a subtle manner.
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