Can't buy happiness, just feel happy!

Two (1965)

Director: Satyajit Ray

In 1964, renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray was asked to create a short film for ‘ESSO World Theater’, a cultural showcase presented on television and funded by the American oil company Esso. Asked to write and direct the film in English, Ray opted instead to make a film without words. The result is a poignant fable of friendship and rivalry. As he did for many of his movies, Ray composed the music for the film, including the haunting tune played on a flute. After Satyajit Ray was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1992, the Academy embarked on an ambitious endeavour to preserve the works of the Bengali filmmaker. “Two,” also known as “Parable of Two,” is part of the Academy’s Satyajit Ray Collection (http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/co...), which includes 18 feature films directed by Ray and preserved by the Archive. (Youtube)

It is ironic that film without words can make one speechless. One can say so much by not speaking at all. It is partly the storyline and also the ingenuity of the director that helps to bring out the unspoken message which is left to everyone's imagination to decipher.

It is ironic that Ray made this short film for a multinational company which is involved in the global promotion of consumerism, materialism and decadence of the environment. I look at it as a slap on the face. From the get-go, one can see a well-fed home-alone well dressed young boy complete with a hat with big ear-like contraptions which will only remind one of Mickey Mouse. And he is seen gulping a beverage from a bottle which has the shape of Coca Cola - what else can it be? He is obviously feeling bored despite all the expensive toys that are lying around him. 

Out down from his window, he sees a poor peasant boy having a whale of a time playing a melodious tune on his flute. Jealous that the poor boy can have such a good time, he sabotages his every plaything; banging his drums, shooting with his toy gun and even shooting down his kite.

Despite all the destructive attempts at spoiling the poor boy's play, the latter returns with more ideas to entertain himself. The rich boy remains unhappy despite his access to luxury and the toys at his disposal.

The people in power are hellbent on crushing the hopes and attempts of the less fortunate to progress. The well-heeled feel that only they deserve to be happy. After all, money can buy happiness, they think. The poor, they believe, merit what they have for all their Dionysian outlook of life.  

The clip may be voiceless, but the message is loud and clear. Happiness is also a metaphor for the human spirit. The poor are representative of the human race collectively. Despite the repeated insults hurled upon them by the powers that be, the rich multinationals which rapaciously destroy the planet or even Mother Nature who regularly test them with calamities, the human race will never give up. Hitting brick walls has become second nature to them. Overcome they shall.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

To be or not to be uncle!

Agatuk (Stranger; Bengali, 1991)
Director: Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray, like Hitchcock, must be one of those who never made a bad movie. This is evident in his swan song, which morphed a simple story of a stranger coming into a household into a philosophical discourse on religion, man and civilisation. And attention-grabbing one, at that!

It is a display of simple storytelling with an array of traditional music and tribal dances minus the skilful special effects gadgetry and unrelated pointless visualisation of the human anatomy.
The story mocks the modern society, which is perceived to be suspicious of others and is selfish itself.

Anila and Sudhindra Bose are a middle-class couple with a preteen son, Satyaki. One day, Anila receives a letter from a long lost uncle who left the country some 35 years earlier. He announces his stop-over in Calcutta before leaving off to Australia. Being a gracious guest, he stated in his letter that his host was not obliged to receive him but hoped that they would in keeping with Indian tradition.

This created a suspicion in the mind of the husband. Anila was elated to receive him as he had left when she was only 2 years old.

The uncle, Manomohan Mitra, finally arrives. He turned out to be quite a cheerful and a knowledgeable chap who had spent time in many parts of the world, affluent and backwards, in cities and with tribes.

The seemingly simple man with big ideas again cast doubt on his credibility. A great man with no wealth to show off? And not married after all these years? Is he loafer who would stick with them like a leech? The suspense was killing them. Sudhindra politely peeks into his passport to verify his true identity. It corresponds, but then Mitra himself created an element of doubt. Mitra questioned him how he could believe the passport when it was so easy to fake a passport with modern technology.

A friend, Ranjan, a comedian by profession, tries to tease out more information on his intentions. It develops into an intelligent banter. A city is said to have progressed with its tall skyscrapers and modern infrastructure, but then there are the rickshaw pullers in Calcutta and the homeless in New York. So, where is the progress? Ranjan suggested that perhaps Bengalis are engaged in too much of chit-chatting (Adda). To this, Mitra replied that the Greeks, who believed that a healthy body makes a healthy mind, had gymnasiums where discussions of highest intellect happened there. It later produced great thinkers like Socrates and Plato. So, Adda was not bad, provided it was used for positive reasons.

Then Anila remembered that Mitra's inheritance was not given to him during her grandfather's demise as Mitra was not contactable. Was he there to make trouble and kick a fuss? These were the dilemmas spinning around the couples' minds. Only the son, the simple-minded boy and his friends think he is genuine.

At Alto Mira

Sudhindra engages a lawyer friend, Sengupta, to ascertain whether the stranger in his house is genuine. Another exciting discourse develops. Mitra, after being exposed to the splendour of ancient civilisation, via the picture of cave wall painting of bison of the cave of Alto Mira, decided to see the world. With his princely gift, he worked, saved money, got a degree in Anthropology, stayed with Native American tribes and learnt many secrets of life. The supposed civilisation in a city is an illusion. The sight of people injecting poisons into their veins or destroying a whole nation with a press of a button is anything but civil. The ancient civilisation also had technology in learning to farm, build, weave, music, culture and others. They also discuss cannibalism and promiscuity. Mitra holds wedlock as something very sacred. This, I feel, is the best dialogue of the movie.
At the end of the movie, Mitra actually gets his due inheritance but gives it to the Boses before leaving for Australia virtually embarrassing them.

Man has evolved to become self-centred, egoistic, suspicious of each other and have lost the common courtesy to help each other. The seed of doubt sows suspicion, and soon every action seems to strengthen our suspicion as our mind wants to see it. The so-called 'civilised' urban society considered them 'advanced' at the epitome of human capabilities and achievements. They look down upon the indigenous or tribal people. Their lack of technological know-how is frowned upon. They forget that the higher man climbs the stepladder of industrialisation, the more they become consumers rather than innovators. 

They emphasise their priorities on worldly wealth-related values rather than the old noble values that our forefather so adamantly tried to impress. Humane intra-species and inter-species courtesy is lost. Suspicion creeps in. We forget that we were actually one species which were quite innovative and managed to survive in the wilderness all these years.
Imagine a day some 500 years ago... We are cooped away in the confines of our nearest hills and forests, beyond that spelt danger. Sea was unpredictable. After 12 hours of natural light, it was pitch black wilderness. We used our ingenuity to learn things from the stars, the moon, the sun and their positions at different times to give us a sense of time, season and space to help our crops, food and survival. The native tribes still use the knowledge from nature to this day. Who says they are backward? Their priorities may be different, but they are here on the same journey with us...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The meaning of life?

Shakha Prosakha (Branches of the Tree, Bengali; 1990)
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Satyajit Ray

This is one of Ray's swan song. It is a layered tale questioning the meaning of life, intergenerational priorities and the pressure of growing up to live up to peoples' expectations.

Ananda Majumdar is a 70-year-old retired industrialist who raised the rank and files from a worker to the position of partner in a big company, honoured by the town for his philanthropy work. He is highly respected by the community, and his biography had just been written.

He is a widower with 4 sons. He lives with his senile father of 90 years old and his second son with had a head injury during his university days and had to discontinue his studies. The second son, Proshanto (Soumitra Chatterjee in his subdued supportive role, in most of Ray's movies he is the leading actor), is living in his own world oblivious of the surroundings, talking only occasionally, somewhat coherently, sometimes abusively and spending most of his time in solitude and listening music.

Ananda is afflicted with myocardial infarction during a ceremony honouring his 70th birthday. Reluctantly, the three working sons, come home to roost to fulfil filial piety. 

The eldest, Probodh, is doing well in life. The third, Probir, is also doing well but is a chronic smoker and a gambler. The fourth son, Protap, is single was employed in a high post for 10 years till recently, as the family later found out.

The main crux of the story is how the three siblings, 2 wives and Probodh's young son mingle with each other. The two topics of conversation include the 90-year-old grandfather wasted present meaningless life which is childlike and is clueless about his surroundings. He needs constant supervision, feeding and dressing. They also lament the misfortune that had struck Proshanto, who was the brightest of them all.

Senior had always believed in 2 principles in life - Work is life, and earning money should be honest. Probodh and Probir had an argument on their respective lives where their earned money is nothing but healthy; Probodh who under-declared his earnings to evade tax to enjoy a comfortable life and Probir who gambled excessively at the races. The brothers discover that Protap had given up his well paying as he could not stomach the corruption that was that his superiors were indulged in.

He had now joined a theatre group and thinks he would do just well. He had found a girl and matrimony was in the pipeline. At least some of them agree that life in the present day was different than that of their father's time. Corruption and unhealthy money were inevitable.

After a week of fellowship and with the father improving, health-wise, the three brothers and the entourage leaves back home.

The grandson wishes the grandfather farewell and inadvertently mentioned to him that his father and uncle were acquiring unhealthy money, leaving Ananda quite devastated. The entourage leaves, leaving the three people whose lives are no longer in the rat race as the others to rough it out in the old house in their own world! 

Sherlock strikes again!

Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1978; Bengal)

Satyajit Ray's Sherlock Holmes of the East strikes again! This time around, he (Feluda, who was seen in Sonar Kella; Soumitra Chatterjee), Jatayu (the writer) and cousin/assistant Topshe are summoned during their vacation in the holy city of Benares to investigate the missing Ganesha statue.

 
This simple case becomes complicated as the people get killed, everyone in the household becomes a suspect, and Feluda and friends are threatened by a local businessman who is also a no-good antique treasure merchant. Along the way comes a sage, Machlibaba, named so as he allegedly swam from Calcutta to Benares and gives fish scales as blessed tokens!

I sense a sense of cynicism on the part of the director. Even the meanest villains have pictures of Gods decorating their walls, even when he has a gun pointed at Feluda!

He is trying to depict the fakeness of the holy men and the supposedly holy people of Benares!

Power with the People!

Hirok Rajar Deshe (Kingdom of Diamonds, Bengali, 1980)
Director: Satyajit Ray

You will be wondering how a tale set in the medieval times of stories of kings, magic and two main characters who are not exactly the best matches in the box going to impress you. Well, that is the magic of Ray. He even composed the music score and songs for this one.
This film is actually the sequel of Ray's 1969 offering 'Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne' where two village idiots were given magical powers by angry demons who could not stand their croaking!
10 years after that episode, they are comfortably living off their common father-in-law, the King of Shundi. The problem is that they are too comfortable that they are bored. Just then, the King summons them to sing at the courts of Hirok Rajar to honour him on his anniversary at the throne.
To the outsider, Hirok Rakar's kingdom is rich with diamonds. It is all a charade as the the farmers who tow the plough has no food to eat and the diamond miners are too poor to buy stuff.

Baghdad 2003

The King, a tyrant, is surrounded by yeomen,  corrupt 'yesmen' ministers and astrologer who tells him what he wants to hear. A mad scientist is ready with his brain washing machine to 'correct' wayward citizens. The King decrees that all books be burnt and schools closed indefinitely as they were breeding grounds for dissidents.

Hungary 1956

The only school in the land with the sole teacher, Udayan Pandit (Soumitra Chaterjee, again) becomes the enemy of the state and is on the run.

Down with the King!

By chance, he meets the duo (Goopy and Bagha) who were on foot to the palace. With their magical powers and the force of the people, they outwit the regime and manage to use the brain washing machine on the King himself. The movie ends the symbolic destruction of giant statue of the King. This vision is exactly what was seen after the fall of Saddam and the fall of Stalin during the 1956 Hungarian workers' uprising.

Of freedom and emancipation...

Ghare-Baire (Bengali, Home and the World; 1984)
Director: Satyajit Ray

This is a Rabindranath Tagore's 1905 story set at a time when Bengal was divided into two by Lord Curzon. This was the time of the uprising of the Indians against their colonial masters with the shouts of 'Vande Mataram'. The Mussalmans who have been living in peace all this while with the Hindus suddenly feel that their status is threatened. It is also a time of the emancipation of women, especially in the elite circles of Calcutta.

Against this background, Bimla is married off to a wealthy nobleman without even seeing his face. She and her widowed sister in law were confined to the inner courtyard, never seen outdoors. Bimala's husband (Nikhilesh, Victor Banerjee) is a modern man, may be considered as a pacifist or mild-mannered by some, encourages his wife to learn the British way of life. He had a private English tutor (Jennifer Kendal) to teach etiquette, read, write and play the piano.

Along comes a debonair politician, Sandip (Soumitra Chatterjee), a vocal participant of the Swadeshi self-rule and burn British products movement. Sandip was Nikhil's childhood friend and was offered a place to stay. For the first time in her married life, Bimla is brought out of the inner courtyard to be introduced to the visitor. Sandip is impressed with the mature, sophisticated woman in Bimla and the charm of Sandip fascinated Bimla. After all, Bimla had not seen and been with any other man. They almost fall for each other.

Meanwhile, Sandip is active in his boycott and burn British product and admonishes Nikhil for his display and usage of foreign product. Furthermore, he deals with poor Mussalmans who deal with foreign products. 

Opponents of Swadeshi argues that merchants of foreign goods are indeed poor, and by boycotting them, they lose their source of income. Furthermore, they were cheaper than local products. They suggest that the boycotting should be left to the well-to-do!
Bimla and others soon realise that the apparently nationalistic leaders are not what they appear to be. There is talk of them murdering to achieve their agenda. The money that they seem to garner maybe for themselves!

After a small storm in their marriage, Nikhil and Bimla's marriage is reinforced. Sandip is politely told to leave.

N.B. An exciting footnote noted in the course of a conversation between Nikhil and Bimla...
Our society used to be proud of their powerful women, Draupadi in Mahabarata with her 5 husbands, Sita and many more. Somewhere along the way, they became docile. Was it because of the Moslems with their culture?

When it comes to religion...

Ganashatru (Enemy of The People; 1989)

Director: Satyajit Ray

When it comes to obligations to God and religion, somehow man forgets all the common courtesy towards fellow mankind and has no qualms in creating anarchy, the exact opposite thing that religion is trying to propagate - Peace on Earth!

No amount of rhetoric will change what had allegedly been carved on stone by divine forces. When one argues using scientific arguments to save mankind, he is accused of mocking religion and is being a non-believer. People forget that believing in God is different from believing in a religion!

Dr Ashoke Gupta noticed that many of his hospital and private patients have been down with infectious hepatitis. He suspects that this could be due to a leakage in the sewage pipe. He fears that many devotees to the nearby may also be infected as they are usually given to drink holy water which is from the same source.

Dr Gupta (Soumitra Chatterjee) puts forward this proposal to his brother, Nishit, an industrialist and a trustee in the local temple. Nishit is an influential figure in the small town that they live in. He was also instrumental in securing Dr Gupta's job. Nishit opposes the good doctor's intention to get his proof published in the local newspaper to alert the general public. He even had laboratory results to prove his claim.

As the town economy thrived on pilgrims to the temple, the panic was terrible for business! 

The temple chief reassures that the tulsi leave and other additives, together with divine intervention, had reassured the safety of devotees for time immemorial in the Hindu culture.

After much deliberation, Dr Gupta brings his article to the local press for publication. Here, it is met with a lot of resistance. Due to pressures from the temple and local municipality, the Editor declines. He cites fear of poor public ratings of his newspaper as his reason for his refusal even when Dr argues that the papers had a moral duty to alert a potential catastrophe.

After meeting a cul-de-sac, Dr Gupta arranges for a public forum. Getting a hall was no easy task; the industrialists were too powerful to intercept. Finally, when a meeting was set, it was sabotaged by Nishit,  the temple trustee and the Editor. They managed to convince the general public that the doctor was an atheist and was a danger to the practice of their sacred religion. A mob ensued.

The loving doctor who, all this while, had been a saviour to many in his 26 years of service becomes public enemy No. 1!

His daughter, a teacher in the local school, is dismissed after pressure from students'  parents. The doctor is dismissed from the hospital, and even the landlord wants to evict him.

In the midst of all that, Dr Gupta gets a new lease of life when his daughter's boyfriend, a person in the art circle, reiterates that his friends in the theatre scene were fully behind him. The Editor's assistant, who had resigned after the debacle, promised to get his interview and article published in a more prominent newspaper in Calcutta. Dr Gupta is relieved knowing that he is not alone. An entertaining drama.

A great thinking poet

Rabindranath Tagore (Documentary, 1961)
Written, narrated, directed: Satyajit Ray
It is said that Ray is related to Tagore. The Tagores were initially from the Banerjee clan but over time they became to be called Thakur as they were Brahmins and headed the society. Thakur became Tagore. Born in a wealthy family in Bengal, he was born with a silver spoon as the thirteenth child to a 45year old mother. He did not really shine in his childhood and even in adulthood, he did not complete his tertiary education.
Gradually wisdom came to him in his late twenties and the turning point came when there was tragedy in his family - 3 deaths in family; his wife, his daughter and his son.
His fame spread worldwide when his poem 'Gitanjali' was praised by Yeats which made Tagore the first non-European recipient of Nobel prize for Literature. He was also knighted by the Queen which he renounced after 1919 English massacre of Indians in Punjab.
Rabindranath's influence went beyond poetry. He had intellectual discourse with scientists and thinkers. He worked at the ground level to improve the well being of the Indian poor. His songs were patriotic in nature to stir the nationalistic spirit in the pre-Independence India. He established centres for learning of Indian arts.
His compositions made part of the national anthem of India, Bangladesh and even Sri Lanka.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore

Swipe at the self-chosen one!

Sadgati (The Deliverance, Hindi; 1981)


This 50 minute made for TV film is an intense depiction of the evil that Man do to each other in the name of pseudo-religious social classification. To ensure sufficient labour force to ensure continuity of duties in a community, society had created the caste system. To give legitimacy to this inhumane treatment of others, people of power had invoked the name of God to instil the fear to others at large.

It is good that this archaic practice is no longer the norm in modern Indian societies or at least is done subtly. Preferential treatment comes in other forms.

Sadgati is a classic Ray presentation with all the trademark of excellent storytelling and superb acting. I almost did recognise the main actor until his puckered face and nose gave it away, Om Puri. The late Smita Patel gave a short but impressionable role as his wife.

Dukhi (Om Puri) is a lowly village tanner who is just recovering from a viral fever. In spite of his incapacitation, he has to meet the village priest (whom he addresses as Maharaj -Supreme King) to get an auspicious time for his barely-of-age (easily just 12!) daughter for marriage.
With offerings of freshly cut grass for the priest's cows, he heads to the Brahmin household. He waits unceremoniously in the backyard while the priest completes his daily prayers. In a humbled manner, Dukhi invites him to his humble abode where his wife had prepared the ceremonial offerings and alms for him to officiate.

Reluctant to reciprocate, the priest orders Dukhi to finish some menial works around his household for him. The tanner, in spite of his hunger and being in convalescence state, obliges. He cleans the compound, packs the husk in sacks to transfer to the cowshed. Just when he thought that his job was over, Dukhi is asked to chop a log with a blunt axe.


While all these are going on, Maharaj prays, reads, conduct classes to teach the good word of the Lord, eats his lunch and even has a siesta.
A fellow man from the low caste watches the whole spectacle.
In fatigue, Dukhi snoozes off just to be lambasted by Maharaj. In agony, Dukhi continues his work with renewed vigour and frustration at his fate that he just drops dead!
As the corpse seemed to be lying on the path of Brahmins and their daily divine duties, there was an urgent need to move the body.

None of the workers, after hearing the inhumane treatment by the priest, wants to handle the remains as they fear that the Police may involve them. Given the Hobson's choice, Maharaj himself ties a rope around a rope around the Dukhi's ankle to drag him all the way back to his house. He was too 'superior' and 'clean' to touch the remains of a low caste man would work with the hide of dead animals.
In the next scene, normalcy is restored as Maharaj sprinkles holy water at the site where Dukhi died. And life goes on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jSwVwv_xwSM

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Safeguard what you have!

Shatranj Ke Khilari  (The Chess Players, Urdu; 1977)
Direction, Screenplay, Music: Satyajit Ray

As the English were sharpening their steely knives to rape and rob India of their wealth, the Indian monarchs and noblemen are more interested in pleasures of the skin, the sheer enjoyment of the arts and of course Chess. The decadence of administration and those in power squarely brought the nation down.
This film boasts of high historical accuracy in its storyline and an array of a star-studded cast. Amitabh Bachchan narrates (Ray could not find a suitable role for him), Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Amjad Khan, Fareeda Jalal and Richard Attenborough star.

The time is pre-1857 before The Sepoy Mutiny when Lord Dalhousie and his generals are trying to hoodwink the Nawab of Oudh of his land.

The Nawab (Amjad Khan) is more interested in poetry and music than ruling over his subjects. Even when, critical history-altering decisions had to be made, he is humming tunes and composing poems in his mind. He unapologetically admits to his Prime Minister that he is incapable of ruling and he is a misfit. On a parallel story, two noblemen (Mirza -Sanjeev Kumar and Meer - Saeed Jeffrey) are obsessive chess players. Praising the great nation for inventing the excellent game for the world and ridiculing the British for changing the rules, they lose touch with reality. They are foolishly ignorant about their worldly duties and their wives. Mirza ignores his attention and companionship-seeking wife (Begum - Shabana Azmi), and it is a known fact, to everyone except Meer, that Meer's wife has a lover!

They spend hours and hours on the game smoking the hookah and chewing on paan (spiced betel leaves). Their antics during the game and their tricks trying to outdo are indeed comical. Even when Mirza's wife hides the chess pieces to garner attention, they visit a friend with the intention of using his chess piece. Unfortunately, the owner was dying and died during their visit. The noblemen were given a grand welcome as they were thought to be visiting the gravely ill!

Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey

While the English were moving in to take over the fort; these two jokers continued their games oblivious to the happenings of the day.

The Nawab on the other hand just hands over his throne to General Outram (Attenborough) on a platter without a fight, happy with the promised monthly allowance.
It just shows how wealth, if we do not have the courage and intelligence to safeguard it, it would be carved up and squandered by vultures and hyenas would are out to tear up their loot and defenceless owners!

Beware of those craftily conniving foxes who sing praises of your ability, intelligence, beauty or your singing ability just to hoodwink you of your hard-earned black-bean fritters (vadai, vada, Indian doughnut, வடை)!