Satyajit Ray's characters Goopy Gyne and Baaghi Byne to return in Anindya Chatterjee's remake

Film maestro Satyajit Ray's magical characters Goopy Gyne and Bagha Byne are all set to make a comeback in a new avatar next year, 50 years after the first film involving the singer-drummer pair hit the silver screen. Anindya Chatterjee, whose Open Tee Bioscope (2015) received both critical acclaim and audience backing, takes along Goopy and Bagha while donning the director’s hat for his third film. [caption id=“attachment_3792687” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Still from Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne[/caption] “This film is for the present generation audience as well as for those who have grown up watching the previous Goopy-Bagha films,” Chatterjee said. Satyajit Ray had directed the 1969 film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (GGBB) which was based on a story by his grandfather Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury, with the music and lyrics composed by Ray himself. There were two sequels to it - Hirak Rajar Deshe in 1980 and Goopy Bagha Phire Elo in 1992 - and both the stories were written by Ray. The second sequel was directed by Satyajit’s son Sandip Ray. “Like the original classic and the two sequels, the new Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne will also be a musical,” said Chatterjee who has also made Projapoti Biskut last year. All the GGBB elements - the fantasy, the music, the Bengaliness - will be retained in the new film which is in a very early stage, he said. “But the music will be different,” said Chatterjee who has lent his voice, composed music and penned lyrics for many Bengali films and non-film albums. Interestingly, the new Goopy-Bagha film would be produced by Purnima Pictures, which had presented the first children’s fantasy in 1969. “We had presented Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Aranyer Din Ratri by Ray. We are set to bring back Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne in 2019,” Arijit Dutta said on behalf of the production house. “We initiated the project after getting the nod from Sandip Ray,” he said adding the story line would not be similar to the original. When contacted, Sandip Ray said, “The makers said it’s a modern day remake of the GGBB. We don’t have any issue.” Sandip Ray had earlier said on several occasions that there was very little possibility on his part to bring back Goopy and Bagha following deaths of Tapen Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh, who had immortalised Goopy and Bagha respectively in the earlier films. “So far I am concerned, there is no point in regretting the absence of the two stalwarts. We have to think about their replacements from the next generation,” Chatterjee said.