Remembering Satyajit Ray on 2nd May, 2014.

Remembering Satyajit Ray on 2nd May, 2014. Viewers of international films all across the world remember Oscar Winning Director Satyajit Ray on his birth anniversary on 2nd May and death anniversary 23rd April, 2014. Ray was born on 2nd May, 1921, and critics feel it was the birth of legend of legends and probably one of the greatest talents the world has ever produced after Rabindranath Tagore. Ray showed his excellence in every different of film making including script writing, costumes, music direction, costume designing, etc. My father, Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-Chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, North, Calcutta, represented Sandip Ray, the son of Satyajit Ray, in a case relating to recovery of manuscripts from Uday Acharya, the brother of Nirmal Acharya, a renowned critic. When the manuscripts of Ray’s films were seized from Udai Acharya’s house and opened from sealed trunk it was seen that they were pictographic in nature. Script of the film Pather Panchali, Gonoshotru had illustrations at every part which showed the secret of Ray’s brilliant characterization in films. Probably some of the actors and actresses in Ray’s films rose to stardom through the images portrayed by Ray. Chabi Biswas mesmerized the film lovers with his dignified performance in the role of Bishambhar Roy in the film Jalsaghar. Charu Prakash Ghosh was unparallel in the role of Birinchibaba in the film Kapurush Mahapurush. Anil Chatterji was unparallel in the role of Post Master in the film Teen Kanya. Utpal Dutt gave his performance for his life in the character Maganlal Meghraj in the film Joy Baba Felunath. Similarly Om Puri and Smita Patil were sublime in their roles in the film Sadgati. Sanjeev Kumar entered the skin of the character played in the film Shatranj Ki Khiladi. Uttam Kumar could not have been replaced by any other actor in the film Nayak. Karuna Banerjee had made the role of mother of Apu immortal in the film Pather Panchali. Sharmila Tagore was outstanding in the film Debi. Tapen Chatterji and Robi Ghosh are still remembered by filmlovers through their character Goopi Bagha. All the Indian directors like Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan ,had agreed that they learnt the art of story-telling from Ray’ films. Even the theme music of the legendary director had moved the directors all across the world. Audrey Hepburn, the Oscar winning actress while awarding the Oscar award for lifetime contribution of Ray, said in her speech that Ray’s direction had the soul of Apu in the Apu Trilogy march out from the village of West Bengal and explored India and expressed the struggle for existence of every middle-class individual of the country. Whenever classic literature of novelists and writers were used in films, Ray created his own dimension in those films, including the standard of excellence in the films Charulata and Ghare Baire which were based on the epic literature of Tagore. Films made by Ray from his own literature like Sonar Kella, Joy Baba Felunath, Agantuk, etc., were equally brilliant. The films of Ray should be preserved to disseminate the art of script writing, costume designing, theme music, camera work, neat direction, etc.

Happy birthday to Manna Dey.

Happy birthday to Manna Dey. The listeners of bollywood music and also Bengali music wish happy birthday to Legendary singer Manna Dey on 1st May, 2014. He is the only legendary singer who had survived for more than 90 years. He had sung more than 5000 songs in different languages hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, etc. He died last year making everyone sad. Manna Dey had a very sweet relationship with Sudhin Dasgupta. He was used by almost all the leading composers of Bengal namely Anil Bagchi, Nochiketa Ghosh, Salil Choudhury and others. But probably his westernized andaz was used to the limit by Sudhin Dasgupta. Sudhin Dasgupta used Manna Dey in Uttam Kumar’s film Goli Theke Rajpoth with the song “lag lag lag lag bhelkir khela”. Manna Dey’s songs “ami agantuk” and “ke prothom kache esechi” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta in Uttam Kumar’s film Shankhabela created sensation in Bengali celluloid in 1966. Manna Dey’s songs “ami kon pothe je choli” and “bachao ke acho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Choddobeshi became super hit as well. In the 70s, Manna Dey’s songs “esechi ami esechi”, “lekha porata shikhe phele” and “paye paye joriye rakho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Har Mana Har created sensation as well. Uttam Kumar gave the lips of his lifetime in the film Har Mana Har. While major success of Sudhin Dasgupta came in Uttam Kumar’s films, he made major contribution in Soumitra Chatterji’s films as well. The songs “ei shohor theke aro anek dure”, “hoyto tomari jonyo”, “jibone ki pabona” in the film Teen Bhubaner Pare, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta and sung by Manna Dey showed the westernized orchestration of the giant composer. Sudhin Dasupta’s songs in Soumitra’s films Prothom Kodom Phul and Bosonto Bilaap were equally successful. Manna Dey’s all round musical skills were used to perfection in these films. Even the song “ogo tomar sesh bichare asay” sung by Manna Dey in bayul andaz in Kali Banerjee’s legendary film Dak Horkora, and composed by Sudhin Dasgupta made the viewers speechless. Manna Dey sang many numbers of solo numbers as basic discs under the compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta. One of the notable songs included “ami taar thikana rakhini”. The songs of Sudhin Dasgupta and Manna Dey combination should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Pooja Bedi.

Happy birthday to Pooja Bedi. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Pooja Bedi, the daughter of legendary actor Kabir Bedi on 11th May, 2014. She was born in a star family with her mother Pratima Bedi being a classical dancerand father being an established actor. Although she came from an acting family as Kabir Bedi had experience of performing in Hollywood films as well, her contribution in bollywood films had not been that substantial. Her film Vishkanya in the early part of her career was based on the story related to snakes. In Indian films fantasies based on the life of snakes had amazed the viewers in the past. The film Nagin in the mid-70s, with Reena Roy, Jeetender, Mumtaz and others, did fantastic business. So Pooja Bedi was lucky to start her career with such films. The film was well appreciated by the audience. Later on her film with Amir Khan, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, did fantastic business. The film was based on teenage romance. Amir Khan always had a special place in the minds of viewers as his romantic appeal always attracted the female audience right from the release of the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Pooja Bedi probably had given her best. Pooja Bedi’s role of a teenage girl did fit the requirement of the story and the film. All the songs in the film became successful including the song “pehla nasha, pehla khumar” sung by Udit Narayan. Viewers of different tastes appreciated the film. Her other notable films included Aatank Hi Aatank and Lootere. She was very impressive in Mahesh Bhatt’s film Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Ayee. It was a film related to human relationship and Pooja Bedi’s performance in a supporting role was appreciated by the critics. She was as impressive as Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Roy in the film. In the late 90s, all of a sudden she faded away from the industry. But she continued to appear in television shows. She was the anchor of the TV shows Not Just Page 3 and Just Pooja in Zoom TV. These programs became very popular in the years when they were telecast. In the following period she even participated as contestant in TV shows like Jhalak Dikhlaja in Sony TV, Heart Beat, Mum Tum or Hum, Jodi Kamaal Ki, Nach Baliye, etc., in Star TV, also Fear Factor – Khatron Ki Khiladi in Colors. The viewers expect her make a comeback in bollywood films in the years to come.