Sandip Ray on working with Shashi Kapoor on Satyajit Ray Presents telefilm: 'He was a thorough perfectionist'

To celebrate the centenary year of Satyajit Ray, arguably the most remarkable filmmaker born on Indian soil, Firstpost will explore the lesser known aspects of his life in our column Ray-esque.

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Very few would probably recall today that famed actor Shashi Kapoor, who left us not too many years ago, and well-known director Sandip Ray, maestro Satyajit Ray’s son, had seen a memorable tryst on the visual medium over three decades ago. To be precise, in 1986.

A series of 13 stories authored by the great Ray, Satyajit Ray Presents I, had been telecast in Hindi on the national network, Doordarshan, in 1985. To resounding success. Incidentally, the series was scripted by the virtuosic Satyajit Ray and directed by son, Sandip. The background music track was also scored by Satyajit Ray.

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“After the first outing, produced by Duncan Agro Industries, went down extremely well with viewers, Doordarshan approached father with a proposal to come up with a second edition. Thus, crystallised Satyajit Ray Presents II, financially backed by Trikaya Advertising. This time around, father visualised a completely fresh format. He homed in on three stories written again by him: Bankubabur Bandhu [Bankubabu’s Friend], Mayurkanthi Jelly, and Jata Kando Kathmandute, titled Bandhu, Shodh, and Kissa Kathmandu Mey for the series. The third was a novella revolving around father’s sleuth, Feluda. He decided to split Bandhu into two episodes, while Shodh and the Feluda thriller were spread over three and eight episodes respectively,” recounts Sandip.

According to Sandip, his father felt a Feluda series on Doordarshan would be an “interesting experiment.” “Initially, father had weighed casting Amitabh Bachchan as Feluda, and even written to him. We had scheduled stretches of indoor and outdoor shoots in Calcutta, and a relatively lengthy stint in Kathmandu. Everyone is aware that Amitabh ji was at the height of his career in the mid- and late ’80s. Thus, he wrote back a polite, but regretful letter to father saying that the dates for the Feluda shooting and commitments to his Bombay movie assignments were overlapping, and he had no way but to opt out,” informs Sandip.

Even as this exchange of correspondence with Bachchan was underway, castings for the other characters for the Feluda serial were wrapped up. While Mohan Agashe was picked to play the comic-novelist in the Feluda triumvirate, Lalmohan Babu, Master Alankar [known for his role in the blockbuster Sholay amongst other films] was selected as Feluda’s assistant, Topshe. Mentionably, too, the renowned late actor Utpal Dutt walked in as Ray’s infamous fictional villain in three Feluda novellas, Maganlal Meghraj. “In step, Pankaj Kapur was cast as Meghraj’s henchman. We had built up a tremendous rapport with Pankaj Kapur during Satyajit Ray Presents I.  So he told us that he would “have to be there” in the second chapter, too,” says Sandip.

For the crucial role of Feluda, Satyajit Ray next plumbed for Shashi Kapoor, and put through a call. “He was very excited, and requested father for a nutshell of the plot over telephone. On learning it was all about busting the racket of fake medicines, he was quite overwhelmed. In fact, he agreed to go ahead with the series outright, and confessed to father that he was all for generating a wider awareness about the menace of drug trafficking and counterfeit medicines,” Sandip underscores. “Father sent him a screenplay in English, and everything was locked. He also specially penned a bio-profile of Feluda, his understudy, Topshe, and Lalmohan Babu for Shashi ji to help him get a grip on the three prime characters.” The screenplays were translated in Hindi, incidentally, by late scriptwriter Akskay Upaddhay.

[caption id=“attachment_10402111” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Backgrounder in English of Kissa Kathmandu Mey that Satyajit Ray had handwritten and sent to Shashi Kapoor in the run-up to the shooting of the Doordarshan telefilm. Image by Satyajit Ray Society[/caption]

One should underline here that Shashi Kapoor was throughout an admirer of Satyajit Ray and his films. “In fact, he would drop by at our residence whenever he happened to be in Calcutta. Both at Lake Temple Road [south of the city] and Bishop Lefroy Road [Satyajit Ray’s final home, again in south Calcutta]. In step, both Shashi ji and Jennifer [Kapoor] would invariably come across to our hotel whenever we were in Bombay, and invite us over to their residence. Thus, we had also visited their house. Shashi ji and his wife Jennifer chanced to be in Calcutta when father was recuperating at the Belle Vue Nursing Home after his first heart attack in 1984. On learning about father’s condition, they immediately came rushing to the nursing home to check out on how he was faring. Jennifer was always in touch with us,” says Sandip. Incidentally, Jennifer was also cast as a piano teacher by Satyajit Ray in his film Ghare Baire [The Home and the World].

After all, the friendship between Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendall [Kapoor] and Satyajit Ray stretched back to the mid-’60s and the Ismail Merchant-James Ivory films, Shakespeare Wallah and The Householder. Satyajit Ray composed the music for Shakespeare Wallah, and helped actively with the editing of The Householder. Interestingly, Shashi’s father Prithviraj Kapoor had also paid a visit to Ray’s Lake Temple Road apartment, says Sandip. “I still remember what he wrote when I approached him for an autograph: ‘Play Your Part With All Your Heart, About the Results Bother Not.’ And, then signed, ‘Prithvi.’ He would always refer to himself as ‘Prithvi,’ which reasons Shashi ji’s christening his theatrical house, Prithvi Theatres. Prithviraj Kapoorji was extremely refined and erudite,” emphasises Sandip.

Shashi Kapoor harboured an inert love for Kolkata. Not only was he born in the city, he met the love of his life, Jennifer, at the Fairlawn Hotel [located in the central part of the metropolis]. Ever since, the illustrious couple would always put up in Room Number 17 at the Fairlawn whenever they travelled to Kolkata. The Fairlawn Hotel management, mentionably, has renamed Room 17 as the ‘Shashi Kapoor Room’ after the renowned actor’s passing away.

Directing Satyajit Ray Presents I “was a smooth-sailing affair” even while handling a wide spectrum of actors, including the unforgettable Ashok Kumar, says Sandip. But, when it came to Shashi Kapoor, he was a trifle “circumspect.” “After all, he was a star,” admits Sandip with frankness. “When I spoke aloud my apprehensions to father, he assured me that he did not expect any such hurdles to crop up,” says Sandip. “Shashi is a very adept actor, and a thorough professional, father had told me,” recalls Sandip.

The experience of shooting with Shashi ji on the first day erased Sandip’s fears without a trace. “He was totally professional, as father had expressed to me, absolutely punctual and prepared, and willing to listen. I was completely relaxed after the first half hour of working with him. He was not just an out-and-out actor, but was extremely respectful and affectionate toward not only me, but every member of the crew. The fact that he had begun his career as a mere spot-boy in Raj Kapoor ji’s early films had stayed with him,” describes Sandip.

“It was not that he was interacting with only the technical heads. But, also a non-descript person like someone who was serving us rounds of tea or even the electricians. An indescribably warm and pleasant human being. He used to chat up with virtually all unit members during breaks in shooting, but was dead serious the moment the camera began to roll. He was, remarkably, what we term a ’technical actor.’ He knew the subtle workings of the camera and lenses. He could fathom the nuances of close-ups and the entire gamut of shots with ease, and was a stickler for continuity. To the point that Shashi ji knew whether he had worn a muffler from the right or left in the previous shot. He was extraordinary. It pains me to dwell on him now in the past tense,” gushes Sandip, with emotion writ large on his face.

While the indoor shoots went off smoothly, the outdoor stints brought to the fore the implications of working with a Mumbai movie star. “We got a taste of it, initially, while shooting with Shashi ji in New Market [the famous Kolkata landmark). There was utter pandemonium. That gave us an inkling of what was in store in Kathmandu. Which is exactly what transpired. Thousands were thronging the locations we shot at in Kathmandu. We had to deploy a special police force. And here too, we discovered a special facet in Shashi ji’s character. He was accompanying the unit assistants in requesting the crowds, with hands folded, to restrain themselves, and allow shooting to proceed. So he was not just sitting tight in a corner as the matinee idol he was, but also performing production work,” says Ray’s son with a nostalgic smile.

Therefore, he went all out despite the fact that it was a TV series which rarely sees a repeat telecast, according to Sandip. “He would ask for ‘retakes’ if a shot left him dissatisfied with his performance. He was a perfectionist, and performed exceedingly well. He spent at least three weeks on the series. And although he had cut down on his acting involvements in Mumbai, he was definitely busy with producing films, together with devoting his energies to Prithvi Theatres,” says Sandip.

Incidentally, there is a twist in the tale which reflects Shashi’s character more poignantly. Sandip had shot with two cameras in Kathmandu. Shooting was over, and Sandip and his team returned to Kolkata while Shashi and rest of the actors flew back to Mumbai. Then, disaster struck. It was discovered from lab reports that one of the cameras had turned out to be defective. Which implied that the Kathmandu schedule had to be largely reshot.

[caption id=“attachment_9745011” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Satyajit Ray. Image by Satyajit Ray Society[/caption]

“I was aghast, and informed Shashi ji about this mishap with a fair bit of trepidation. ‘What’s there to be so tense about,’ he told me. This is a commonplace issue in films. Since we have committed to this production, we’ll all come and get it re-done,” he assured me. “And, that’s exactly what transpired. I was completely taken aback by the extent to which Shashi ji and the others were game and sporting to bail me out,” Sandip exclaims.

In 1987, legendary singer Kishore Kumar passed away. The next year, Sandip embarked on a documentary hovering around Kishore Kumar, titled Zindagi Ek Safar. “I approached Shashi ji for an interview on Kishore da because he had given the ‘lip’ to quite a few Kishore Kumar songs. He was extremely forthcoming. We naturally had to travel to Bombay for the interviews with actors and movie personalities there. Shashi ji invited me and the entire unit, of 10-15 members, over to his apartment not only for the shoot, but a sumptuous breakfast. He was a perfect gentleman,” describes Sandip.

The communication lines were always open between the Ray family and Shashi Kapoor. “Then sometime between the mid- and late ’90s, he had come over to our Bishop Lefroy Road home to present a pictorial book on Prithvi Theatres to my mother [Bijoya Ray]. The book narrates the history that encased this famous hub of theatre. That was the last time we met,” Sandip expresses wistfully.

A silence descends. Shashi Kapoor shrouds Sandip Ray’s study.

Ashoke Nag is a veteran writer on art and culture with a special interest in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

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