Terming his long journey with Manikda as like another celluloid tale, thespian Soumitra Chatterjee tonight said perhaps Satyajit Ray could grasp Rabindranath Tagore's nuances more than many other filmmakers.
Terming all 14 films he had worked with Ray as a great sojourn, Chatterjee, however, said Ray's grasping of the character of Amal in Charulata perhaps would explain what he meant.
"Although he was much older than me, we belong to the same generation that worshipped Rabindranath Tagore, we shared the same set of values and principles," Ray's Apu said on the sidelines of Dui Bangla Sabujpatro Meet this evening.
Speaking on the two icons, both of whose birth anniversaries fall in the same month, Soumitra said "both were very lyrical in approach but with a cerebral quotient. And both belonged to Bengalis and Indians cutting across continents.
The Apur Sansar actor dwelt on the script in Charulata which can't be explained by pedestrian dialogues.
"Manikda (Satyajit Ray) understood this, And yes some of the present day directors are doing well, I liked their work and grasp of the subject," Soumitra said .
Asked to comment on Tagore's influence on the present day generation, Soumitra snapped "these things can't be talked about in such casual manner. You listen to my recitations, you will understand. But one thing for sure while mouthing the lines I seem possessed by Tagore."
Talking about vanishing of cultural identity of Bengalis, when it comes down to Tagore works, he said "many of the songs of Sonar Tari were composed in Patisar and many in Sntiniketan. Can you keep apart these two places as disparate geographical zones!"
He added as aftherthought there remains no barrier in love for language".
The initiative 'Dui Bangla' was borne out of the thought that Tagore remained in the heart of every Bengali and Indian, cutting across continents, acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh Mehbub Hasan Saleh said.
"We get shivers while mouthing the lines of Amar Sonar Bangla as much as you for 'Jano Gano Mano...' (which) strings together the beautiful mosaic that is India,"
"This is our homage to the Bard to cap on the 100 years of his getting the Nobel medallion. We wish to take this initiative to the place where the Tagore family had their zamindari," Amitava Samanta of Sabujpatro, inspired by litterateur Pramotho Bisi, said.
