Pikoo

For the 2015 film, see Pikoo (2015 film).

Pikoo
Pikoo (short film 1980, title card)
Title card of the film
Directed bySatyajit Ray
Written bySatyajit Ray
Screenplay bySatyajit Ray
Story bySatyajit Ray
Based on"Pikur Diary"
by Satyajit Ray
Produced byHenri Fraise for France 3
StarringArjun Guha Thakurta,
Aparna Sen,
Soven Lahiri,
Promod Ganguli,
Victor Banerjee
CinematographySoumendu Roy
Edited byDulal Dutta
Music bySatyajit Ray
Release date
  • 1980 (1980)
Running time
26 Minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Pikoo is a 1980 Indian Bengali-language short film directed by Satyajit Ray for French television channel France 3.[1] 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.[2]

Satyajit Ray was approached by the freelance 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."[3] In an interview in Cineaste, Ray stated that Pikoo is "a very complex film".[4]

The film's script was included in the book, Original English Film Scripts Satyajit Ray, put together by Ray's son Sandip Ray and Aditinath Sarkar, an ex-CEO of Ray Society.[5] The book also includes original scripts from Ray's other films.[6] Elements of the film was loosely adapted into the 2015 Hindi-language film Piku by Shoojit Sircar.[7]

  1. ^ "[email protected]". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. ^ "[email protected]". Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. ^ Robinson, Andrew (January 1989). "Chapter 23: Two (1964) Pikoo (1980)". Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. I. B. Tauris; Revised and Updated edition. p. 253. ISBN 1860649653.
  4. ^ "Ray on Ray". Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  5. ^ Nag, Ashoke (9 April 2011). "Satyajit Ray: Saluting the auteur". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  6. ^ Ray, Satyajit (2011). Original English Film Scripts Satyajit Ray. DC Publishers. p. 216. ISBN 978-8180280016.
  7. ^ "'Piku' trailer released: A mix of humour and emotion". 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.