Satyajit Ray’s Pikoo – An Affair to Remember
iView Author: Rita Bhattacharjee
(Jacksonville, Florida, USA)
EMAIL: Withheld
Title: Satyajit Ray’s Pikoo – An Affair to Remember
Pikoo is a short film Satyajit Ray made for the French television based on one of his own short stories, Pikoo’s Diary. It tells the story of a young boy, Pikoo, who comes from an upper middle class family comprising his father, mother, and ailing grandfather, who’s been bedridden after a paralytic stroke.
One night Pikoo (Arjun Guha Thakurta) wakes up to overhear his parents arguing, but he doesn’t realize it’s because his father (Soven Lahiri) has found out that his wife (Aparna Sen) has been having an extra marital affair. The next day Pikoo stays back home since his school is off for the day and receives a call for his mother from a family friend played bu Victor Banerjee (whom he calls kaku, meaning uncle), who drops in later with a sketching pad and coloring pens. His mother tells the excited Pikoo to go out into the garden and sketch and color all the flowers he can find there.
In the bedroom, Pikoo’s mother gets distracted from her lover’s amorous advances as she spots her son, sitting out in the sun, painstakingly coloring away. While she’s busy apologizing to her lover for her sudden coldness, it starts raining, and Pikoo runs inside the house to see the door to the bedroom shut. When he hears her mother and her friend arguing, he utters an expletive and runs way to his grandfather’s room, only to find him lying cold and rigid in death. Pikoo comes out to the verandah and, with tears in his eyes, starts filling in color to a flower he had sketched in black.
It’s a very beautiful short film and the story of a little boy’s coming of age is depicted almost entirely from the boy’s own perspective, shaped by his limited understanding of things that happen in the adult world. And being a short story, we have no way of finding out if Pikoo understood, in its entirety, the act of physical betrayal with far-reaching impact on his parents’ marriage. But it’s obvious that he felt let down by his mother when he heard her apologizing to his uncle. His young mind realized that his mother had deliberately sent him away so she could spend time with her friend. But instead of lashing out at his mother or even informing her about the grandfather’s death, he locks both the traumatic events away in his mind, and finds solace in coloring, an activity that’s mundane yet creative at the same time.
Since a child forms the closest bonds with his parents, specially the mother, it’s obvious that feeling betrayed by either parent might leave behind deep psychological scars. These wounds might not be apparent on the surface, but they remain all the same and can negatively influence future adult interactions and relationships.
Satyajit Ray, in an interview to Cineste magazine, said of the film, “Pikoo is a very complex film. It is a poetic statement which cannot be reduced to concrete terms. One statement the film tries to make is that, if a woman is to be unfaithful, if she is to have an extramarital affair, she can’t afford to have soft emotions towards her children, or, in this case, her son. The two just don’t go together. You have to be ruthless. Maybe she’s not ruthless to that extent. She’s being very Bengali. A European in the same circumstances would not behave in the same way.”
While having the highest respect for Ray, I believe he’s making a broad generalization here from a purely male perspective. An extramarital affair may stem out of the sheer desperation of being caught in a stifling marriage, an overwhelming physical urge, or out of love for another man. While I strongly believe in the sanctity of marriage and firmly advocate complete transparency in a conjugal relationship, I understand that women caught in an unfulfilling marriage might find succor and love in the arms of another man, and I would definitely not judge them for that or brand them as being ruthless and uncaring of their children.
Many women, not just in India/Asia but across the world, stick to a loveless marriage just because they want to spare their children the trauma of their parents’ separating. Isn’t it possible that they come across someone they care for and end up in a relationship? And if they do form an attachment outside the marriage, does it mean that they don’t care for their children any more?
It’s obvious that the mother in Pikoo had been carrying on the affair for quite a while, though it was the first time she had invited her lover over when her son was home. By Ray’s logic, she’s already ruthless, and having Pikoo home is just a small inconvenience that she’s been willing to risk when she confirmed the tryst. The fact that she dismisses her lover without indulging him on that particular day should not absolve her of being ruthless (’Maybe she’s not ruthless to that extent.’) because she knew that her son was home and yet she set up a rendezvous, and while apologizing to him, she even mentions future trysts. So, going by what Ray says, isn’t she as ruthless as an European woman since she’s not concerned enough for her child to want to end the affiar once and for all?
And while it’s probably true, like Ray says, that fewer women in Europe and North America are likely to remain in a deadbeat marriage compared to their Indian/Asian counterparts, it’s purely because of the difference in societal values and upbringing. They are a society that lays more emphasis on the individual and his/her happiness, whereas our part of the world is still about caring for the family as a unit. And even the woman with a very modern lifestyle or outlook would think twice before walking out of a boring and lackluster marriage, which is otherwise secure, abuse-free, and stable, specially when she has children.
In a nutshell, the point I want to make is that women do have extra-marital affairs for various personal reasons. And unfaithfulness in a marriage is something two adults need to deal with and sort out, if possible. But a woman who has an affair is hardly ever uncaring or without feeling for her children. While a woman might wear many masks within the home and outside or in marriage or relationships, motherhood is usually not one of them.
Ray quote source: satyajitray.org
Tags: satyajit ray
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Arjun is Ruma’s son ?
Great article Rita.I would surely watch this film.Keep up the good work.
Pretty compelling read. I haven’t heard about this Ray film till now but from what I can gather from this write-up is that the manner in which Sen’s character especially her relation with her son has been constructed based on Rita’s interpretation of the whole scenario.
I mean, maybe just maybe when Sen was getting close to her lover, the mere sight of her son makes her feel guilty not because he is her son but because there is a third person present in the house when this whole situation unfolds. I feel that even if another relative was around and Sen suddenly saw her during her tryst, she would have reacted in a similar way…because sooner or later all would be exposed..
Rita has just taken this construct about a mother abandoning her son and hence follows the justification of why a woman has extra m affairs and so on…
Just felt this in my head now when I read this. I may be completely wrong in my interpretation and I guess I’ll have to see this film to check out what exactly it is about…
Great write-up Rita. I haven’t seen the film but by the way you’ve broken it down, I personally got a good sense of it. I’ll surely try to catch it… is it available online? Tried to Google it, even found a YouTube link but it seems to have been removed…
KCP – No, I’m pretty sure he’s not Ruma Guha Thakurta’s son. I think he is Bhishma Guha Thakurta’s son, but I might be mistaken.
Anindya – Thanks
Arthi – You have a valid point, for sure. But in this case, Sen’s husband already knows about the affair. They are shown to have a heated argument about him finding a strand of hair on the pillow and she invites her lover despite this – so it’s obvious that she’s not overly worried about her affair being exposed. Also, she does have her ailing father-in-law and several servants in the house.
Tony Mera Naam – It was available on YouTube, but seems to have been removed. Maybe movie rental places might have it?
I have watched Pikoo and I think its a beautiful film. One of my favourites from Ray. I liked the way Pikoo is dressed; in the primary colours. ..When he tells his mother that there is no white shetch pen and what does he use for the white flower..and she tells him to use black. An uncomfortable film which is very watchable.Its the indifference between the generations that cause the unease and the innocence and bliss of not knowing.
Those who enjoyed this film can definitely watch ‘Yi Yi’ by Edward Yang, another brilliant film that explores family relations with another blissfully unaware boy who is exploring his creativity in photography amidst the adult world.
Aparna sen looks etheral in the film. A brilliant actress who has made her mark as a woman director with her unforgettable 36, Chowringhee lane and now the much awaited ‘The Japanese Wife.’
@ Rita – Makes sense now. Looks like a very interesting film. Thanks for this.
@ Deemelinda – Where do you get to know such films from – Yi Yi. Read it on IMDb and the reviews are good. How can I get to watch such films. The local dvd rental here doesnt have these and online too I draw a blank searching for these..but its really nice to kno more and more…