Mukherji to Film Making of Ray's 'Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne' — SkimNews
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- Srijit Mukherji is directing "Maharaja Tomare Selam," a film chronicling the making of Satyajit Ray's "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne," with principal photography set to commence in January 2027
- The cast includes Jeetu Kamal, Ritwik Bhowmik, Rudranil Ghosh, Satakshi Nandy, Sairity Banerjee and Arijit Dutta; the film is produced by Hoichoi Studios and Friends Communication in association with Piyali Films Pvt. Ltd, the original producer of "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne"
- The film centers on Ray himself — the pressures he faced and choices he made against a politically charged Kolkata — and takes its title from a song in the original 1969 film
- "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne," released May 8, 1969, followed two village musicians banished from their homes and granted magical powers by the King of Ghosts; beneath the fantasy, Ray embedded social and political undertones around class and art, sharpened into direct satire of authoritarian rule in the 1980 sequel "Hirak Rajar Deshe"
- Mukherji, who won the Indian National Film Award for best director for "Chotushkone," has credits including "Jaatishwar" and "Baishe Srabon" and is known for engagement with Bengali culture and storytelling
- "Maharaja Tomare Selam" joins a run of Bengali films examining Ray's legacy — Anik Dutta's "Aparajito" dramatized the making of "Pather Panchali" (also starring Kamal), while Kaushik Ganguly's "Apur Panchali" traced the later life of child actor Subir Banerjee; Mukherji's own debut "Autograph" is an homage to Ray's "Nayak"
Why it matters: The involvement of Piyali Films — the original 1969 producer — gives the project direct institutional ties to the classic it depicts, while Mukherji's National Award credentials and Kamal's casting connect this film to Anik Dutta's parallel "Pather Panchali" behind-the-scenes drama, signaling a growing sub-genre of Bengali meta-cinema interrogating Ray's legacy.
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