Satyajit Ray adapted his grandfather Upendrakishore Ray
Chowdhury’s short story ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ (1915) as a film, bearing the same
name that released in the year 1969, at the request of his son to make a film
for children. Twenty years later, a similar request was made to an author by
his son that had put the author in a dilemma, “You should never break a promise made to a child, but is the death of
the author a reasonable excuse?” Salman Rushdie, the author in question,
produced Haroun and the Sea of Stories
in 1990, dedicating the book to his son.
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| Ranade's Goopi and Bagha (Image source: The Hindu) |
Fifty years after Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Shilpa Ranade’s directorial debut Goopi
Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya (2019) has recreated the magical world of
storytelling. After a few minutes into the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder
about its uncanny resemblance of wordplay with Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Like Rushdie’s story, the film not
only reminds us of the many stories we grew up with but also the Indian cinema
songs. It’s the good old story of anti-heroes seizing the day and the
princesses at the end of the day. It is a powerful tale of good and evil that
bears a more powerful message of peace and love over war.
The animation feature film recreates Ray’s humorous
musicians Goopy and Bagha. Rushdie borrowed the names of these musicians to
create the characters of plentimaw fishes who mate for life, and their purpose
is to swallow the old stories in the ocean of sea of stories to recreate them as new
stories. In a similar fashion, Ranade recreates Goopi and Bagha who spend a
couple of minutes assuming each other to be their reflections, creating a bond
that makes one incomplete without the other, which is further enhanced by the
song “Mai Nada tu Pajama” as well as with the boons that they get from Bhooter
Raja (King of Ghosts).
Ray’s film spends more time on the dance of the ghosts (and
years in the production of the scene) as compared to Ranade’s screen time for
ghosts. Ranade, with her vibrant animation, the dark mystic background and
on the point musical score creates a scene where the Ghost king is seen giving
the musicians two headsets that translate his language to that of humans.
Considering the role Google Translate and image/text scanners play in our lives today, the headsets seemed utterly relevant and hilarious.
Goopy and Bagha become the dotting duo who get into trouble
the moment they look away from each other. Their boons don’t work with one
chanting the mantra; they need to clap with their right hands for the boons to
work. This twinning is also seen between the kings of Shundi and Hundi – twin
brothers who don’t want to fight but are also not aware of why their kingdoms
are in a state of war. These brothers, in fact talk in a similar fashion
(again, an amazing use of language and humour), when they are not under the
madness of war.
The king of Shundi, Lakshmipat wants to hear his praise
where as the king of Hundi, Padmapat wants war under the influence of his
Senapati. Given the current socio-political scenario of our country, the
depiction of ‘need for war’ poses an eye-awakening moment for the adults
shouting for war on social media. I’d go on to see these characters as
representation of some very specific people, the role media and terrorism but I
have come to realise that such a film will be relevant any day anywhere because
it portrays a universal human condition.
I totally loved the presentation of the preparation for war
in Hundi, where no one apart from the authority has a voice (reminding me of
Kingdom of Chup in Haroun) and the
common man, is forced to be a part of the war without a choice and 'without the
uniform of the army'. Further, “Tark kar Vitark Kar” has the powerful lyrics
that propose choosing a pen over sword, peace and love over war. The anti-war
message being sung in a tune that reminds one of an army marching forward on
battle ground only adds to the brilliance of the music (by 3 Brothers and a Violin) in the film. It suggests choosing the battles that
need to be fought against hunger and poverty. Later, it’s amusing to note
that nobody wants to go to war when they get food in abundance.
Goopi and Bagha, the exiled bad musicians, are given the
boon of having everyone in a state of trance when they listen to their
music/songs. I was blown by the visual sequence of the song “Hundi ke
Raja”, a song that doesn’t affect the king at all immediately after he takes
the potion that arises an unreasonable thirst for war against Shundi. It
is also seen that despite Senapati’s attempts at blocking the melody, the king
hears the song and isn’t affected. As funny as the scene is, one cannot stop from
seeing it as an allegory of blind hatred being served on a platter in the country.
Goopi Gawaiya Bagha
Bajaiya plays on many stories like ‘Ali Baba and the forty Thieves’, 'The Frog Prince' and classic songs
like ‘Saawan ka Mahina Pawan kare Shor’ with a twist. It captures plurality of storytelling
in a world that’s asking for singularity. As mentioned earlier,
it’s a classic tale of two paupers turning into princes. It's a front seat experience in the roller coaster ride of adventures of Goopi and Bagha. I cannot emphasise
enough on the wordplay that has the audience laughing from beginning to end. It’s a gripping moral fable for children that adults need to watch.
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| Ranade's Bhooter Raja's face with Goopi and Bagha (Image source: Scroll.in) |
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