A Bengali folklore!

The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne), Bengali, 1969. B/W
Can you imagine someone making a film for his son because of dearth of local children story, made on a story written by his grandfather? Well, that someone is Satyajit Ray, the legendary film maker who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar by his favourite actress, Audrey Hepburn at his death bed in 1992 in his home in Calcutta! Even though with technical advances of the swinging 70s, this film was made in black and white due to financial constraints. There was a financial offer to make in colour but Ray decided against it as it would casting a certain someone from Bollywood!
A village idiot, Gopi, flaunts the tempura (a musical instrument like a veena) and is ridiculed by the village elders. They play a prank on him. They coax him to croak in front of a village head's abode, rudely awakening him from his morning sleep, causing his wrath. Gopi is humiliated and banished from the village.
In the jungle, he meets up with Bagha another bumpkin who was chased from his own village. Together they managed to dodge a wandering tiger. Happy with their feat, they sing and dance with Bagha playing the drums. Somehow this pleased the spirits of the jungle. The King Ghost manifests to grant them wishes of clothes, food, slippers to aid travel and that their music be liked by everyone.Sure enough, the following day Gopee has a melodious voice and Bagha can play the drums well. Food arrives with the clap of the hand.

The friends hear from a moving foot convoy of music contest in Shindi. After making some bumbling mistakes with venue, they finally reached their destination with their magic slippers.
At the contest, they managed to mesmerize the Maharajah and even the competitors. In the meantime, the King of Halla declares war on Shindi. Devoid of horses and camel, the Maharajah is certain of failure. Gopee and Bagha promise to help. They were thinking of using their magic. If they were to avert war, the maharajah promised the hand of marriage of his only daughter to one of them.
They infiltrate into the enemy's kingdom and gain secrets of their strategy. They discover that the Prime Minister of Halla is a conniving thorn in the flesh. He puts the King of Halla under a magic spell to fight the kingdom of Shundi even though both kings are brothers. On the way back to alert their Maharajah, the friends got caught and are imprisoned. They, however, manage to escape by enticing the guards with mouth watering food, thanks to their magical skills.
Goopy and Bagha manage to halt the invading cavalry through their music. The soldiers go running to collect ladoo falling from the sky rather than fighting their war, again through magic.
Both kings are united, the spell is broken and the boys get their life long wish to marry a princess. Each king had a daughter each.
This film showcases of Bengali rich tradition of dance and music. It was a commercial success locally but not really famous world wide. There is no marvel cinematography to shout about, however. The field of special effects was still at its infancy. The scene where the spirits of the jungle seem to be dancing was obviously taken over a waving white sheet with dancers and lighting behind it.

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