The script and track of a master storyteller Premium
The Hindu
When it came to Satyajit Ray, it was from truthfulness that his determination to support causes dear to his heart arose
Satyajit Ray, director, script writer, documentary film-maker, author, illustrator and composer, to name a few, had a flair for sketching from his childhood. His drawing teacher in school used to say that he was Satyajit not merely by name but in his deeds as well (translation mine). Praising his integrity, a British manager in the advertising firm where Ray worked, made the comment that there was no chalaki (craftiness) in him.
Decades later, in an interview with the film critic, Iqbal Masud, on Shatranj Ke Khilari, Ray said, “One can well imagine a treatment of annexation with Wazid painted whiter and General Outram blacker, which would automatically enhance its popular appeal. My treatment avoids this falsification.” (August 1978). Do all these fall in place? Does not Ray’s oeuvre reflect ‘art wedded to truth’ that he valued so much?
The world of Ray
Extensive literature exists on the artistic merits of Ray’s cinema. New books are being written and fresh appraisals made of all his films. While Ray continued to renew himself and explore new frontiers, critics, especially those based in the West, failed to keep pace with him. Nevertheless, the subterranean truthfulness of his persona and outpourings has never been questioned.
In his book, My Adventures with Satyajit Ray: Making of Shatranj Ke Khilari (HarperCollins, 2017), producer Suresh Jindal faithfully chronicles his experience of how meticulous Ray had been in his research and treatment of the subject. Understandably, Ray took much longer time for his documentary on Tagore than for a feature. And for advancing the cause of good cinema, he did not mince words even at the cost of raising controversy and being misunderstood.
Ray’s critique of his contemporary Mrinal Sen’s film Akash Kusum, the much younger Mani Kaul’s Duvidha, Kumar Shahani’s Maya Darpan and Bapu’s Seeta Kalyanam emanated from his conviction. In all these cases, he explained clearly the reasons behind.
While Ray sounded critical of the initial works of a few directors, he was equally appreciative of others such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal and M.S. Sathyu. Among his contemporaries, his writings on Jean-Luc Godard who introduced radical departures from certain established norms of cinema, or comments on Ritwik Ghatak who remained uninfluenced by Ray, are cases in point.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”