Satyajit Ray or Ritwik Ghatak? Who is the greatest of Bengali directors? Isnt this the most unjustified question ever heard? But I still find people comparing them so foolishly when the fact is so well accomplished that both are legends and legends cannot be compared. Ray was always far more popular and successful, especially overseas, than Ghatak. It could be that his cinema was that of humanism and human emotions, while Ritwik Ghataks cinema was that of society. Ray seemed to leave his audience with questions, while Ghatak tended to push an agenda. Where Ray could have William Faulkner nodding in agreement to Jalsaghar, its hard to imagine Ghatak preoccupied with a rich mans declining estate. His Jalsaghar would likely have made the landlord trample over a tiny plant sown lovingly by a servants son, and then had lightning strike to highlight the horrified face of the servant, his raised eyebrows shooting towards his hairline in a frozen moment. Their filmmaking shares a tendency to showcase society within the microcosm of a family, as well as the technique of doing this by pulling dramatically into long shots from close-up scenes. They use songs, whose tune and lyrics would enhance the symbolism in the story. There are several points of divergence, through – Ghatak almost always had a narrator, whose words would be illustrated quite literally on screen, whereas Ray would let his music and actors do the talking. Ghatak played with angles, while Ray played with idiosyncrasies. Ghataks camera could have us perched on a rooftop, while Ray’s would observe interlocutors addressing each others images in a mirror. The soundtracks of Rays films are fluid, and one may suddenly realise a sitar is playing and struggle to remember when the music started; Ghataks soundtracks are disjointed, and one reaches for the speakers to make sure they’re working correctly, only to be assured by the hiss of the restored film that theyre not at fault. And then, one realises the sudden jumps are geared towards a change in perspective required of us. Thats particularly significant in the cinema of Ghatak, who was deeply influenced by Bertolt Brecht – he seems to offer the film to us to pass judgement, while Ray seems to tease our moods, seek our empathy. I wish we stop comparing and study their films more accurately.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:17:46 +0000
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