Pikoo
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''Pikoo'' is a 1980 Indian Bengali-language
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
directed by
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...
for French television channel
France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...
. The film is based on a short story named ''Pikoor Diary'' (''Pikoo's Diary''), written by Ray. The film showcases a day in the life of a six-year-old child, Pikoo, in the backdrop of his mother's extramarital affair. Satyajit Ray was approached by the
freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
producer Henri Fraise to make a film. Ray said in his biography that, when Henri Fraise approached him to make a film, he briefed Ray by saying " ..you can place your camera at your window and shoot the house next-door—we will accept that." In an interview in '' Cineaste'', Ray stated that ''Pikoo'' is "a very complex film". The film's script was included in the book, ''Original English Film Scripts Satyajit Ray'', put together by Ray's son
Sandip Ray Sandip Ray (born 8 September 1953) is an Indian film director and music director who mainly works in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He is the only child of the famous Indian director Satyajit Ray and Bijoya Ray. Life and education San ...
and Aditinath Sarkar, an ex-CEO of Ray Society. The book also includes original scripts from Ray's other films. Elements of the film was loosely adapted into the 2015 Hindi-language film Piku by Shoojit Sircar.


Plot

Ranjan (Soven Lahiri) suspects his wife Seema ( Aparna Sen) is having an affair. Their son, six years old Pikoo (Arjun Guha Thakurta), is enjoying his holiday. While playing, he gets annoyed by the loud barking of the neighbour's dog. Not knowing what to do, he shouts "Hush!" and is delighted when it works. Pikoo receives a telephone call from Hitesh ( Victor Banerjee) who wants to inquire about Seema. Pikoo then passes the phone to Seema, who requests that Hitesh not to come over, without giving any explanation. Pikoo shares a friendly bond with his 80-year-old bedridden grandfather, Loknath (Promod Ganguli). Pikoo secretly tells Loknath about the fights between his parents, their conversation and requests Loknath not to share this little secret with anyone. Hitesh comes over, uninvited, and brings Pikoo a gift: a drawing book and a set of sketch-pens. Pikoo readily draws pictures and shows them to Seema and Hitesh. Seema suggests that Pikoo go to the garden and draw flowers which matches the colours of his sketch pens. Excited by the idea, Pikoo runs to the garden. Once Pikoo is gone, Seema informs Hitesh about Loknath's second heart-attack and also that Ranjan has started suspecting that she has a boyfriend. Pikoo roams around the garden and draws various flowers but wonders when he sees a white lotus in the pond. Puzzled with not having a white-coloured sketch pen, he shouts from the garden and informs Seema about not having a white-coloured sketch pen to draw it. Seema, who is now having an intimate sexual encounter with Hitesh, does not respond to Pikoo. Pikoo then uses black-coloured sketch pen to draw the flower but a rain drop spoils his drawing and he runs inside the house. He overhears Seema and Hitesh having a fight. Now knowing how to silence others, he readily shouts "Hush!" again to see that it has worked this time as well. He runs to Loknath to show him his drawings but realizes that Loknath has died in his bed. Not knowing what to do next, Pikoo runs away and sits in the balcony to watch his ruined drawing and starts crying. The film ends when Seema opens her bedroom door and notices Pikoo sitting outside, then avoids him and makes no eye-contact.


Credits


Cast

* Arjun Guha Thakurta as Pikoo * Aparna Sen as Seema, Pikoo's mother * Soven Lahiri as Ranjan, Pikoo's father * Promod Ganguli as Loknath, Pikoo's grandfather * Victor Banerjee as Hitesh, Seema's boyfriend


Crew

* Sound designer: Sujit Sarkar, Partha Bose, Gobinda Naskar * Production designer: Bhanu Ghosh, Saibal Gupta * Recording: Susanta Bannerji * Art Direction: Ashoke Bose * Sound: Robin Sen Gupta


Restoration

After the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
awarded Satyajit Ray an
honorary Academy Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc ...
in 1992 for his lifetime achievements, the Academy Film Archive, part of the Academy Foundation which mainly works with the objectives as "preservation, restoration, documentation, exhibition and study of motion pictures", took an initiative to restore and preserve Ray's films. Josef Lindner was appointed as a preservation officer and the academy has successfully restored 19 titles. However, the academy has yet to restore ''Pikoo'', as the information about the film could not be retrieved.


References


External links

* {{Satyajit Ray Bengali-language Indian films Films directed by Satyajit Ray Indian drama short films Films based on short fiction 1980 short films