Ray's Pather Panchali in colour?
Would you like to see Satyajit Ray's immortal classic Pather Panchali in colour instead of in those stark images of black and white? What then, would happen to those brilliant images of Apu and Durga's widowed aunt unspooling a fairy tale of demons as the shadow of her gesticulating hands falls across the wall behind? What would become of those white kaash flowers billowing in the breeze as the brother and sister rush through the fields to catch their first glimpse of a running train? How would one see the pitter-patter of raindrops falling on the village pond to spread out in circular ripples?
Arup De, CEO, Satyajit Ray Society says that a Mumbai-based organisation Sankranti Creations, which had set two early black and white Hindi films to colour (Mughal-E-Azam and Naya Daur), announced its plans of extending the 'favour' to Ray's Pather Panchali. What could possibly be the reason for such cinematic blasphemy, pray?
The lure of lucre, of course, according to De, because the organisation believes that converting this classic in colour may extend its commercial prospects further in terms of time and space, spreading the Pather Panchali message wider across the world.
Rajiv Dwivedi of Sankranti Creations says that his organisation has planned a project amounting to Rs 1.25 crore with a team of 70 people to add colour to Pather Panchali, so that they can release the colour version at the end of this year. The revenue would be shared with the West Bengal Government that produced the film more than 50 years ago. A one-minute demo is said to have been screened for the government representatives and also for Sandip Ray, the maestro's son.
Next page: What does Satyajit Ray's son think of Pather Panchali in colour?
