Page 92 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

An Epic in Production 79

autobiography, ‘but by now I had acquired some experience in
handling children, however small and difficult’ – which at one
point included giving the boy a sedative to create his wonder-
fully lifelike scene of awakening from sleep when touched by
his father Apu.
Apu’s garret, to which he brings his bride, still decked out in
her finery, was based on a room in the extreme north of Calcutta
that overlooked a series of railway tracks where trains shunted
back and forth; but it was constructed by Bansi Chandragupta in
the studio, so that Ray and Mitra could have ideal control over
the lighting and camerawork. The sights and sounds of railway
trains – first heard, then seen, in Pather Panchali – are the woof
of the Trilogy, drawing it together into an epic work. ‘As soon
as I decided to do Aparajito, I decided to bring back the train;
and when I decided to do Apur Sansar I had this inspiration,’
said Ray. ‘I thought I would take away the lyrical element of the
train and have the couple living right on the railway track and
being bothered by all the whistle and steam and this and that.
And then the idea came to my head that after Aparna’s death
Apu would try to throw himself on the tracks and take his own
life. But all that came later.’ For Ray, it was essential that his
screenplays should evolve organically; he hardly ever began with
a framework and fitted his characters into it.
The grand village house of the Apu–Aparna wedding was,
by contrast, a real building. Ray and Chandragupta looked at
many such decaying zamindari houses in the country before set-
tling on one with a perfect riverine location. ‘The river was just
right, narrow and winding through mustard flowers’, wrote Ray.
‘Boats plied and I thought it would be a good idea for Apu and
his friend [Pulu] to travel part of the distance by boat. It would
make the journey from Calcutta to the village more interesting.’
In the event, apart from the exterior of the house and its setting,
only its front verandah and its compound were used for shoot-
ing, after being repaired; the interior of the house was built in
the studio.

9/16/2010 9:08:17 PM
Robinson_Ch03.indd 79 9/16/2010 9:08:17 PM
Robinson_Ch03.indd 79