Patol Babu, Filmstar — A Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece

A Short Story

Popularly known as the Master Director, Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921–23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. Both the British Federation of Film Societies and the Moscow Film Festival Committee named him one of the greatest directors of the second half of the twentieth century. In 1992, he was awarded the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and, in the same year, was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

But what most people don’t know is that apart from being a filmmaker, Satyajit Ray was also a writer of repute, often called one of his generation’s most skilful short story writers. I recently read over more than 50 short stories considered the best of his collection. To my amazement, set in the Twentieth century, every story plot had been weaved quite effortlessly with fabulous and fantastic beings, kleptomaniacs and amateur actors, a dog who laughs, the ghost of an indigo planter and a young boy’s account of his mother adultery. His tales range from the humorous to the sinister, from the spine-tingling to downright terrifying, from the inexplicable to outright bizarre. Ray’s short stories often explore the macabre and the supernatural and…