Ranjit Mallick: The language and dialogues of Satyajit Ray’s films are never ornamental

Ranjit Mallick, who played a pivotal role in Satyajit Ray’s Shakha Proshakha, still remembers how excited he was when Ray called him to offer a role. Reminiscing the golden days the veteran actor shares an interesting story with ETimes.
“Actually, I was out of town when Satyajit Ray called me for the first time on our landline. When my family informed me about it, I was super happy. I was hoping he’d cast me in his next film.After I returned to Kolkata, I went to his place to meet him. I still remember I had addressed him as Manik babu, but he asked me to call him Manik da instead — and that was our first interaction. He told me that he wanted to cast me in Shakha Proshakha and I took a second to give my nod. I had requested him to guide me to essay the character and he told me everything will be fine on the shooting floor,” said Ranjit.
Sharing his work experience with Satyajit Ray, the actor added: “He always used to explain a shot, but never used to tell an actor how to act. He gave full liberty to the actors. What I like about his films is the language - the dialogues are not ornamental — and that makes them more relatable.”
Meanwhile, due to the surge in COVID cases, the actor has taken a break from work. “I am part of Haranath Chakraborty’s new film and PB Chaki’s next project. But both the films are pushed back as it is not safe to shoot in this situation where COVID positive cases are rising each day,” said Ranjit.