Abhijan (Angel; DVD, Rs 399), one of the biggest box-office hits and honoured with the National Award (1962), has a very interesting story behind its making. Ray was to help his producer friend Bijoy Chatterjee with the pre-production and write the script. On his request he agreed to direct on the first day of the shoot. But once in it, he went on to direct the entire film. The sophisticated Soumitra Chatterjee is cast here as the rugged driver Narsingh who’s a proud owner of the vintage 1930 Chrysler. He is also very proud of his Rajput birth. The film traces his journey through life. More than Soumitra’s performance here, the ones to watch out for are Robi Ghosh (Rama), Ruma Guha Thakurta (Neeli), Gyanesh Mukherjee (Joseph) and Waheeda Rehman (Gulabi). The filming took place in sweltering heat with the actors wearing heavy clothes to simulate winter. Ray had also included a fight sequence here. He later admitted, “I’d have very much liked a John Ford-type rough-and-tumble.” This film is different from the usual Ray films.

Aparajito (Angel; DVD Rs 399) takes Apu’s life forward from where we left him in Pather Panchali. This is the second instalment of the Apu Trilogy. It traces Apu’s growing years when he lived with his parents in the city of Varanasi. Satyajit Ray paints a memorable picture of the city and its culture. Tragedy strikes in the form of death again and again. His father falls ill and dies. The helpless mother and son have to take refuge in a relative’s house in the village. Here, Apu attends school and becomes a top student. He gets the opportunity to study in Calcutta and has to leave his mother behind. Filmed decades ago the theme and emotions in the narrative are strikingly relevant to modern society. No wonder it’s bracketed as the ‘timeless classic’.

One more Ray masterpiece. Asani Sanket (Angel; DVD, Rs 399) is set in 1943-44 when man-made famine struck Bengal during World War II. While the British government reserved the civilian food supply for its armies, the people starved. This famine claimed the lives of five million people. Ray takes us to a small village during the war and focuses not on the famine, but on how it affected the lives of the families in different ways. How the villagers were reduced to animal-like existence, how they were forced to beg for food, how they were reduced to prostitution, and more, built up into the crisis. Ray made excellent use of colour to show how Nature filled with the lushness of life gradually fades away. The film is based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and starred Bangladesh’s Babita.