[jyotirmoy]

To write this I have referred various sources, predominantly “Ëkeyee bole shooting”  (this is what is called shooting) by Ray himself.
Pather Panchali:
This film took two & half years to make. Ray and his team were working at their respective jobs full time, so they could shoot on holidays and week ends. The shooting often had to stop when they ran out of funds. These interruptions had some serious consequences.
Firstly both Apau & Durga were played by growing kids. Ray was very worried that with time they will grow physically and appear different in later shots. Luckily they didn’t grow that rapidly.
The next worry was about the eighty year old actress Chunibala who played the role of Indira thakuran. Again Ray was very lucky that she lived through this two & half years.
Those who have watched this film would vividly remember the scene where Apu and Durga ventures out of their village to see a train for the first time. Remember those tall grass with white flowers? These bloom in the autumn.  This was a fairly long take. Funds ran out as usual after a while. When Ray returned again to the location later on after securing some funds there were no trace of these grass. The villagers informed Ray that this type of grass is a good fodder for the cows so the village cows have eaten them all. Ray had to wait for another year to complete the take.
The monsoon shots became a trial of patience and hoping against hope. The monsoon came and went pouring rain but no money poured in. Day after day Ray and his team looked at the sky for the freaky autumn rain. Praying at the sight of cloud. Luckily one day the sky got overcast quite unexpectedly and Ray could take those shots.
In Hollywood and Bollywood highly trained animals like dogs are used. Ray had to rely on a village dog for his shots. This particular member of the local canine community was very stubborn. It was decided that the owner of this dog would stand behind the camera and call out when the dog was to follow Durga. Inspite of repeated calls the dog refused to get up causing hundreds of feet of costly film stock getting wasted. Finally Durga carried a sandesh hidden in her hand while walking and the greedy dog followed her.
The person playing the role of the sweet seller expired quite suddenly. Ray had to scout for a person with very similar physique. In later shots he was not shown from the front.

To be continued……

[Hyderabadi]

Great post Jyoti da!

And to think that everyone gets upset with me when all I ask is that they hold the smile for a couple of seconds more...     


Waiting for the next installment.