THE MUSIC ROOM | সত্যজিৎ রায়ের “জলসাঘর” thepiratebay.org/user/DownTYU
from the short story by Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay
Photography : Subrata Mitra
Music : Ustad ViIayat Khan
Written and directed by : Satyajit Ray
Ananta!
Master!
Which month is it?
FaIgun, Master.
Is it spring?
Yes, Master,
the ''muchkunda'' are in bIoom. Do you want some?
Ananta!
Master!
Where does that music come from?
From the GanguIi's pIace.
Where?
From GanguIi Babu's house, Master!
Go and fetch the steward.
Yes, Master!
Pessanna Babu! Pessanna Babu!
Lord Roy is caIIing you.
Who?
Master Roy! He's on the terrace. Hurry up.
Why is the Shehnai pIayed at Mahim's?
For his son's initiation, Master.
Is it the Shehnai of Bande AIi?
Yes, Master.
Have I been invited?
Yes.
Did he come in person?
No, Master. A written invitation.
WiII you go?
Am I going somewhere?
No, Master.
So?
I've brought your syrup.
Put it there.
The initiation.
A Ietter from the bank.
What do they say?
They say...
No credit?
No, Master.
They say the overdraft aIready exceeds...
...the Iimits of banking payment.
Master! Mahim has come to see you,
wiII you receive him?
Mahim?
Janardan GanguIi's son, Master.
This usurer's son?
He wants the expIoitation rights for the river sandbank.
Him?
Yes, Master. He's rich.
A business in town, a house in the viIIage.
ReaIIy?
WiII you accept to hear him?
The coffers are empty, spending is important...
CaII him! In the music room.
Come in.
You are the son of Janardan GanguIi ?
Yes.
What did you put in the syrup?
Some muchkunda petaIs.
It's perfumed.
You took over the business?
Which rate?
What?
If you work on Roy territory,
you'II have to abide by some ruIes.
Yes yes, I know.
Maximum monthIy interest is 1%.
Nothing on overdue taxes,
no seizure,
never bring a Iawsuit. You know that?
I know. We remember your kindness, Master.
Where have you been before?
I spent aImost 20 years in the west,
AIIahabad, Konpur, Lucknow.
Me too, I Iike music.
I attended musicaI parties there.
I can pIay the percussion, if necessary.
You can go.
Go?
WiII Durgabai come?
Invitation cards have been sent?
Yes, the usuaI ones.
To Mahim too.
At your service... but...
Usurer's money can't be used to pay
the initiation ceremony of my onIy son.
- Do you have another choice? - Yes.
The jeweIs of the Roy famiIy are stiII in the safe.
What's happening?
Are you angry?
There's nothing Ieft now.
Yes, my jeweIs.
Your jeweIs?
They're mortgaged but I'II buy them back.
OId fooI, do you know the cost of your Iast musicaI party?
The cost?
We have to spend money.
Khoka is my onIy son.
Am I going to cut down on his sacred initiation?
My prestige depends on it.
But... mortgaging in order to pay the singer!
This girI is exceptionaI.
Her beauty, her voice...
you'II know when you Iisten to her.
No, I won't.
Where are you going?
It's 3. I'm going to bed. Khoka sIeeps aIone.
Stay a whiIe.
What is it?
What's the probIem?
CIose the music room.
Why?
I'II be deprived of music.
Music. A crazy passion of yours.
That becomes one of your son too.
He negIects his work because of music, onIy but music.
And now he wants to ride.
Why do you worry?
He'II ride Tufan.
He'II hunt on Mati.
If not, how couId he be a Iandowner from Roy Iineage?
Landowner? What's Ieft?
Everything has been swept away.
Haven't you seen the work of the river?
The pretty garden has been carried away the other day.
The fIood?
AIready forgotten?
I opened the doors of the Roy house that day.
One thousand peopIe took refuge there.
I have aIso many virtues.
I know. I am anxious.
A nightmare, Iast night...
Do you know my dream?
In a nymph music room,
there is a big party.
Rambha sings, Urbashi dances...
...and Menaka...
That's enough.
It's very Iate. Go to bed.
WiII we go to Narayanpur?
We'II taIk about it Iater. Go to bed.
Where do you want to go?
Mother wrote.
Oh! Narayanpur...
Father is very sick. Mother wouId Iike...
You can go.
I consider bringing Khoka.
Good.
And you?
Me? Why shouId I go?
I'm afraid to Ieave you aIone. With your crazy ideas...
Let's go there together. There isn't much work now.
That's absurd. Who wiII watch the Iand?
Who?
You! Watching the Iand?
Be serious...
Come with us.
Do you agree, if not...
Don't be insistent. We'II taIk about it.
You exaggerate.
Goodbye.
Say ''see you soon'' rather than ''goodbye''.
Be good and behave.
Behave.
What do we hear?
A generator.
A generator?
Where?
At GanguIi's pIace. From the terrace, we see the Iight.
At Mahim's?
He's been said to have bought some EngIish furniture.
Do you want me to pIay again?
Did you see the new house of GanguIi?
What do you think of it?
Quite modern. Not as prestigious as your paIace.
No music room, no fountain.
No garden, no tempIe, nothing.
Next monday, Beggars' Day at GanguIi's.
Mahim wishes to see you.
TeII him to come in.
Come in Mahim.
You must visit my house, Master.
I repeat, wouId you honour me with your visit?
On which occasion?
With your bIessing, I have buiIt a house.
The inauguration is on Monday, BengaIi New Year's Day.
New Year's Day?
I aIready have a party at home.
On the first?
Yes, the Iucky day.
The Iucky day party?
I have never...
If you insist, I can put it off.
WiII that heIp?
No, No. It's not necessary.
You're the Master, and we are...
Your pIans first.
I can't do anything, you know.
Everything is aIready pIanned.
PIease aIIow me to Ieave now.
Agreed. Good day.
Did you hear?
And the jeweIs?
It's the Iast box.
The Iast one?
How dare you say ''Iast'' with this triviaI tone...
Nothing is finaI.
Prepare everything.
Don't count money.
And this oId musician?
What's his name? The man from Murshidabad.
Ujir Khan, Master.
Go and fetch him. He'II pIay a recitaI.
Send a messenger to Narayanpur.
Her Lordship and Khoka
must be back on the morning of the first.
Everything's ready for Iucky day. The guests are arriving.
The boat is not back yet.
Must I send two others? The storm Iooks threatening.
Go if you want. I'II join you.
Is the boat back?
What's happened?
Drawn into a whirIpooI.
What do you say?
Into a whirIpooI? Who toId you that?
KaIi is back.
OnIy KaIi ? Who eIse? Nobody?
Speak! Nobody eIse?
The young Prince...
Khoka is back? Khoka!
You're stiII here?
Yes, Master.
Why?
What wiII happen if we aII Ieave?
Nothing.
It's aII over.
It wouIdn't have happened...
if you had paid more attention. Because the Iand...
The Iand!
Where is it?
Everything is under water,
under deep water. Devastated...
Everything has been devastated.
The Privy CounciI has given its verdict,
everything is Iost except the sacred Iand.
WouId Your Honour pIease come downstairs?
Furniture must be soId.
PIease...
I wiII never come downstairs again.
Do whatever is best.
Listen.
Are Mati and Tufan stiII here?
Yes, Lord. They're here.
The RoyaI house of Sundarpur has made an offer,
but we were waiting for your order.
They wiII stay...
My Khoka's favorites.
The musician is downstairs,
shouId I caII him? Do you want to hear him?
Send him back.
No more music for me.
And your syrup?
Tomorrow I'II go downstairs.
You'II go downstairs?
I want to see Tufan and Mati.
You mean right now, Lord?
You go first and you warn them.
How are you doing?
The horse is sad because you don't ride him anymore.
Does he eat his chickpeas?
Has the eIephant stiII his caparison?
I'm going to ask... Ahmad.
TeII him to embeIIish him.
To go... to GanguIi's house.
Send for the steward too.
I have asked them to adorn Mati.
Put this goIden coin on a siIver pIate
and bring it to Mahim's, foIIowing the custom.
What are you waiting for?
There is no more siIver pIate, Lord.
So take a copper one.
Yes, Lord.
That wiII do.
CIose aII the curtains.
Porter!
Servant!
You're here, steward!
Are you aII dismissed?
Is there someone Ieft to announce me?
It's for a meeting.
A business one?
I'd rather taIk to him directIy.
CouId you wait a moment?
This residence... What a spIendour!
Long ago, but now...
After aII, even a dead eIephant is stiII worth 100.000 RS.
What do you say about it?
When you came this morning to my house on this oId eIephant...
peopIe greeted him
whereas they stoned and
scratched my new car.
I was driving myseIf!
The Master is caIIing you.
And you know why?
Because I have no pedigree, I'm a seIf-made man.
Grandpa, you have turned my invitation down!
WeII... sit down.
I was wrong. I was so busy...
I wasn't abIe to come in person to ask you...
No, no, it's nothing but...
I can't change my habits ...my age.
Come on Grandpa, don't taIk about your age...
I saw you riding a horse.
No Mahim, this time is gone!
I've grown so oId since 4 years.
That expIains that cane in your hands.
Whatever, tonight
you must honour my house with your nobIe presence.
Tonight?
Yes, tonight. My music room is inaugurated.
Do you know Krishnabai? From Lucknow.
No? Everybody's taIking about her.
It's said at her age... that dance caIIed...
Kathak...
No one is better than her.
ReaIIy?
Krishnabai's dancing, and the best drum...
Who couId appreciate that as we do?
My car wiII wait for you
tonight around 8.
No, brother, thank you.
Why not?
I don't want to go out at the moment.
Even for a concert?
So you won't come?
No thank you.
AIIow me to Ieave then.
But your syrup?
My syrup! I forgot.
Goodbye.
I have to rush to town. EngIish officiaIs wiII come...
The music room is cIosed?
Yes, since the other day.
Where is the key?
The steward got it.
Open it.
I bring a Iamp.
What is Krishnabai's fee?
200, Lord!
How much money is Ieft?
How much?
from the sacred Iand.
Tomorrow I give a concert.
I must get Krishnabai!
ImpossibIe, Lord!
What did you say?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Everything's ready?
Except for some shopping.
Which ones?
Perfumes, candIes...
Everything to honour my guests.
Any drinks?
Send Rahamat right away. Let him ride Tufan.
GanguIi Babu has just arrived, Lord.
Sit down, Mahim.
TeII me what wiII happen.
Why?
WeII... the atmosphere is strange.
I said : is there someone...
to fan us?
Here you go, Grandpa. How are you?
Are you satisfied?
Hoorah for the dancer!
The host reserves the right of the first gift.
He faiIed. He couIdn't do it.
That usurer's son!
He wanted to break the top.
Such an arrogance!
He tries to reach the stars...
In vain, in vain.
Do you know why he faiIs?
BIood!
BIood in my veins.
Do you know which bIood fIows in my veins?
Which one, Master?
You want to see? You reaIIy want to?
Come here, come.
Look at my father.
Ramerswar.
My grandfather.
My great-grandfather.
Tarakesvar.
My great-great-grandfather.
Ravanesvar.
Cheers!
Cheers, nobIe ancestors!
And... my own nobIeness.
To myseIf.
AII gone.
Gone?
Yes, aII of them.
The Iights too, Master.
Yes, the Iights...
The candIes are consumed, Lord. It's dawn.
The sun is about to rise.
The sun is rising?
I'II open the curtains.
Tufan is caIIing me.
You can't, Lord, no.
My riding habit.
You can't.
My riding crop.
You Iet him go?
I begged him, but he refused.
God heIp us!
BIood!
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