Manika da & Sharmila Di

It is amazing what you can find on the net - if you are looking with the right intent and at the right place. I have been an avid reader of Mint Lounge and one of the columns I read every alternate week is from Sandip Roy who covers various topics like independence, traditions, sports etc. He has a nice way of telling it. So while heading for one of my favourite podcasts I browsed similar podcasts and saw the Sandip Ray Show. Browsing through the episodes I saw Sharmila Tagore on Satyajit Ray on his 100th birth Centenary.

Well, I am often teased at home as they believe (& so do I) that I will always be in love with Sharmila Tagore. I have seen Chupke Chupke - 10 times along with the family. The wife doesn’t mind as she knows this is just pure adoration and nothing more. 

So I was engrossed in an hour of Sharmila di talking about Manik da (Satyajit Ray). There were beautiful insights on how she got into acting - In her family, they were not allowed to even see a film in theatre but her father actually changed the school so that Sharmila could work in Manik da’s film as the school refused to continue with Sharmila if she acted in film.

Or how Ray pawned his wife’s jewelry & other writings but the money was still not sufficient to fund the movie Pather Panchali & funnily West Bengal govt wanted to fund the movies using Road Repair budget since in Pather Panchali was the first word means road. 

Then there were lovely interpretations or the meaning of a few scenes in movies where she acted and what the director wanted to convey. 

Humble, Motherly at times, very articulate and still as coy as ever. May you live to be 100. 

Day 34: 200 words/day challenge (307 words)