Soumendu Roy: Satyajit Ray's Cinematographer and Close Associate

When Satyajit Ray resumed filming Pather Panchali after it had been put on hold due to a lack of funding, Soumendu Roy had recently joined Technicians' Studio. From the studio, Ray rented a Mitchell camera for his shooting. In addition to 'camera coolie' Agnu, Dinen Gupta served as the cameraman for the Pather Panchali crew. Roy asked Gupta if he could join the shoot so he could learn more about shooting in the outdoors. Anil Choudhury, Ray's production controller, gave the necessary approval, and eventually, Roy acquired possession of the Mitchell camera after Gupta left to work as a cameraman on another movie.

Since Subrata Mitra had never ever seen a Mitchell before, let alone operated one, Roy remarked that he was "amazed to see how Subrata Mitra met the challenges." All of the participants had to run next to the train for the train scene. I carried the 12-volt battery on top of my head as Agnu ran with the camera.

Although sharing a unit with Ray, Bansi Chandragupta, and Mitra had a profound impact on Roy, he treasured the camaraderie most. The fact that everyone was treated equally was one of the shoot's most illuminating features. Roy had observed a distinction between the food provided to actors and that provided to technicians at other sets he had attended. The tea guy in Ray's apartment consumed the same meals as Ray.

Pather Panchali and Apur Sansar warn of approaching rain

Roy recalled the rain sequence in which young Apu and Durga got wet as one of the numerous lessons he learned on the set. Ray made history by choosing a cloudy, rainy day to film on, in low light, and with actual rain, as opposed to relying on rain machines. Three days went by while the team awaited the rain. The anticipated rains arrived on the fourth day. Everyone had heard Ray discuss the shot before he gave the command "action and camera roll." However, the camera declined. The movie had frozen. It would take time to load a fresh film, which would be necessary.

"For three days, we waited for the rains. The shot was going to be fantastic. the following!Roy recalled this. Fortunately, it kept raining while Satyajit Ray and his crew produced one of the most well-known scenes in movie history.

The unit proceeded to experience rain—or the lack of it—in subsequent movies as well. The production team in Apur Sansar was waiting for rain before filming the scene where Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee) soaks his garments in the rain to wash them. Soumitra Chatterjee left the rainy day waiting to attend a movie with his girlfriend Deepa. When it eventually started to rain, Roy was sent to pick up the actor from the theater.

Ray's creative black-and-white photography techniques would never cease to astound Roy. The brightness from white clothing frequently ruined the shot, therefore he had noted that other directors would outfit their performers in light-colored clothing. Ray had to wear white if he desired it, but he would first soak the white clothing in tea to reduce brightness.

With the exception of Jalsaghar, which he was unable to participate in since he was simultaneously filming another movie at Aurora Studios, Roy assisted Subrata Mitra on all of Ray's movies between 1954 and 1960. With Ray's documentary Rabindranath Tagore and the anthology Teen Kanya, he transitioned to being an independent cameraman in 1960 for a monthly payment of Rs 350. Subrata Mitra was unable to shoot because of a retinal separation at the time of the Tagore documentary. Ray then addressed Soumendu Roy. It was agreed that after Teen Kanya recovered, Mitra would go back for him. Roy filled in as director of photography for Teen Kanya as well, albeit Mitra's recovery was delayed. In the end, Roy would produce 15 of Ray's 28 feature pictures, 4 of Ray's 5 documentaries, and all 3 of Ray's TV movies.

Ray enters the river to take a documentary photo of Tagore

It was a lot of labor to film the Rabindranath Tagore scene, and Ray later wrote to renowned Sri Lankan director Lester Peries that it "was a back-breaking chore that took almost as much time as working on two or three feature films." Roy recalled that Ray chose Nimtita, the village through which the Ganga flowed, because the Pakistani government had refused permission to film portions of the movie in East Pakistan. Nimtita had previously served as the location for the films Jalsaghar and Devi.

Since it was September, there weren't any strong showers for days, which was necessary for the scene in which Tagore is shown riding the bajra while the song "Hriday mandrila damaru guruguru" plays. But just as in Pather Panchali, the rains came as promised, and there was an unexpected heavy downpour.

Roy remembered Satyajit Ray entering the raging river to photograph the scene. Since Roy had to stand in water that was about neck-high for him, he was unable to film these scenes. The camera was covered in plastic sheets and held onto by Roy's aide Purnendu Bose and others while Ray, who is considerably taller, snapped some incredible pictures with no apparent problem.

The snow-covered road in Samapti

Teen Kanya was the first movie directed by Ray for which Soumendu Roy was hired as the cinematographer. Monihara was a really memorable experience. Monihara required indoor filming, in contrast to Postmaster and Samapti, the other two films of the triptych.

"This is a story where the supernatural predominates, and I had to create a lot of the desired atmosphere through lighting," Roy recalled. For Samapti, Ray wanted slush on the road where Amulya (Soumitra Chatterjee) was supposed to come looking for Mrinmoyee (Aparna Sen). To achieve Manik-da's creepy moonlight effect, I got smoke to reflect on artificial light. Since September was approaching and rain seemed unlikely, the unit was perplexed. The water was poured on the road by people using water carriers, but the hot sun dried it up. However, just as in the cases of Pather Panchali and Apur Sansar, the rain gods once more grinned as it began to pour severely the night before the shoot. Roy's camera unit had a very tough time because of the resulting slush, but Ray was ecstatic. The next day it rained as well, which allowed the crew to film the scene where Amulya and Mrinmoyee's mother are searching for her in the pouring rain.

& Chhabi Biswas, Pahari

Roy worked with Subrata Mitra on their first color movie, Kanchenjungha, before they collaborated on their subsequent independent effort, Abhijan. With other filmmakers by this point, Roy was a fully fledged cameraman, which presented a small issue. Roy asked Ray if he may go with Mitra since he did not want to miss the chance. Roy went along because Roy was told categorically by Ray, "Come if you want to, but since you are already a cinematographer on other films, and here you will be in the capacity of an assistant, your name will not appear in the main title credits." That was a little price to pay for the experience.

Roy had the chance to closely study Chhabi Biswas and Pahari Sanyal, two legendary actors, in Kanchenjungha. He recalls an exchange between the two near the stairwell in the first scene of the movie. A couple from France who was staying at the hotel had been cast in a little role. Pahari-da spoke French with ease and was literate. He was constantly getting ribbed by Chhabi-da, who would say things like, "Look, Pero, we take it for granted that you know French, but we don't know any better and can never know whether what you are talking about is French. However, you'd better not do it with the pair because they might discover that you're just trying to impress us. Pahari-da was temperamental and somewhat picky when it came to attire. He persisted on calling the high-quality perfume he used ittar, as I recall. When we pronounced it "ator," he used to become enraged.

On the other side, Chhabi Biswas was a jokester while having a serious demeanor. Roy once showed up at the actor's Bansdroni residence along with Anil Chatterjee and Dilip Mukherjee. The kids were preparing for a cricket match between Chhabi Biswas Eleven and Satyajit Ray Eleven. When he learned about it, his first words were, "You know I only wear dhuti and panjabi. Is that possible for cricket? Manik babu finds it simple because he wears a shirt and pants, so he agrees after some prodding from the kids, but he forewarns them that he will arrive in his signature garb.

The players gathered to watch the actor arrive in his Hillman on the day of the game. He was dressed in white flannel shirt and pants, a striped jacket, and a panama hat as he got out of the automobile, and nobody could identify him! The actor asked the lads, "Well, boys, what are you staring at? Roy recalled Chhabi Biswas as a virtuoso at creating lovely dolls and sketching pictures on plates. "I am Chhabi Biswas," he said.

Kamu Mukherjee as well as Tulsi Chakraborty

Roy had the chance to collaborate with people like Kamu Mukherjee and Tulsi Chakraborty while working with Satyajit Ray. He remembered their touching dialogue. Ray had planned for Chakraborty to be picked up from his house and driven back when Parash Pathar was shot. In the latter stages of his career, the actor said to Roy one day, "I get to travel by automobile. I've always had to take a bus or tram to get about. Despite being paid by New Theatres as an actor, Chakraborty passed away without any money after performing in Parash Pathar.

According to all accounts, Kamu Mukherjee was the energy hub of the team. As an actor and the go-to person for all of the unit's needs, he had developed into a crucial member of Satyajit Ray's crew over the years. He made his acting debut as Bhupati's friend in Charulata, went on to play the advertising agency guy in Nayak, Mandar Bose in Sonar Kella, and the knife thrower in Joy Baba Felunath.

He plays multiple roles in the films Hirak Rajar Deshe and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. He makes an impression in the first as the sentry who collapsed without bending his knees. Roy remembers playing up to eight characters in Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, such as a flute player, a soldier stuffing his face with candy, and a courtier to the monarch of Halla. Roy noted that Kamu Mukherjee was a master at controlling rowdy audiences. "Kamu would move to the back of the crowd after we had fenced off a specific area and begin juggling or performing his magic tricks. Soon enough, the crowd would stop paying attention to our shooting and turn to him."

Robi Ghosh, a "scene-stealer," and low-light photography in Abhijan

Abhijan was Satyajit Ray and Roy's second film together after Teen Kanya. Given the amount of night scenes the movie had, the shoot was difficult because the cinematographer tried what's known as low-light photography. In the absence of generators and artificial lighting, the headlights of Narsingh's (the cab driver protagonist played by Soumitra Chatterjee) automobile were frequently employed as the source light alongside petromax and torch light.

Roy recalls Manik-da telling him, "I remember Manik-da telling me that he wanted a perspective shot—Narsingh driving his Chrysler at night, the road seen in the glare of the night, and then Narsingh coming upon Gulabi (Waheeda Rehman) and Sukhanram (Charuprakash Ghosh)." Roy was aware that the entire scene couldn't be captured using the car's headlights alone. At the time, there were no halogen lights. A technician at Technicians' Studio named Bhabaranjan made the suggestion to use a 24-volt battery-powered landing light. They gave it a shot, and it worked out nicely.

"We had a box fabricated for it, put the battery in it, and fastened it to the carrier of the Chrysler. In a different scene, Joseph is the character that Narsingh chases after. To make the shot a POV shot, I sprinted after Soumitra while my helper chased after me with the battery. Thankfully, the Arriflex was a silent camera and light weight rather than a Mitchell.

Roy was aware of the natural style used by actor Robi Ghosh in Abhijan. "A large buffalo that sat directly in the middle was used for the scene where Robi-da offers tea to Narsingh. Robi-da avoided it during the practice sessions. Robi-da hopped over it, though, during the last take. We all assumed Manik-da would postpone it, and Robi-da was concerned as well. Ray, however, thought the improvisation was fantastic and said, "Excellent, excellent."

In a different picture, Robi Ghosh was involved in a variety of tasks while Soumitra Chatterjee and Waheeda Rehman were speaking in the foreground. The actor made the decision to play at chasing a monkey away to provide a feeling of realism to the scene. "Robi-da utilized an inflatable plastic snake that kids use for play. The moment the shot was complete, he erupted in laughter and exclaimed, "Excellent shot! " I'm sure Manik-da hadn't given him instructions on any of these. Robi steals the show in a big way.

Ashani Sanket: "Consider what would have occurred if you hadn't fired the shot!'

With films like Chiriyakhana, Aranyer Din Ratri, and the Calcutta trilogy, Soumendu Roy continued to have exceptional interactions with Satyajit Ray. In Chiriyakhana, Ray gave matinee idol Uttam Kumar a real snake to handle, and for the film, Bansi Chandragupta had built the entire colony on location. Even though he had his back to the camera, Ray made an appearance in front of the camera during a scene in the first of them, Pratidwandi (with Dhritiman Chaterji).

Roy's shooting of Ashani Sanket is one of his lasting recollections. Ray was looking for a shot of the lead character Babita in a close-up at dusk. Due to the dim lighting and inaccurate readings from the exposure meter, Roy felt apprehensive. This was Roy's first independent color feature film, although neither film speed nor technology were sufficiently advanced.

When Ray communicated his concerns to the cinematographer, he was told, "If there is no reading, the film is going to be underexposed. But I need the result. Roy hurried the film to Gemini lab in Chennai, asking for a report and a rush print, and then he shot the segment. Soon after, the lab reported that the shot was successful. Roy exhaled in relief when the rush print showed up. The director had requested exactly what happened. Ray turned to Roy after viewing the print and said, "Well, consider what would have occurred if you had not snapped the image!"It was an experience that stood me in good stead all my life," Roy recalled. It was at that time when I learned a film's latitude. The phrase was frequently used by Subrata-babu, but until that time, I had no idea what it meant. Additionally, I discovered that the pursuit of excellence requires challenging both the known and oneself.

It was challenging to film Shundi vs. Halla in Goopy Gyne.

Roy's memory still contained some details of Goopy Gyne, Sonar Kella, and Ghare Baire. The lighting requirements made Goopy Gyne difficult to photograph. Ray intended for the lighting to enhance the personalities of the characters; for the good king of Shundi, it had to be calming and soft; for the king of Halla, it had to be the reverse, with harsh shadows. It was always going to be challenging. Images were blurry back then because whites reflected too much light from the excessive usage of direct lighting.

Roy used bounce lighting, a technique that Subrata Mitra had invented at Aparajito. To create the effects Manik-da was looking for, I painted large white boards and bounced the light off of them.

For the director, the cinematographer, and the choreographer, Shambhu Bhattacharya, the Bhuter Raja or Dance of the Ghosts segment was yet another challenging one. "The sequence was broken up into four pieces, each of which was shot individually and afterwards pieced together using an optical camera. You get the impression as you watch that the dance is taking place through a layer of water. Once more, an optical camera was used to do that. Every dance had a white background, some of which the optical camera turned negative. It took four to five days to shoot the scene, which involved setting up a dais shrouded in a black curtain on a sizable set at Indrapuri Studios.

Santosh Dutta's dual function was a separate issue. "With computers and special effects today, it is simple play. Only a Mitchell could be used back then to shoot multiple roles. The camera has a feature that let you mask off half of the lens while leaving the other half exposed. I used a half-masked, half-exposed lens when I photographed the scenes featuring the raja of Shundi. I took the sequences with Halla's raja using the unexposed bit. It wasn't technically faultless. Additionally, we realized our mistake because the specific photo was in color. No one could spot the inaccuracy, though, because further reproductions were in black and white.

Sonar Kella's "Train" series

The train scene in Sonar Kella provided him with one of the most exciting cinematography experiences of his career. "Manik-da leased a real train for the production. We started filming the sequence around midnight on a chilly winter day. Kamu jerked back his hand from the compartment door handle during the rehearsals because he was startled by how icy it was. Manik-da and I were seated on a trolley that was parallel to the railroad tracks and had a camera and lights on it. The trolley was being pushed by a railroad employee. We got the amazing photos of Kamu switching compartments while my aide Purnendu was perched on the train's roof with another camera set up at the edge of the compartment.

Unbelievably, the scene was approved on a single take. Another scene in Sonar Kella that Roy found challenging had Barman hypnotizing Mukul. "All I had to use as a source of light was a pen flame. The scene is a marvel, greatly enhancing the pacing and aesthetic of the movie. I used a fill light of low intensity to mitigate the sharp glare of the torchlight.

Moonlight pouring into Ghare Baire

The final movie Soumendu Roy and Satyajit Ray collaborated on was Ghare Baire. He remembered one scenario that was especially difficult. Talking in bed is Bimala (Swatilekha Sengupta) and Nikhilesh (Victor Banerjee). A kerosene lamp is blazing at the head of the bed, and a window is open, letting in moonlight. I had to produce two effects at the same time. Nikhilesh was to be bathed in moonlight, which would spill over onto the bed and the other half of Bimala's face, while the other half of Bimala's face would be illuminated by the kerosene lamp. Such a photo would not be problematic now, given the variety of grades of cellophane paper available. Another issue was the lighting; I solved it by using less blue in the photo, which produced the ideal result.

"Manik-da experimented heavily and... broke boundaries,"

Roy praised his guru Satyajit Ray, saying of him, "Manik-da was not rigorous. Every movie he made contained an educational element since he tried so much. Pushing boundaries was in his nature. He accomplished things we never even considered. Everything he taught me, I incorporated into the movies I made with other directors. All my life, I have carried these lessons with me.

When Satyajit Ray's son Sandip Ray made his directorial debut with Phatik Chand (yep, with Kamu as a juggler) in 1983, Soumendu Roy was in charge of the cinematography, which is only fitting for someone who started his career with Satyajit Ray.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.