Like every notable filmmaker from India,Deepa Mehta has been deeply influenced by the cinema of Satyajit Ray. We can see that influence in Deepa’s best work Water where she delineates the human relationship with a tenderness and resolve that ray would recognize.
Speaking with infinite warmth on her favourite filmmaker Deepa says, “Satyajit Ray continues to be the most significant filmmaker out of India for many reasons in my opinion.”
Which aspect of Ray’s craft does Deepa dig the most? “It’s not only his mastery of story telling, his craft, the performances he elicits from the very young to the very old, the fluid camera work, the sublime sparse music that seemingly floats within the narrative , it’s also the essential humanity of his work that has set Ray apart. He has set a bar so high for other filmmakers that to meet it, let alone surpass it has become extremely hard for us in India.”
Deepa feels great humanitarian films are rare the world over. “Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Vittorio de Sica and of course Ray continue to be awe-inspiring film makers. They are a hard act to follow. I sometimes wonder why!”
She then answers her own question. “And after much rumination can only come to one conclusion – perhaps it’s the essence of Ray’s work , it’s ability to touch us without huge drama,with its apparent simplicity to convey our deepest ethos makes it difficult for us to emulate in the times that unfolded after his demise. It’s the times and the audience that changed , their taste.”
Suddenly Deepa feels she has become a commodity in the film bazaar. “Cinema is not a work of art , not a poem out of Tagore’s oeuvre, rather an overload of music, distortion of limbs, dodgy story lines and questionable humour. Streaming services, the demise of movie halls especially during the pandemic , have made sure that not only our attention span is limited but also interrupted.”
Deepa understands it’s the need of the hour. “Really it might be about that cinema is about supply and demand now. How can one aspire to the greatness of Ray’s work when its essential honesty would be rejected now?”
But it’s not all gloom and doom For Deepa. “There are filmmakers in India who have emerged and continue to push the envelope of their truth. Films that are indelible for me Garam Hawa comes to mind, as does Mulk and Article 15. Bhumika, Arth, Manto, Haider, The Namesake, Black, Udaan , Masaan… All made by wonderful filmmakers who wear Ray’s mantle with pride but who, I am quite sure will be the first ones to pay obeisance to the master of Indian cinema – Satyajit Ray.”
