Page 12 - Seniors Today - April Issue

my film only after the first cut and then he
would write the music for my film. He was
ruthless and told me that its footage was too
long. He said, “Your film according to the
first cut is two hours twenty minutes long.
You must cut it down to 1:40 minutes,” but
he did not help me to actually implement
this. Only after I had cut it down did he
agree to write the music. He would insist
never to be lax in editing,” says Sandip who
has made altogether 28 films and television
serials, many of them based on his father’s
stories.
His regret is that when his second feature
film Goopy Bagha Phire Elo (1992) became
a thumping box office hit, his father had
just passed away. In an interview to a
magazine about what he felt about his son
as a filmmaker, Satyajit Ray has gone on
record say, “Sandip was the best assistant
(director) I have ever had.” Ray went on,
“Sandip is handicapped by the additional
weight of being my son. His latest work –
The Return of Goopy & Bagha is hundred
percent his own work. Only the plot and a
few songs were mine. But the direction, the
photography, the script were all Sandip’s.
In his handling of the camera, he is a
master. His skill is better than mine. The
bravura work of his cinematography is
incomparable.”
Sandip elaborates that he subconsciously
imbibed his father’s economical way of
Sandip Ray says he enjoyed the location shoot at the
Jaisalmer fort, where Sonar Kella was set
12
Satyajit Ray towered above everyone else, and with good
reason. Photo by Nemai Ghosh
working, the intensive homework he put in
not only in a film but in every frame, every
scene, every character of the film and that as
a filmmaker, “I had to be absolutely ruthless
about my work. He loved the double-headed
technique I had used in Goopy Gyne Bagha
Byne. When I screened the first cut of
the film for him, I asked the projectionist
to put in an interval so that he could
comment on what had gone by. But he got
so irritated with the interval that he told the
projectionist to keep the film rolling. That
told me that he loved the film” reminisces
Sandip adding that his unit members were
warm and helpful. He said that his father
was a very good observer.
Of Father and Son
Does Sandip ever feel the pressure of being
the son of one of the most outstanding
filmmakers in the world? Or does he look
upon this as an asset? Sandip says, “I
have never even thought about this being
a burden or as asset. It has never been a
burden for me. I consider myself extremely
fortunate to have had such a loving father
and a unique friend, philosopher and guide
who inspires me till this day. Had I felt
this to be a burden, life would have been
claustrophobic. I enjoy basking in the glory
of having been born into a family where
genius and talent run down the line, hand in
hand.” And we let him have the last word.