‘Can’t Imagine Pather Panchali Without Durga’

‘After

Pather
Panchali,
she
became
a
housewife.
She
hated
the
spotlight.
That
was
so
strange
and
yet
so
admirable.’

When
Uma
Dasgupta,
Satyajit
Ray’s
Durga
from

Pather
Panchali,
passed
away
on
November
18,
the
director’s
son
Sandip
Ray
spoke
on
how
the
master
creator
selected
Uma
without
any
audition.

“She
came
to
our
Lake
Avenue
house
with
somebody
whom
my
father
knew.
My
father
talked
to
her
for
a
little
while
and
she
was
cast.
It’s
as
simple
as
that,”
Sandip
recalls
to

Subhash
K
Jha.

“No
audition,
nothing
at
all.

“My
father
treated
both
Uma
and
Subir
Banerjee
(who
played
Apu)
as
adults,
you
know.
No
chocolates,
he
never
used
to
do
that.
He
never
pampered
even
his
adults,
no
matter
how
big
a
star.”

Sandip,
unfortunately,
is
not
in
touch
with
Subir.

“It’s
very
unfortunate.
We
had
lost
contact
with
Uma
also.
There
were
many
occasions
like
anniversary
celebrations.
We
always
contacted
her
but
she
was
very
aloof.
She
didn’t
come
most
of
the
time.
She
was
never
interested
in
acting.
After

Pather
Panchali,
she
became
a
housewife.
She
hated
the
spotlight.
That
was
so
strange
and
yet
so
admirable.
She
was
impeccable
as
Durga,
absolutely
out
of
this
world.
What
a
presence!

“The
strangest
part
is
that
she
was
not
a
professional
actress.
She
only
starred
in
one
film
but
was
so
striking
with
her
work.
It
takes
a
lot
of
guts
with
that
kind
of
adulation
to
spurn
all
offers.
It
must
have
been
very
difficult.
That
height
of
excellence
in
her
first
film
would
have
been
impossible
to
match.

“I
have
faint
memories;
I
was
about
two
years
old.
After
that,
she
didn’t
keep
in
touch.
She
became
a
recluse.
She
was
very
shy.
We
cannot
imagine

Pather
Panchali
without
Durga.”

Sandip
agrees

Pather
Panchali
is
timeless.

“It
just
doesn’t
age.
There
is
a
certain
universal
resonance
about
it.
My
father
was
so
satisfied
with
her
(Uma’s)
work.
He
didn’t
tell
her
anything,
just
gave
her
basic
instructions.
And
she
did
her
job.
An
absolute
natural.
And
there
were
no
retakes
at
all.”