![]() It won awards at international film festivals like Adelaide, Auckland and Tokyo too and was in the running for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The film ran for 51 straight weeks in Bengal and bagged the National Award for Best Feature Film and Best Direction. “Manik-da always kept a poker face and it was hard to say what he was thinking, but boudi and Sandip (son) looked delighted at the premiere,” she recalls. “We can’t let this film go out of Bengal,” she insisted. Meanwile, Purnima ji, heard the music and urged her father-in-law and husband to produce it, having already established their banner with two National Award-winning films, Tapan Sinha’s Hatey Bazarey (1967) featuring Ashok Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, and Arundhati Devi’s Chhuti (1967). Dejected, he still recorded the music and when this information reached Raj Kapoor, he offered to produce the film. It was an expensive proposition and they didn’t think it would work. Satyajit Ray with Purnima (far left), wife Bijoya (centre) and Ashim (far right) in Berlinīut while the film is regarded as a classic today, back in the ’60s, the producers of Ray’s earlier films weren’t too kicked about it. ![]() He was rather aloof but whenever anyone came calling, he was the one to open the door,” Purnima ji smiles. “Manik-da’s (Ray) deep baritone intimidated me and whenever I’d call, I’d pray that boudi (wife Bijoya) picked the phone, but it was always him. ![]() He even choreographed it himself, lending his voice to the King of Ghosts. The ‘bhooter naach’ (dance of the ghosts) had been mentioned in passing by his grandfather, but Ray turned it into a six-and-a-half minute visual treat, the film’s USP today, with shadow puppets, live-action and live percussion instruments. The story of the two musicians had first appeared in 1915 (six years before the celebrated auteur was born) in Sandesh, the children’s magazine his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, founded and edited. Back then too, their parents had been wowed by Ray’s anti-war message encapsulated in the song, “ Ore Baba” and his innovative attempt to invert the traditional caste hierarchy with the ‘Dance of the Ghosts’ at the end of which Goopy and Bagha get their boons. And many of the same children turned up, with their own kids, to watch the film again in its golden jubilee year, this time seeing it from a different perspective. “Many of the parents later complained to me that they then refused to wash their hands,” she laughs, adding that soon schools were requesting special screenings too.Ī month-and-a-half ago, Purnima ji informs, they opened their theatre in Kolkata, Priya, which had been undergoing renovations for seven months, and screened the film again, as also on Ray’s 98th birth anniversary- May 2. By the end of the screening, all the children wanted to shake hands with singer Goopy and drummer Bagha, played by Tapen Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh. Purnima Dutta, whose father-in-law Nepal Dutta and husband Ashim had produced what went on to become a cult film, recalls that it was a packed house with as many children as there were adults, including her own kids, Arijit and Piyali. Guppy to the foyer to play some more tunes to the delight of the staff, residents and families that were visiting.Fifty years ago, on May 8, 1969, Satyajit Ray’s fantasy adventure comedy, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, premiered in Kolkata. "We marched, playing to his doorway only to see a smiling Len Guppy, with his jaw nearly dropped to the floor! He was more than surprised! He promptly picked up his set of pipes that he keeps close to his bedside, and joined in a few tunes!īy this time, the hallways were filled with other residents listening in. He had no idea that within moments, the hallway would be filled with Scottish flair! "We quietly arrived and formed up in the hallway near his room. Guppy was now a member at Eastholme, with the help of his son and the administrators, we were more than thrilled to make a surprise visit on New Years Day to play for our friend," Lisa Hurtubise, Pipe Major, Callander Legion Pipes & Drums told BayToday. ![]() Guppy was a founding member of the Callander Legion Pipes & Drums many years ago, and was in fact, the Pipe Major. Len Guppy, 95, is that surprised resident! The Callander Legion Pipes & Drums were able to make a wonderful start to the New Year for an Eastholme Powassan resident. The Callander Legion Pipes & Drums with Mr.
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