Page 15 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

2 The Apu Trilogy

They regarded themselves as Brahmos, that is, Christian-
influenced Hindus who rejected caste (Brahminism), idolatry
and the Hindu festivals, though not the teachings of the origi-
nal Hindu scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads. Although
Satyajit would regard the social reforming side of Brahmoism
as generally admirable, he was not attracted to its theology (or
to any theology, for that matter). He said: ‘As material for a
film’ – for example, his film about nineteenth-century Hindu
orthodoxy, The Goddess/Devi – ‘I feel Hinduism is much more
interesting than Brahmoism. As a child I found Hinduism much
more exciting than Brahmoism, and Christianity too. When I
think of Brahmoism I think of solemn sermons mainly. I don’t
think of being free from the shackles of orthodoxy.’ (Parts of
the Ray family remained relatively orthodox Hindus, which did
not prevent the maintenance of very friendly relations with their
Brahmo relatives.)
Of his grandfather Upendrakisore, one of whose stories Ray
adapted to make the musical The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha/
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (by far his most popular film in Bengal),
he wrote:

My grandfather was a rare combination of East and West. He
played the pakhwaj [drum] as well as the violin, wrote devo-
tional songs while carrying out research on printing methods,
viewed the stars through a telescope from his own roof, wrote
old legends and folk-tales anew for children in his inimitably
lucid and graceful style and illustrated them in oils, water-
colours and pen-and-ink, using truly European techniques.
His skill and versatility as an illustrator remain unmatched by
any Indian.

Of his father, who was the subject of a documentary film,
Sukumar Ray, made by Satyajit for his father’s birth centenary
in 1987, he remarked: ‘As far as my father’s writing and drawing
goes, nearly all his best work belongs to his last two and a half

9/16/2010 9:07:19 PM
Robinson_Ch01.indd 2 9/16/2010 9:07:19 PM
Robinson_Ch01.indd 2