Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne

I rate 10 to the movies I can watch hundred times, time and again. Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is one of them. I grew up watching this movie, watched several times and each time was none the less exciting...charming.

One of Ray's great directorial acumen was to select perfect casts for the movie. If you just see the actors he chose to perform various characters in the movie, you will think that the story was actually written keeping them in mind. And the actors impeccably perform their parts.

This is the story about two simpleton musicians who were respectively banished by their village for their cacophonous music and coincidentally teamed up in a forest lived by ghosts. Furtunately the king of ghosts liked their music and gave them three magical boons. There started the adventure of Goopy and Bagha.

Another powerful aspect of Ray's movies is their music. Mostly he composed himself. He did for this movie too. One more fact keeps you wondering is how such a fairy tale movie can be made with so less special affects and low cost. The sets were adorned with crafts and symbols that accentuate the ambiance, like the Magician's room in the palace of Shundi.

This is the first of the movies about adventures of Goopy Bagha. There are two more of them - Heerak Rajar Deshe (In the land of Diamond King) and Goopy Bagha Phire Elo (Goopy Bagha Return) - each worth watching, the third movie is directed by Ray's son, Sandip Ray.

The film is simply superb .... a real masterpiece. The film is so rich in every respect - Nothing new to say. It had all sort of spices, ghost, a good king, an abnormal king, palaces, evil prime minister, evil magician, etc.It was a new landmark in the Indian film. This is an evergreen film for generations to come. The songs were beautiful. Only one small defect. In the last song when Goopy wanted lots and lots of sweets, they should have clapped.Because, they get food only both of them claps. Here foods came but there were no clapping! But this is very very negligible. And finally we have to admit a new quality of songs.The lyrics, the background music, the comedy within the songs - a completely new type.

In today's age where most kids and family films are nothing more than mindless action or stupid humor, this was a breath of fresh air to more enchanting times back then when it was about adventure and wonder. Some kids may balk at the fact that this is black and white and from another country (including subtitles which for newcomers can get a little getting used to), but eventually they will discover this film's magic. I would like to travel to India sometime in my life for all its enchanted splendor and the adventures of the two lovable musicians captures it beautifully. The cinematography really deserves some accolades especially in the King of Ghost song and dance number that still looks a little freaky yet still delightful. I've seen Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy which is just as magical and this movie is never boring in any frame. This one's hard to find but worth it all.

This is the story of two village idiots and the fantastic gifts they get and their further adventures, the film has 2 more sequels, one of the rare films that actually has sequels ! for 1968 the special effects are amazing, remember this is no Hollywood stuff, Indian film of a low-medium budget one of the best written and directed films, definitely a must see !

the sequels (name forgotten) are also instant classics, the comedy is hilarious, and i am 20 years old and just seen this film and it wasn't outdated at all !

i am glad satyajit ray got an Oscar as life time achievement, he truly deserved that

The great Satyajit Ray has become one of my favorite filmmakers, and unfortunately it's become very difficult to see most of his films in the US. GOOPY GYNE BAGHA BYNE easily ranks as one of Ray's most intriguing creations - a wonderful family film, which also contains the complex philosophies that enliven Ray's many other masterpieces. In his own film writing, Ray expressed admiration for certain experimental filmmakers who came to prominence during the 50s and 60s, and this film gave him an opportunity to do a bit of stylistic experimentation of his own, while also creating something of a tribute to his father's and grandfather's writings. The results are one of Ray's finest films.

I won't summarize the plot, which is well-described here. But I would point out several outstanding elements of GOOPY AND BAGHA - the first would be Ray's creative use of effects - apparently the film was made on a small budget, but the story is captivating enough that one doesn't really notice - such constraints force a filmmaker to rely upon his own expertise, imagination and ability to improvise and innovate, and in this regard, GOOPY AND BAGHA almost feels like a great, kids version of a 'new wave' film (in the best senses of the term) - willing to try the unexpected, and confident that the unexpected will work well.

A second strength is Ray's creation of a sophisticated family film that has much to offer adult viewers - GOOPY AND BAGHA offers a great amount of hope and strength in the face of a changing world, as the film was made at a time in which momentous and troubling events were occurring throughout the globe. I'm certain that Ray was mindful of this, and sought to incorporate a sophisticated engagement with changes in the outside world into the underlying philosophy in this dreamlike and magical film. Many writers have commented in vague fashion on Ray's 'humanism,' but the worldview expressed is far more detailed and wide-ranging than that term would imply - a well-thought way of looking at life connects all of Ray's films, and that includes this one.

A magnificent film, one very much deserving of wider appreciation around the globe.