Actor and director Dilip Roy passed away.

Actor and director Dilip Roy passed away.

Noted actor and director Dilip Roy passed away in Kolkata on 2nd September, 2010, at the age of 78 years. He was born on 17th December, 1930 in Chittagong in Bangladesh.

His brother introduced him to director Sunil Ganguly who gave him a break in the film Sati Behula in 1953. He had a very good voice and got opportunities to act in landmark films directed by eminent director Tapan Sinha including Hansuli Baker Upakatha, Jhinder Bandi, etc.

He at the same time got roles in other films like Shilubari, directed by Pijush Bose, Arogyo Niketan, Rajodrohi, etc. In the second half of his career he developed his skills as a director and directed many landmark films.

He made two films with Uttam Kumar, that was Devdas and Darpachurna. Devdas did not do great business. Reasons were obvious, the viewers could not accept any other actor in the role of Devdas other than Dilip Kumar who brilliant performance in Bimal Roy’s Devdas in 1955 had became immortal over the years. Uttam Kumar played the role of Chunilal in the film. Although Devdas did not impress the viewers, his other film Darpachurna was well appreciated.

In the early 80s, Dilip Roy made the best film of his career titled Amrito Kumbher Sandhane. He worked on the classic literature of Samaresh Bose on the subject. The film was related to the painful experiences of devotees who had gone to give the holy dip in the Prayag Sangam in Allahabad during the Kumbh Mela and died or lost their relative in the process. The fair took an ugly and people got trampled. Actor Subhendu Chatterjee was given the main role who was the observer and realized that the effect of the sacrifice was not sweet called Amrit instead it was labanakto or full of salt.

He also directed the film Garam Bhaat with actor Santu Mukherjee in the mid-80s. He acted in many commercial films like Sunayoni, Shatru, etc., and in a career of more than 100 films, he had been remembered as a character artist who was thoughtful in his performance. The viewers owe their homage to the great director and thoughtful actor.

Amritakumbher Sandhane showed the crude reality of attending Kumbh Mela.

Amritakumbher Sandhane showed the crude reality of attending Kumbh Mela.

Director Dilip Ray experimented with epic literature of Bengal’s literary giant Samaresh Bose titled Amrito Kumbher Sandhane in the year 1982. The film was based on the experience of visiting Kumbh Mela in Prayag Sangam in Allahabad. Kumbh Mela is considered a very pious event by numerous Indians and those who get a scope of taking a holy dip consider themselves fortunate and blessed by God.

Subhendu Chatterji played the role of the observer in the film. He was a writer and related the stories of different individuals who travelled with him. He observed the story of Bhanu Banerjee, who had a daughter, who left the house with her girl friend and never returned back. Bhanu searched for her in Allahabad.

He witnessed the story of George Becker, who was a sadhu, then married Sanghamitra and left the life of ascetic. But she left him and became a baijee in Benaras and again returned back to Allahabad as a devotee. Anup Kumar was a bayul, who went to Prayag for giving holy dip in the sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. But at the holy time for bathing in Prayag, there was immense rush and got stamped and died.

Subhendu met a Bihari family of Pramod Ganguly and his three wives. The characters were played by Aparna Sen, Ruma Guha Thakurta and Lili Chakravarty. Their husband was old and infirm. He was taken to Prayag so that the holy dip can change his health. Instead he got stamped in the rush and died. All the three wives got back being widows.

At the time when everyone wanted to bath in Prayag, the naga sanyasis from different akhras created a mess, and the police and administration failed to stop the crowd and the unrest. It took away the lives of more than thousands of people and the rest returned back with injuries.

Samarash Bose attacked the unscientific belief in the minds of rural people in India that bathing in the holy waters of Prayag during Kumbh Mela can wash away all their evil and bring prosperity in life. He used the term “amriter saadh labanakto” meaning the taste of the holy water which should have been sweet was not sweet at all, was rather bitter. His words were given expression by Subhendu Chatterji in the film he realized that Kumbh Mela hardly brought any happiness and prosperity, on the other hand took the lives of innocent people. But for uneducated population of the country the religious beliefs in their minds cannot be substituted by rational scientific thinking. The music of the film was composed by Sudhin Dasgupta.

Dilip Ray was appreciated for his efforts to make a film on the brilliant subject and the film ended being very successful.

Aranyer Dinratri was Ray's masterpiece.

Aranyer Dinratri was Ray’s masterpiece.

Satyajit Ray experimented with classic literature of Sunil Ganguly to make the film Aranyer Dinratri in 1969. The film was based on the life of tribals of forest area in the region of Palamou and Daltongunge in Bihar.

It was Ray’s masterpiece. The film was related to the experience of four Bengali friends who went for a travelling experience in Palamou for few days. Soumitra Chatterji, Subhendu Chatterji, Samit Bhanja and Robi Ghosh were the four friends.

They met the family Pahari Sanyal who had a house in the forest region. The life of the tribals and the solitude attracted the friends and they started staying in the forest bunglow without the permission of the forest ranger. Pahari Sanyal’s daughter Sharmila Tagore fell in love with Soumitra Chatterji, while his daughter-in-law Kaberi Bose liked Subhendu Chatterji.

Samit Bhanja, a cricket player in the film was depressed about his girlfriend Aparna Sen in Kolkata and mixed with Simmi Garewal, a tribal girl. In fact it was the only film of Satyajit Ray where Simmi Garewal acted. He was beaten up by a local tribal, who he accused about stealing his purse. In fact his purse fell down in the house of Pahari Sanyal where he was playing badminton with Kaberi Bose, Subhendu Chatterji and Robi Ghosh.

They returned back after staying for few days. It was pity that Satyajit Ray could not make a coloured film in 1969, otherwise, the weird landscape of Daltongunge would have haunted the viewers. The nightlife in the tribal forest was very unique with the native people drinking a kind of desi alcohol and sleeping.

Goutam Ghosh got attracted with the film and made a sequel of it with the title Abar Aranye, few years back. He had to change the team, because although Soumitra Chatterji, Subhendu Chatterji and Samit Bhanja was alive, Robi Ghosh had died. Kaberi Bose also died in the late 70s. The film won a number of awards both nationally and internationally. The film Aranyer Dinratri should be preserved and restored.

Review of Amritakumbher Sandhane.

Review of Amritakumbher Sandhane.

Director Dilip Ray experimented with epic literature of Bengal’s literary giant Samaresh Bose titled Amrito Kumbher Sandhane. The film was based on the experience of visiting Kumbh Mela in Prayag Sangam in Allahabad. It was probably the last film where Sudhin Dasgupta composed music mostly which included bhajans and bayul songs.

Subhendu Chatterji played the role of the observer in the film. He was a writer and related the stories of different individuals who travelled with him. He observed the story of Bhanu Banerjee, who had a daughter, who left the house with her girl friend and never returned back. Bhanu searched for her in Allahabad.

He witnessed the story of George Becker, who was a sadhu, then married Sanghamitra and left the life of ascetic. But she left him and became a baijee in Benaras and again returned back to Allahabad as a devotee. Anup Kumar was a bayul, who went to Prayag for giving holy dip in the sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. But at the holy time for bathing in Prayag, there was immense rush and got stamped and died.

Subhendu met a Bihari family of Pramod Ganguly and his three wives. The characters were played by Aparna Sen, Ruma Guha Thakurta and Lili Chakravarty. Their husband was old and infirm. He was taken to Prayag so that the holy dip can change his health. Instead he got stamped in the rush and died. All the three wives got back being widows.

At the time when everyone wanted to bath in Prayag, the naga sanyasis from different akhras created a mess, and the police and administration failed to stop the crowd and the unrest. It took away the lives of more than thousands of people and the rest returned back with injuries.

Samarash Bose attacked the unscientific belief in the minds of rural people in India that bathing in the holy waters of Prayag during Kumbh Mela can wash away all their evil and bring prosperity in life. His words were given expression by Subhendu Chatterji in the film he realized that Kumbh Mela hardly brought any happiness and prosperity, on the other hand took the lives of innocent people. But for uneducated population of the country the religious beliefs in their minds cannot be substituted by rational scientific thinking.

Dilip Ray was appreciated for his efforts to make a film on the brilliant subject and the film ended being very successful.