Tuesday 1 September 2015

14 stories that inspired Ray



      I bought this book at the Kolkata Airport last time I was returning from India. Edited and translated by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, this book comprises fourteen stories by various authors that Ray transformed into great cinema, some of which are world renowned for their universal and timeless themes.




"Devi" or "The Goddess"written by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay as "Devi"




"Kapurush" or "The Coward" written by Premendra Mitra as "Kapurush"




"Agantuk" or "The Guest" written by Satyajit Ray as "Athithi"





"Goopy gyne Bagha Byne" written by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury




"Teen Kanya" , that is a triptych comprising of three short stories, all written by Tagore:



"The Postmaster"



"Monihara"



"Samapti"




" Mahapurush" written by Rajshekhar Basu as " Birinchi Baba"


"Jalsaghar" or "The Music Room" written by Tarashankar Bandopadhyaya as "Jalsaghar"



" Mahanagar" written by Narendranath Mitra as "Abotaranika"




"Parash Pathar" or "The Philosopher' Stone" written by Rajshekhar Basu




"Sadgati" written by Munshi Premchand




"Shatranj ke Khiladi" written by Munshi Premchand



"Pikoor Diary " written by Satyajit Ray


   I think this is a must read for literary as well as cinema fans, because firstly, it is a sheer joy to behold a motion picture that is based on a book or novel that one has read time and again, with it's own private visions in a reader's mind. Secondly, it provides Ray fans with a glimpse of the great director's interpretation and rendition of such classic stories that he translated to celluloid. The themes that he chose range from the joyous to noir, mundane to profound, dramatic to slice-of-life, and all of them resonate with a global audience.