PATHER PANCHALI WAS THE FIRST GENUINE CINEMA TO COME OUT OF INDIA

A door Gopalakrishnan, one of India’s greatest filmmakers, has been among the stalwarts of the country’s new wave cinema, pioneered by Mrinal Sen. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, he speaks about his friendship with Satyajit Ray, his admiration for the maestro’s craft and the declining standards of Bengali cinema.

- RABI BANERJEE

INTERVIEW / Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director

Edited excerpts:

Q/ Your first film, Swayamvaram, was largely influenced by Satyajit Ray.

A/ Influence is a wrong word to use. Like many other filmmakers of my generation, I was enthused and emboldened to make a film like Swayamvaram, but it had no direct link to Pather Panchali or any other Indian or foreign film. The word influence means copying. I have never copied someone else’s work. That is the most unethical and pathetic thing to do. Ray is very important in Indian cinema because for the first time a great artist looked at Indian reality very closely and came out with a real masterpiece. Cinema was his passion. He was not repairing or reforming old cinema. He created new cinema. Pather Panchali was the first genuine cinema to come out of this country.

Q/ Did Ray see your first film?

A/ No. He did not. He saw all my films, starting with Kodiyettam, except the one I made first. In January 1990, two years before his death, my film, Mathilukal, was being screened at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata, as part of the International Film Festival of India. I called him up and invited him to the screening. He said his doctor had asked him not to climb stairs and pointed out that Gorky Sadan did not have a lift. But I was hopeful that he would come, and so I waited outside till the last minute. Then a car pulled up and Manik da (Ray was called Manik da by those close to him), stepped out. I rushed down the stairs to receive him and said apologetically, “Manik da, sorry to have troubled you.” He replied, “No, Adoor, I had to come.” After the screening, he came out and said, “Marvellous, Adoor, marvellous.”