Page 65 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

52 The Apu Trilogy

that authenticity was the touchstone of her performance’, he
wrote. She was careful to wear her widow’s sari with its torn por-
tions knotted, as a poor woman in her position would do. After a
while the garment became really ragged and barely covered her
decently. When word of her feelings reached Ray, he asked for
a new piece of cloth to be provided for her with fewer holes in
it. This was done, but when Chunibala next appeared on set she
was still wearing the old sari. Her memory for continuity was
formidable. Ray recalled that she often picked up details he had
missed, with comments like: ‘That time it was my right hand
which was wet’, ‘Wait, there was no sweat on my face before’, ‘In
this shot my shawl wouldn’t be covering me’, ‘Was my bundle in
my right hand? No, it was in my left. My brass pot was in my
right.’
The village of Boral provided most of the remaining actors.
Although Ray had an introduction to someone in the village, the
initial reaction to him and his team was not very friendly, at least
among the older villagers. This quite soon improved though,
as the conversion of the ruined house progressed and shooting
began using some of the locals. One incident was particularly
effective in thawing the atmosphere. Ray had seen someone in
the village whom he wanted to play the bald-headed villager
woken by the first drop of monsoon rain on his pate, but he
did not know the man’s name. So he scribbled a quick sketch
of him. ‘Hari Babu!’ the villagers shouted and promptly fetched
him. ‘I think this feat brought me more acclaim than anything
else I had done in the years we spent in Boral’, joked Ray in his
autobiography.
The enthusiasm that comes from breaking new ground per-
vaded the production. In the words of Subrata Banerji, who
watched some of the shooting, ‘Satyajit seemed a different per-
son. He was rarely withdrawn. There was an abandon about
him. The warmth in his relations with others that was rarely
evident came out clearly ... He could easily set the mood for an
occasion by his own behaviour. He seemed to live through the

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