{"id":4280,"date":"2016-03-10T03:02:59","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T21:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4280"},"modified":"2016-03-10T03:02:59","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T21:32:59","slug":"satyajit-ray-goopy-gyne-bagha-byne-war-mongering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4280","title":{"rendered":"Why a Modern Update on Satyajit Ray\u2019s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is Important in a Time of War-Mongering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p><\/div>

t was both a good and a bad time for Shilpa Ranade\u2019s <\/span>Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya<\/span><\/i> to release in theatres last Friday. One half of the nation \u2013 the younger half \u2013 was busy with exams and the other half, was hoping for a <\/span>war<\/span><\/a>. But as India and Pakistan teetered on the brink of a war, there couldn\u2019t have been a more relevant time for an animated anti-war film that explored power politics and the right to dissent, to see the light of day. <\/span>\n\nIncidentally, Ranade\u2019s <\/span>Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya<\/span><\/i> \u2013 that comes over 100 years after noted Bengali author, Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury wrote his much-revered story <\/span>Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne \u2013 <\/span><\/i>was completed six years ago. The story was however, immortalised by Chowdhury\u2019s grandson, Satyajit Ray, in a fantasy musical of the same name that turns 50 this year. Generations of <\/span>Bengalis<\/span><\/a> have grown up on multiple viewings of the classic film that thrives on pioneering ingenuous visual effects, catchy songs, dialogues in verse, and crackling wordplay. Accompanying the delightful song and dance, was a powerful anti-war, anti-authoritarian message that remains relevant to this day. <\/span>\n\nGoopy Gyne Bagha Byne <\/span><\/i>revolved around two village bumpkins \u2013 tone-deaf Goopy and the drummer Bagha \u2013 who set off on a mission to stop two kingdoms from going to war with help from the King of Ghosts who grants them three wishes. In the film, the two kingdoms are ruled by a set of twin brothers. One of them is a happy-go-lucky king, who loves his music, his people, and <\/span>peace<\/span><\/a>. And the other, under the drugged influence of his evil senapati decides to attack the former\u2019s kingdom. <\/span>\n

Under the spell of our heroes\u2019 song, the soldiers drop arms and pick up a handi full of sweets that their music conjures out of thin air<\/blockquote>\nThe film\u2019s twist hinges on Goopy and Bagha winning over the \u201cevil\u201d king and his silent zombie-esque army by the power of their music. In Ray\u2019s film, famished soldiers \u2013 dragged into a war not of their making \u2013 listen mesmerised to a chilling anti-war anthem. Calling them \u201c<\/span>slaves<\/span><\/a> of their master\u201d, Goopy and Bagha appeal to their conscience and remind them that they are going to die in a mindless war between generals, nations and <\/span>neighbours<\/span><\/a>, and argue over the pointlessness of it all. Under the spell of our heroes\u2019 song, the soldiers drop arms and pick up a handi full of sweets that their music conjures out of thin air. Similarly, in Ranade\u2019s <\/span>Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya,<\/span><\/i> Goopi and Bagha call upon the soldiers with a rousing song, exhorting them to dissent, to question, to think, to resist and to love, but never to fight. It\u2019s a calm plea that feels all the more powerful in the hyper-reactive times we live in right now.<\/span>\n\nFor 50 years, <\/span>Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne<\/span><\/i> has been synonymous with Satyajit Ray and while it\u2019s impossible to measure up, Ranade\u2019s animated iteration demands to be engaged with. While she does a competent job of addressing themes of otherness of the social and cultural <\/span>misfits<\/span><\/a> that Ray\u2019s film championed, her film boasts of other flourishes as well. In <\/span>Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya<\/span><\/i>, the two kings use Urdu\/Arabic words and immediately offer a Hindi version: Their vocabulary is generously sprinkled with phrases like \u201cJung urf yudh\u201d and \u201cKhana urf bhojan\u201d. It\u2019s impossible not \u00a0to interpret it as a delightfully cheeky take on India\u2019s current national pastime: Rewriting history and disowning our past instead of learning from it.<\/span>\n\nWhat makes both versions of the film so extraordinary is that they\u2019re actually political satire; a stinging social commentary in the colourful, fantastical garb of a children\u2019s film. Hence even at its most chilling moments \u2013 impoverished <\/span>villagers<\/span><\/a> dressed in battle gear reaching out for food or the mad king and his generals doing a crazy battle dance \u2013 it is gentle and amusing. <\/span>\n\nThe Bengal that <\/span>Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne<\/span><\/i> released in, isn\u2019t the same as the Bengal of today. Recently, a political, satirical film disguised as a comedy about <\/span>ghosts<\/span><\/a>, was pulled off theatres, resulting in chief minister Mamata Banerjee being called out for her hypocrisy. In such a climate, I wonder what sort of reception Ray\u2019s film would have got from the powers-that-be? <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Generations of Bengalis have grown up on the Satyajit Ray fantasy musical Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, which, in its 50th year, has got an animated update. The films have a powerful anti-war message that could not be more relevant in the India of today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":4281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[7702,7703,5094,264],"class_list":["post-4280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-goopi-gawaiya-bagha-bajaiya","tag-goopy-gyne-bagha-byne","tag-satyajit-ray","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy a Modern Update on Satyajit Ray\u2019s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is Important in a Time of War-Mongering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Generations of Bengalis have grown up on the Satyajit Ray fantasy musical Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, which, in its 50th year, has got an animated update. 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