I've been youtubing more Gupi Bagha since yesterday. There is a scene in the movie when the two characters, Gupi Gayen (Gupi, the Singer) and Bagha Bayen (Bagha, the, er, I don't know what 'bayen' means in Bengali :P ) are caught in the middle of a lonely forest-at night-and catch a ghostly performing troupe. This is a clip of that performance, which is beautiful and pure genius-the idea, the music, the choreography. No child will ever fear ghosts after seeing this scene.
Baayen, I'm told, means someone who plays an instrument.
No child, indeed, would fear ghosts after watching the performance of Bhuter Raja and no adult will miss the poignancy of the situation of Messers. Gayen and Bayen. They were thrown out of their respective villages for pursuing arts they were deemed to have no talent in. this is where lies the sheer genius of Ray-even in the most outlandish of stories, he would weave in a social reality. I think he was a true anthropologist!
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