Gupee Bagha and Hirak Rajar Deshe are probably my most favourite movies of all time. Maybe because they were the the first childhood movies that captivated my heart, maybe it was only the songs, Hirak Rajar "Aha ki anondo" was a favourite to sing after the last school final exams each year.
This book is a great collection of the original "Gupee Bagha" story by Upendrakishore and also the screenplay for the 1969 movie by Satyajit, with photos from the movie and the set.
I realized that this was the first time I read the original story! The movie deviates from the story quite a bit, with Gupee and Bagha's characters and with the Shundi kingdom's stance. But I liked both.
The book also contains interviews and articles from Gupee and Bagha's actors Tapen Chattopadhyay and Rabi Ghosh respectively, as well as Sandip Ray (Satyajit's son and the director of the third movie in the trilogy). Also interviews from singer Anup Ghoshal, cameraman Soumendu Roy, an excerpt on the songs from Sudhir Chakrabarty and also details on the hypnotic "Bhooter Raja" dance sequence written by Dilipkumar Bose, and an interview of Photographer Nimai Ghosh.
The "Bhooter Raja" ghost sequence is something I always end up reading anything I find on it. From Satyajit's own "Ekei Bole Shooting" to his interviews, this still keeps fascinating me. The idea of four types of ghosts - the kings and landlords, the farmers and commoners, the foreign occupation like the Brits, the missionaries and the religious heads... and accompanying each group's dance, the use of separate interesting instruments of the Indian sub-continent. This article has Satyajit's rough drawings, but Satyajit's last interview has more details on how he decided upon and shot the dance. Satyajit had said there, that to save money, instead of making a huge 4 storey stage for the 4 lined group dance shot, he had to shoot each group's dance on the same masked film over and over. I found that really innovative.
But the whole idea of getting 4 different groups of ghosts for the region, then having them fight among themselves, not with one of the other classes was ingenious as well.
I loved reading this book. It was just wonderful! Filled with Satyajit's sketches, his cover from the original 1963 re-publication of Upendrakishore Ray's stories, the size and format and glossy pages of this book, everything was perfect. ❤
I thank Sandip Ray and the Shishu Kishore Academy and the West Bengal Government for publishing this book on the 50th anniversary year of Satyajit Ray's masterpiece.
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Book: গুপি গাইন ও বাঘা বাইন ৫০
Gupee Gayen and Bagha Bayen 50
- Published in January 2019 to commemorate the 8th Kolkata Intl. Children's Film Festival.
- Published by the Shishu Kishore Academy, WB Government.
- Published on the 50th anniversary year of Satyajit Ray's movie.