CONTINUED FROM PART II
March 20 - Shot scene of Harihar's collapse on the steps of Chowshati Ghat. Very satisfactory work. A strong wind ruffled the surface of the river and lent movement to the shots. Kanu Babu fell most realistically, got a nasty cut in the knee.
Bloated dead body in the river close to bank and camera. Bathers unperturbed. Probably a common sight.
March 22 - 5.30 a.m. - Started with shot of Apu fetching water from the river. The idea was to have a long shot with Apu int the foreground and a solitary wrestler in the far-background, and no other figures. But bathers had already arrived and we had a tough time persuading them to stay out of water, and out of camera-field, until end of shot.
From the ghats to the lanes. Concluding shots of scene of Apu playing hide and seek with friends. Clearing the lanes of unwanted elements(animate and inanimate) for long shots a Herculean task. Pack up at 4 p.m. and proceed directly to the Vishwanath temple for shots and recording of Arati.
Durga sets up tape recorder in a house across the lane opposite the temple. Mrinal worms his way through milling crowd of devotees with mike and 90 ft. cable which just reaches the southern door of the inner sanctum. Temple attendants get busy stretching a cordon to keep off crowd who push and crane their necks to get a sight of the image which is now being decorated for the Arati. We wait, sweating, acutely conscious of the audacious incongruity of the camera.
The time arrives. We hold our breath. The great chant begins. In the deafening crescendo, I can just hear myself shouting 'start' and 'cut'.
The Arati goes on for an hour. The end finds us - and our raw stock - exhausted. As we are about to pack up, word arrives from Mohant that he would like to hear the sound that we have recorded. Would we be good enough to have our equipment conveyed to his apartment and the sound played back to him ?
It takes us half-an-hour to reach Mohant's place with the equipment, another half to install it, and a full hour to play back and pack up. When we finally take leave of the great man, it is quarter to eleven. He smiles his approval. I almost expect him to tip us.....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ END ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
March 20 - Shot scene of Harihar's collapse on the steps of Chowshati Ghat. Very satisfactory work. A strong wind ruffled the surface of the river and lent movement to the shots. Kanu Babu fell most realistically, got a nasty cut in the knee.
Bloated dead body in the river close to bank and camera. Bathers unperturbed. Probably a common sight.
March 22 - 5.30 a.m. - Started with shot of Apu fetching water from the river. The idea was to have a long shot with Apu int the foreground and a solitary wrestler in the far-background, and no other figures. But bathers had already arrived and we had a tough time persuading them to stay out of water, and out of camera-field, until end of shot.
From the ghats to the lanes. Concluding shots of scene of Apu playing hide and seek with friends. Clearing the lanes of unwanted elements(animate and inanimate) for long shots a Herculean task. Pack up at 4 p.m. and proceed directly to the Vishwanath temple for shots and recording of Arati.
Durga sets up tape recorder in a house across the lane opposite the temple. Mrinal worms his way through milling crowd of devotees with mike and 90 ft. cable which just reaches the southern door of the inner sanctum. Temple attendants get busy stretching a cordon to keep off crowd who push and crane their necks to get a sight of the image which is now being decorated for the Arati. We wait, sweating, acutely conscious of the audacious incongruity of the camera.
The time arrives. We hold our breath. The great chant begins. In the deafening crescendo, I can just hear myself shouting 'start' and 'cut'.
The Arati goes on for an hour. The end finds us - and our raw stock - exhausted. As we are about to pack up, word arrives from Mohant that he would like to hear the sound that we have recorded. Would we be good enough to have our equipment conveyed to his apartment and the sound played back to him ?
It takes us half-an-hour to reach Mohant's place with the equipment, another half to install it, and a full hour to play back and pack up. When we finally take leave of the great man, it is quarter to eleven. He smiles his approval. I almost expect him to tip us.....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ END ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
now i can sleep in peace
ReplyDelete