Remember the scene in Anurag Basu?s Jagga Jasoos, when Jagga ends a war by having cakes dropped from the sky? If that scene rang a bell from the past for you, that?s because it is a tribute to the climax of Satyajit Ray?s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, in which, fittingly enough for a Bengali film, an army readying for battle is distracted by a rain of rasgullas.
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Ray?s spectacular musical fantasy-cum-adventure film, has regaled generations of Bengali kids and served as an inspiration for filmmakers, like Basu.
This May 8 marks its 50th anniversary, while May 2 marked the 98th birth anniversary of the master filmmaker himself, and it is worth taking a look at what makes the film so memorable.
A magical story
The story of two hapless musicians short on talent has an element of the surreal. Both Goopy and Bagha are driven away from their villages, but their out-of-tune singing and drumming in the forest pleases the king of ghosts. They are granted three boons: food and clothing will pop up at a clap of their hands, wonderful smiling shoes can take them anywhere they wish to go (which reminds me of people apparating in the world of Harry Potter), and they can hold people spellbound with their music.
The ghost?s boons ensure a life of pleasure and luxury for the two. They only need a place to settle in to complete the Utopian picture. So they head to Shundi, where the benevolent king is holding a musical contest.
From there starts their almost unreal adventure, as they travel through foreign lands, rescue the oppressed, and get married to princesses in the bargain.
Looking at it in 2019
The film highlights the whimsies and cruelty of those in authority?while Goopy is driven out of Amloki on a donkey for waking the king up with his singing, the wily prime minister of Halla has the helpless king in his grip and is hell bent on declaring war on Shundi.
The mirthful fantasy is also a heartrending depiction of poverty and oppression. While Shundi is a haven of peace and prosperity, the villagers of Halla are racked by hunger.
Ray hints at it again and again?the spy of Halla asks for food before being sent away; the sentry guarding the prison where Goopy and Bagha are locked abandons his post for a feast; in the climax, chaos breaks as the entire army of Halla descends on pots of sweets falling from the sky. It is clear that war has no meaning for them.
Though 50 years in the past, the film?s depiction of clamour for war and cunning forces using soldiers as pawns is relevant even today; whether that?s a coincidence or psychical filmmaking or deteriorating state of world affairs or all of the above is anybody?s guess.
India herself came close to blows with arch-rival Pakistan after the deadly Pulwama attack on February 14, when a suicide bomber of the JeM blew up a CRPF convoy in Srinagar, killing nearly 40 jawans. Not to mention, many have tried to look at the film in the wake of the Sino-Indian tensions.
It is not clear if Ray himself intended such an interpretation, but the film?s criticism of war as an exploitative tool lends it a universal appeal.
How the film took birth
Witty and entertaining dialogues, idiosyncratic characters, and the musical interludes make Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne a fun-filled ride. Goopy and Bagha?s capers are told with humour, and even the villains?the magician Barfi?are amusing rather than menacing. Meanwhile, the ghost who delivers the boons does so in a singsong voice.
The two central characters, portrayed by Rabi Ghosh and Tapen Chattopadhyay, complement each other well. The hurried movements of the impatient and slightly short-tempered Bagha contrast with the smiling, sweet demeanour of Goopy.
As much as he is known for his critiques of the socio-political situation of the late 20th century Bengal, Ray is also known for his considerable oeuvre of children?s writing.
The film is based on a short story by Ray?s grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. Ray started working on it after his son Sandip complained that his (Ray?s) films were macabre and frequently portrayed deaths.
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, however, ran into trouble shortly after, with producers backing out of the costly venture. A musical fantasy film had never been made in Bengal. It was only when Purnima Pictures decided to finance the film that Ray could resume work on it.
What worked for it then
The film ran to packed houses, and there have been many revivals since. Ray himself made the first sequel Hirak Rajar Deshe in 1980. This one has a more obvious political message than its predecessor. The second sequel Goopy Bagha Phire Elo came from son Sandip in 1992.
An animated adaptation in Hindi, Goopy Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya, came as recently as last month. The look of Shiboprosad Mukherjee in the recently released Bhobishyoter Bhoot has been inspired by the bhooter raja.
These numerous adaptations and references testify to Goopy and Bagha?s enduring popularity. The deep humanism at the heart of the tale combined with its peculiar humour and quirky characters has ensured that people keep revisiting the film.
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne?s visuals also deserve a special mention. The film was shot mainly in Rajasthan, and many of the props and costumes, such as Barfi?s spectacles, were painstakingly designed by Ray himself.
Ray deserves credit for his ingenious and pioneering use of special effects at a time when it was unheard of in Indian cinema. A case in point is the bizarre six-minute dance sequence in the film that has been widely held to be a representation of class dynamics in Bengal at the time. It was shot using a stop-motion effect in combination with a watery reel.
Above all, the film celebrates the power of music to stall us in our actions and bring us to our senses as only music can, with the background score a melange of classical, Carnatic, and folk music.
But would the same appeal now?
While the anti-war message in the film is still relevant, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne has a very conventional good vs evil theme in terms of storytelling. It is understandable that Ray wanted to maintain a breezy, light-hearted note so as to appeal to children. But the characters are too one-dimensional and stereotypical for the current times, when ?grey? has become a buzzword.
Furthermore, in the backdrop of India?s #MeToo movement and feminism being an ever-relevant subject, the ending?the kings? daughters are given away as rewards without their consent?will certainly not go down well.
While his other writing shows emancipated and empowered women, in Ray?s children?s stories, they only ever occupy the margins. In the Feluda stories, for example, there are hardly any female characters, and this makes the tales unconvincing.
When Goopy and Bagha rejoice in their good fortune and eat to their heart?s content by a river, it is reminiscent of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when Huck enjoys an idyllic life on an island. However, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne?s insensitive ending is not something 2019 is likely to accept.
Nidhi Kumari Jha is a writing analyst at Qrius
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