Satyajit Ray's art director that he was, Bansi Chandragupta was never put in the shade by the master filmmaker in the films the two worked together. Gupta's ideas matched his skill to put them in effect in the sets forming the backdrop and sometimes an extension of the personality of the film's protagonists.

An angry Indir Thakrun in Pather Panchali pulls open the doors of Harihar's, only to leave after being accused of encouraging her niece, little Durga, to steal from neighbours. It was going to be her last journey through the craggy, colourless doors on the point of crumbling yet holding up.

Bansi Chandragupta had made these doors after breaking down two new doors at the outdoor set in Boral in South-24-Parganas.

The doors were drained of colour and worked meticulously as part of a process called weathering. It added to the film’s markings of time, turning an inanimate object into a lived reality. In the process, they become Indir Thakrun's reflection. Bansi Chandragupta was a master of this art. His skills breathed life into objects lovingly and painstakingly.

It was a spontaneous yet meticulous effort on his part to create the crystalline interiors of Charulata's beautiful mansion where she led a lonesome existence. Gupta's skills and ideas did not fall short when he created the magnificent court of Wajed Ali Shah or the office chamber of General Outram in Shatranj ki Khiladi.

The centennial year of Gupta is passing by. To mark the occasion, Arindam Saha Sardar has made a documentary on him ‘Bansi, With &Without Ray’. It is an attempt to remember a life which is almost forgotten. Told with sensitivity and depth it reminds us that even when working on films which were not directed by Ray, the master art director never lost his Midas touch.

Be it working with Mrinal Sen in Kolkata 71, Tarun Majumdar in Balika Badhu and Palatak, the stamp of Gupta was unmistakable. Not a babe in the woods in the cutthroat world of Bombay filmdom, he built a set in Jangal Mein Mangal which became a tourist attraction.

Umrao Jan, Kalyug, 36 Chowringhee Lane all bear Gupta's set-designing skills. Yet owing to stretching schedules and crossing budgets did not endear him to Hindi filmmakers. Born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan Gupta came to Calcutta in the1940s from Srinagar. He met Ray and together with ace photographer Subrata Mitra wrenched Indian films from the melodrama and theatrics towards realism, Pather Panchali being the first instance of it.

The documentary unearths little known facets of Gupta’s life like he shared a room with Tapas Sen, the light designer, when both were jobless. At an adda at Hazra Road's Paradise Cafe in South Calcutta, Gupta rubbed shoulders with many who would attain greatness. His roommate Sen apart, the participants of the adda were Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak who would become eminent filmmakers and composer Salil Chowdhury, all believers in Left ideology.

The entire train set in Nayak, with Uttam Kumar enacting the role of a matinee idol, was Gupta's creation. If Jalsaghar was shot in Nimtita palace, the dance hall set in Aurora studio bore Gupta's skills. A quest for perfection drove Gupta. It led him to brilliant innovations like light from below came back as if reflected from the top, as if faint light was filtering in at Harihar and Sarbojaya's house in Benaras in the film Aparajito.

This was arguably the beginning of bounce lighting. Gupta was only 57 when he passed away in the United States. The documentary is made in black and white. One wonders whether it refers to a brilliant life which was abruptly enveloped in darkness. (IPA Service)