Ray's some illustrations on Sukumar Ray's creation of bizarre character of his popular rhymes.
Some Satyajit Ray movie recommendations:
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha) [1968]
Story: Goopy, a young farmer�s son with a passion to sing and marked absence of talent, is banished from his village, as Goopy has the audacity to disturb the king in his slumber with dreadful singing. Crestfallen Goopy arrives in a forest riding a donkey. He meets Bagha, a drummer from a neighboring village, who too has been also banished for his terrible drumming.
Goopy and Bagha soon are good friends and start their terrible music. They encounter a bizarre dance of the forest ghost. They manage to please the king of the ghosts, who grants them three boons :
[1] instant food and clothing,
[2] instant travel (somewhat like
Jumper) and
[3] musical talent that can spellbind audiences.
But they need to clap each others hand (for the first two) and the key to all the magic is in the two pair of slippers that the ghost king gifted them.
Wearing the magic slippers, they arrive in the kingdom of Shundi. At a music contest held by the good king of Shundi, they enchant the audiences and win the contest and are given positions as court musicians.
Meanwhile, the bad king of Halla, twin brother of the king of Shundi, wants to declare a war. The king of Halla is not really a bad king but is drugged and being controlled by the court magician Barfi. He works for the greedy and ambitious Prime Minister. With their magic powers, Goopy and Bagha avert the war....!
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is a delightful, fun film for children of all ages. Personally I think it's one of the greatest satire plus children films for all ages in the history of world cinema. The film ran to packed houses in Bengal for a record fifty-one weeks and was by far the most commercially successful Ray film. The film derives its inspiration from Ray�s grandfather - Upendrakisore Ray�s story - 'Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'. Ray meticulously designed its characters and composed the music.
Awards
* Award for Best Direction, New Delhi, 1968
* President's Gold and Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1970
* Silver Cross, Adelaide, 1969
* Best Director, Auckland, 1969
* Merit Award, Tokyo, 1970
* Best Film, Melbourne, 1970