Peppered with details from the original screenplay, A novelised version of Nayak is a reminder why the Satyajit Ray film remains one of the most incisive dissections of celebrity culture
Published: Fri 1 Jun 2018, 7:19 PM
In one of the passages in Nayak, the novelised version of Satyajit Ray's 1966 classic, its superstar protagonist Arindam Mukherjee wears an expensive shirt only to find a hole near the chest area. He inserts his finger into it and eventually tears it apart.
There's a good chance you may not remember this scene in the film simply because it never made its way to the final edit. Bengaluru-based writer and translator Bhaskar Chattopadhyay's novelised version of the film is peppered with several such details. As for the scene above, Chattopadhyay, who went through the original screenplay, contends that it's a device that was deliberately edited out of the film because it may have looked a little over the top on screen, certainly not in keeping with the auteur's knack for subtlety. "It's also a little difficult to explain visually why he (Arindam) is doing what he is doing. Not only does he not care about things around him, he becomes very vindictive. Anything that causes him minor trouble, he is out to destroy it. It also explains his state of mind."
Author and translator Bhaskar Bhattacharya
Chattopadhyay, who had earlier written the hugely successful 14 Stories That Inspired Satyajit Ray, does not have an easy job at hand. Not only is Nayak one of the three original screenplays Ray wrote, it is also a multi-layered narrative. At the outset, the story revolves around a matinee star (played by Bengali actor Uttam Kumar), en route to Delhi to receive a National Award, who meets a young journalist thoroughly disinterested in the world of glitter. Despite her disdain, she decides to interview him for her magazine for the 'modern woman' to boost its sales.
The journey itself becomes a personal one as the conversation with the journalist compels Arindam to revisit his own road to success and confronting his deepest fears, regrets and guilt. Following his tell-all moment, the journalist - now armed with a scoop - decides against publishing the interview on moral grounds.
Is it difficult to rise above one's hubris? What makes a successful man have an uneasy relationship with his success? The novelised version of Nayak is as sensitive to these themes as the cinematic version. It employs a simple but evocative language to articulate the dilemma, confusion and angst of its central protagonist. For those who have watched the film, it helps to have stills accompanying the chapters for recall value.
Nayak is as much the story of an anti-hero as it is of a hero. What is also interesting is that the project was helmed by two men who were at the pinnacle of their own careers - Ray himself had been on an incredible cinematic journey having won critical accolades for Mahanagar (1963), Charulata (1964) and Kapurush (1965), while Uttam Kumar had already been anointed Bengali cinema's mahanayak (superstar). Could the film then be seen as a self-examination? Chattopadhyay doesn't dismiss the possibility, especially when it comes to Ray. "A filmmaker always writes about the journeys he has undertaken personally. For instance, he made Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) at a time when his son was growing up. So, it is possible that he wrote Nayak at a time when he was questioning his own relationship with success and if it was taking him away from his craft."
Books are routinely adapted into films - Hollywood has, in fact, built an entire industry around it. But novelising an iconic film can be a different challenge altogether. There's bound to be a scrutiny of how iconic scenes and characters have been interpreted. For instance, the visual representation of the scene in which Arindam drowns in quicksand of money towers over the written interpretation. However, there are small details in the novel that add colour to the narrative at large. Chattopadhyay is aware of the perks and the perils of this exercise. "One of the biggest difficulties I faced was how to begin the story. The film begins with the camera showing a silhouette of Uttam Kumar and tracking his movement as he looks at a mirror. Now, how do you translate something like that in words without making it sound boring?" The novel's beginning sets the tone for the protagonist's narcissism by emphasising on his grooming, where he keeps a "hairbrush, comb, hairdryer, shaving cream, toothbrush, a tube of Forhans, tongue cleaner, mouthwash, nail clip, a bottle of expensive cologne, moisturizer, and, finally, the Philips electric shaver" in his blue pouch before travelling to Delhi.
How does the black pouch of the black and white film turn blue in the novel? "In the book, I was exploring and expanding the world of Nayak. So, I had to remain true to that world, to my descriptions of that world. Whether it's this novelisation or my own novels (he's written six of them), my writing style is very visual. Hence, the use of colours was important. Otherwise, it would've looked drab. One could've asked, 'Ray had the constraint of a certain kind of film, what was your excuse?'"
Like most Ray's films that came out in the 60s, it is the female character that is at the moral centre of Nayak. In the novel, as in the film, as Arindam struggles to tell the truths and half-truths, Aditi progresses from being an interviewer to a confidante. "The film begins with Arindam looking at a mirror. Later, there is a scene where he goes to the bathroom of the train, looks at himself in the mirror and finds that he's looking haggard. If you think about it philosophically, Aditi, too is a mirror to Arindam. She is calm, composed and poised, as opposed to Arindam who is brash and aggressive. It's her innate strength against which his aggression fails."
Today, the celebrity culture has changed the nature of fame. There's a lot more at stake and deviating from the image the stars have carefully crafted over the years is nearly unthinkable. Revisiting Nayak - whether as a film or a novel - then becomes important to understand why success may not always be sweet!
anamika@khaleejtimes.com
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