Article Written By EIH Researcher And Writer
Tithi Chatterjee
The stories of Satyajit Ray are mainly for children and adolescents; however, his novels can be appreciated by both children and adults. Ray never considered the younger readers as less intelligent or responsive than adult readers; his horror stories are a great example of it. The way he has played with various plots and subplots in those stories and his films (mainly – Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Monihara) is incredible. But Ray did not write horror stories for amusement only; he used to believe in the supernatural.
As per his belief, Satyajit Ray inherited his faith in ghosts as his grandfather’s grandfather was a Tantric. Ray never believed that science can explain everything but many things will someday fall under its purview when his biographer Andrew Robinson questioned him about his religious beliefs in the 1980s the maestro responded in this way. His works demonstrate that he had a strong belief in science as well as in the supernormal universe.
While having the same discussions with Robinson, Satyajit claimed that his father Sukumar Ray, another literary prodigy of Bengal had a vision of his death. Although Satyajit refused to go into specifics, he did say that he would unquestionably accept his father’s account of that incident, which was detailed in a lengthy letter to a close friend of Sukumar. While working on the documentary to commemorate the birth centenary of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit encountered records of Tagore’s séance-related experiences. Satyajit was aware of the story that Tagore engaged in a séance with Sukumar. During that time he found the official documents of that session in Santiniketan.
However, his literary and cinematic contribution to this genre is impeccable. As his target readers were children therefore his sole means of accomplishing the task was situational horror. Satyajit was an expert in creating ambiance, be it on the silver screen or the pages of a storybook; for instance, in cinema the final scene of Monihara (The Lost Jewels) when Phanibhushan was waiting for his beloved wife with the necklace he bought for her, alone in the mansion next to Ganga in a moonlit night. That atmosphere is the most ominous aspect of Monihara. The final twists of the film give goosebumps when the skeletal hand of Manimalika holds Phanibhushan’s hand and the necklace. And finally when the village schoolmaster finishes narrating the story of Phanibhushan and Manimalika the stranger to whom he was narrating the story tells him that there are mistakes in the story. The astonished schoolmaster asked him how he knows about them, the man bids him farewell, tells him his name Phanibhushan Saha and dissolves into the thin air; it’s the perfect example of a horror film. Although Monihara is the only horror film he directed; Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne has more elements of fun than fear when Bhut-er Raja appears on the screen or when he and his band of ghosts dance. Apart from the films he has worked with ghosts in his writings; for example, Tarini Khuro-r Kirtikalap (The Adventures of Uncle Tarini), Ratan Babu r Sei Lokta (Ratan Babu and the Stranger), Batik Babu (Mr. Idiosyncrasy), etc.
The different subgenres that he had come up with make his writing fascinating to the reader; for example, haunted houses, inert objects, metamorphosis, skeletons, vampires, etc. In The Adventures of Uncle Tarini one story, The Hunting Lodge of Dhumalgarh depicts the image of a skeleton where Ray writes young Tarini saw “… the sky behind can be seen through the gap of the ribs of the second statue…” which was a skeleton. Lucknow-er Duel (A Duel in Lucknow) narrates the story of haunted dueling pistols other than these Conway Castle-er Petatma (The spirit of Conway Castle), Brown Saheb-er Baari (The House of Brown Saheb), Anath Babur Bhoy (Anath Babu’s Fear), etc. deals with haunting houses, he also included the subject of transition or metamorphosis in his writings.
It is said that Satyajit tried to establish his opinions and characteristics through the main character of the Feluda series, Feluda or Prodosh Chandra Mitter/Mitra. Although he never directly admitted his belief in séances he has depicted séances in two Feluda stories. And in the case of one story Feluda, Bhuswarg Bhayankar (Peril in Paradise), Feluda said that he has an open mind about séances and sees no reason to scoff at the entire idea. Perhaps through Feluda, he accepted his faith in the entire concept. In another story of Feluda, Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress) he has depicted the concept of reincarnation and hypnosis. He also made a film about that story.
Bibliography
Chatterjee, Prabirendra. “The Supernormal World of Satyajit Ray.” The Space Ink. 3rd June 2021.Satyajit Ray and the supernatural: Did Ray believe in the supernatural? (thespace.ink)
Chattopadhyay, Bhaskar. “Monihara: Satyajit Ray’s Sole horror film indues the scariest emotion of all – hopelessness.” Firstpost. 10th September 2017. Monihara: Satyajit Ray’s sole horror film induces the scariest emotion of all — hopelessness-Entertainment News , Firstpost
Chattopadhyay, Bhaskar. “Why we should remember Satyajit Ray (also) for the horror stories he wrote.” Scroll.in. 26th March 2017. Satyajit Ray must be remembered as one of India’s best horror story writers (scroll.in)
Ray, Satyajit.Tarini Khuro-r Kirtikalap. Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 1985.
