Kolkata: At the Nandan screening of the restored ‘Pratidwandi’, organised by the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Archives to mark the legend’s 105th birth anniversary, a strand of conversation between Sandip Ray, Tinnu Anand and Dhritiman Chaterji centred on Ray’s remarkable way with non-actors. Anand, who assisted him on five films, including ‘Pratidwandi’, recalled how Ray carefully guided a non-actor in scenes opposite Chaterji. The result was so effective that few would imagine that the same performer once needed Rabi Ghosh clowning behind the camera simply to produce a natural laugh. After the screening, similar anecdotes surfaced, reinforcing the same impression: Ray had an extraordinary ability to draw convincing performances from anyone he cast.Tinnu elaborated on how Krishna Bose, who played Chaterji’s sister in ‘Pratidwandi’, struggled badly on the first day of shooting. On the drive back, Anand recalled cinematographer Soumendu Roy asking Ray how he planned to rescue the performance. Ray replied, without fuss, that he would handle it. The next day, when Bose again froze before the camera, Ray reduced the task to its simplest form: she was asked to repeat the lines exactly as he spoke them. In another scene, Sandip Ray remembered how, when she could not laugh naturally, Rabi Ghosh, then shooting in the same studio, was enlisted to fool around off-camera until she laughed.On Saturday, Anand told TOI that he had not wanted to mention Bose by name, but felt the point would be meaningless otherwise. He said Ray could see through a person’s personality. “She had the right personality for playing the role, he did not give up after the first day. He knew this girl would work and also knew how to guide her,” Anand said. He compared Ray to a conductor who understood every instrument available to him and knew exactly how to use each one. “Each department of film-making belonged to him. That is how he could make non-actors act,” he added. As an example, Anand pointed to how Chunibala Devi in ‘Pather Panchali’, who had never faced a camera before, was absolutely magical as Indir Thakuran.Yet, Ujjal Chakraborty, who was an observer during the shooting of five Ray films, including ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’, said the issue was never simply actors versus non-actors. “Even seasoned actors with strong mannerisms were closely directed. If a performance did not work, he said, ‘Let me try and see if I can get it right,'” Chakraborty said. He recalled that Ray even demonstrated how every line had to be said by Utpal Dutt in both ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’ and ‘Agantuk’. “This he did to remove Utpal-da’s trademark mannerisms visible in films like ‘Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Golmaal’. In ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’, during the first monologue in the ‘montronakokhho’, or cabinet meeting scene, Utpal-da eventually gave up. Manik-da then performed the monologue himself four times while Utpal-da watched closely. When the camera rolled, it was difficult to reach the standard of acting set by Manik-da during the rehearsal,” Chakraborty said.
