Revisiting Ray’s Calcutta, a consistent character – Times of India

Kolkata: Through his lens, Satyajit Ray captured the city like no other. Kolkata (then Calcutta), which he never thought of leaving despite many an offer from home and abroad, came alive in his cinema not merely as a backdrop, but a character in itself. TOI revisited some of the spots captured with candour in his movies — right from ‘Aparajito’ to ‘Mahanagar’ to the Calcutta trilogy of ‘Pratidwandi’, ‘Seemabadhha’ and ‘Jana Aranya’.
Surprisingly, even decades after the films were shot, not much has changed. The majestic two-storey building at the crossing of Patuatola Lane and Ramanath Mazumdar Street, near College Street, still stands — fragile and waiting to be pulled down. The house played the backdrop for Apu’s first rendezvous with the city after his arrival here from his village to pursue higher studies. In fact, Ray also used the still for the poster of ‘Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956)’.
“The house belonged to Ramanath Singha when the film was shot. It has now changed hands and we don’t know its fate,” said Debidas Bandyopadhyay, whose own residence at 54A Patutola Lane was used in the film as a printing press (Royal Press), where Apu gets shelter and a part-time job to fund his studies. Bandyopadhyay’s house has undergone change and except the two pillars of the gateway, it is barely recognizable. The steep staircase and the attic, which was Apu’s home in the film, are things of the past.
Faraday House at the intersection of Mission Row Extension and Bentinck Street, which was the office building of Arati Mukherjee (Madhabi) in the film ‘Mahanagar (The Big City, 1963)’ still stands tall. The last poignant long shot of the movie from the building had in focus Arati and her husband Subrata (Anil Chatterjee) walking along R N Mukherjee Road only to disappear into a crowd on the pavement. The shot also captured the Currency Building and Dead Letter office, among many impressive structures down the road, and they look almost the same today. In fact, a signboard of Inland Agency, shown in the movie hanging from the tall building opposite Faraday House, is still hanging there!
Armenian Street, where ‘Jana Aranya (The Middleman, 1976)’ protagonist Somnath (Pradip Mukherjee) meets Bishuda (Utpal Dutta) who introduces him to the world of entrepreneurship in Burrabazar, looks nearly the same today. The stately colonial architecture of the oldest surviving church of the city — Armenian Church — holds till date the magical soul of the city that Ray never wanted to part with.