Why Satyajit Ray wanted to slap Dipankar De

New Delhi: There were very actors who were trusted by Satyajit Ray when it came to portraying a grey character. Bengali actor Dipankar De was one of those actors who were a part of Satyajit Ray's core team whenever he had to showcase complex characters. The actor talks extensively about the creative process of Satyajit Ray.

Q: How was it to work with a legend like Satyajit Ray in the beginning only of your career?

A: Well, I started my career in 1970 in a very small role in 'Seemabaddha', then there was a long gap, after which I did 'Jana Aranya' with Satyajit Ray, and then there was again a long gap before I did major roles in his last trilogy 'Ganashatru', 'Shakha Proshakha', and 'Agantuk'.

April 23, 2012 marks the 20th death anniversary of Satyajit Ray, a master of Indian cinema. We pay a tribute to his art recapturing the timeless moments from his feature films. This is a still from his 1960 film Devi (The Goddess) set in the late 1800s in rural Bengal. When her father-in-law has a dream that she is an incarnation of goddess Kali, Dayamayee's life takes a strange turn.
Pather Panchali in 1955 is perhaps Ray's best known work to date and is the first part of his Apu Trilogy. He sees the world through the eyes of his protagonist Apu and weaves his brand of lyrical realism in the film. It has won honours at the Cannes Film Festival and is counted amongst the best films in World Cinema.
This is the third part of Ray's Apu Trilogy (1959) and charts the adulthood of Apu, his marriage to Aparna and tearing of his roots to feed the wanderlust in him.
Soumitro Chatterjee plays Narasingha, a rough taxi driver. Ray blends cynicism with the love of a man for his machine in this 1962 film.
This 1991 film is Ray's last and adapted from one of his stories. A stranger comes to visit the woman he calls his niece, who has little recollection of him as a child. The story follows the turmoil he creates in the nuclear household with his arrival.
Aparajito is the second of the Apu Trilogy and sees Apu growing up into a teen and tells the moving story of a fledgeling leaving the nest his mother so lovingly created.
Four friends explore the untapped wild charm of tribal Palamau in Bihar to get away from civilization. The lines blur when the so-called civilized and the uncivilized find themselves in company of women and wilderness.
Set in a village in Bengal during World War II, the film is based on the Great Famine of 1943 and tells the story of a doctor and wife's struggle for existence in times of starvation.
One of Ray's finest films, Charulata tells the story of a lonely housewife whose husband runs a newspaper in colonial Calcutta. Ray explores relationships with Madhavi Mukherjee in the lead role.
Ray based this suspense thriller on a story by author Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Uttam Kumar plays the Bengali sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi in the film as he investigates a crime in one of the city's strange farm houses that is home to a bunch of social outcasts.
'Enemy of the People' is a 1990 film by Ray adapted from Henrik Ibsen's play 'An Enemy of the People'. It was screened at Cannes and dealt with the deep seated superstitions associated with religion.
Based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore, Ghare Baire is the conflict of ideals, the duel between realism and idealism brought out beautifully by Ray.
One of the greatest children's film ever made, Goopi Gayen and Bagha Bayen are exiled from their village. They seek shelter in a forest and come in contact with a cluster of ghosts living there. They grant the duo three wishes.
Hirak Rajar Deshe, a children's film, is also a powerful social commentary. Ray tackles with grave subjects such as corruption and exploitation through a lyrical and amusing tale.
Jalsaghar is the tragic narration of how an aristocrat and landlord deals with the abolition of the zamindari system by the government.
A part of Ray's Calcutta Trilogy, this film is the lyrical narration of the problems of unemployment of the educated middle class in Bengal.
Joy Baba Felunath is part of his series on his self-created detective Pradosh Mitra. This time Feluda goes to Benaras to solve a crime.
A family takes a vacation in the popular hill station of Darjeeling. As the story unfolds, so do their interpersonal relationships.
A scriptwriter takes shelter in the house of a couple and is surprised to find that the wife is his old girlfriend who he had let down. Now that he is a successful man, he urges her to leave her husband and elope with him.
The hilarious film is adapted from the popular story 'Birinchibaba' portraying a fraud godman and his unmasking.
In Mahanagar, Ray leads his heroine from the sheltered domain of her home to the streets as a salesperson to meet economical demands of a household. It is based on a story by Narendranath Mitra.
A nationally known film star takes a train journey and comes in contact with a journalist. His flamboyance and panache is a cover for deeper insecurities and inner demons.
When a common man stumbles upon a touchstone, his life goes topsy turvy. Gold prices fall and the economy is in tatters. Tulsi Chakraborty is brilliant in Parash Pathor.
Filmed in 1971, at the peak of the Naxal movement, the film is part of Ray's Calcutta trilogy. Pratidwandi is the story of Siddharta, caught in the ethical dilemma and revolutionary ideals of his time.
Sadgati, made in 1981, is based on a short story by Munshi Premchand and has won a National Award. This is Ray's second Hindi film after Shatranj Ke Khiladi and takes a critical look at the perils of Indian caste system.
Starring Barun Chanda, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Parumita Chowdhury, Sharmila Tagore and Haradhan Bandopadhyay, this is the story of a man's fall from respect even as he deals with a professional crises successfully.
Made in 1990, Ray brings four generations of a Bengali family under one roof with this film and lets them sort out their differences.
Sonar Kella is part of series on his self-created detective Pradosh Chandra Mitra. Feluda goes to Rajasthan to investigate the truth behind a boy's claims of re-incarnation and bust a gang that kidnaps him.
A lonely postmaster finds an unusual friend in a little helper girl during a posting to a far flung area of rural Bengal.
A woman's attachment to her jewels takes a terrible turn in this three-part series by Ray.
This is the poignant story of the coming of age of a village girl as she discovers sympathy, kindness and love in her young husband.

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Why Satyajit Ray wanted to slap Dipankar De

Dipankar De worked with Satyajit Ray on several films. He talks about Satyajit Ray\'s creative process in detail.

Q: Was he a tough man to work with?

A: I found him very easy to work with. Initially I was very scared to talk to a man like Satyajit Ray with his baritone voice, structure and height, but when I heard the script in his house then I realised that he is a very simple man. I slowly got over my fright and understood that this man doesn't impose his ideas on actors, he gives his actors a free hand except in the roles where some nuances, and innuendos need to be shown. He used to act those scenes to demonstrate what he wants from the actor.

Q: How do you rate Satyajit Ray as an actor?

A: In fact, the way he used to read his scripts and portray different characters to the artists, I don't think any of us could give even 75% of his performances.

Q: Ray probably found you very suitable for dark characters.

A: (Laughs) That's a great compliment for me. My characters had darker shades in his films, but he told me during 'Ganashatru' that I don't want to make you a complete dark character. He wanted to put some human elements into my role and he maintained that as far as my role was concerned.

May be I do look like a villain, but his characters were very down to earth. They were not from outside the planet. He saw my face, my height and weight and thought that this guy is slightly villainous in comparison to others.

Q: You looked very different in 'Agantuk' then other Satyajit Ray films.

A: What happened during those scenes that I asked Manik Da, can I do this scene in such a way? He saw it and permitted me to do the same, he never imposed anything.

Q: How was Ray in his personal life?

A: Satyajit Ray as a human being was very concerned about the Calcutta life. Coffee houses, cinema movements, libraries you know, at the same time he had a very international personality. He had a personal leaning towards music, books, and even towards the man dying on the streets. He used to react to political jargons and movements but not like a politician, like in 'Shakha Proshakha' he talked about communism in Eastern Europe, he didn't like the idea. He had his own political views but he was not very outspoken about them.

Q: And you didn't have any difficulty in relating to his ideas.

A: I fully endorse his views because I am not a communist.

Q: Satyajit Ray becomes outspoken in 'Agantuk'.

A: I personally like 'Shakha Proshakha' because it's a sharp witted razor like film. Ray talks about bombing, ghettos and other important things in 'Agantuk' but 'Shakha Proshakha' is absolutely to the point.

For example take 'Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen' which is basically an anti war film, so he talks about peace.

Q: Is this true that something funny had happened on the sets of 'Agantuk' due to your penchant towards astrology?

A: (Laughs) I dabble in astrology a little bit, he didn't believe in astrology, so when his grandson was about to be born he very casually asked me 'Dipankar, tell me whether it's going to be a grandson or a granddaughter'. I did a little bit of calculation and predicted the arrival of a granddaughter. After some days when I reached to the sets of 'Agantuk', he came towards me and said that 'I will give you one tight slap; it's a grandson not a granddaughter. Your astrology is all rubbish.' Then he started laughing.