Hidden Rays

It8217;s a dream come true for any Satyajit Ray fan8212;laying ones8217; hand upon scripts written by the Master that were never made into films.

Scripts of Satyajit Ray8217;s unmade films are all set to be published, claim publishers. Sandip Ray states that he knows nothing about the project

It8217;s a dream come true for any Satyajit Ray fan8212;laying ones8217; hand upon scripts written by the Master that were never made into films. Which is why, when SK Mehra of Alchemy Publishers, recently announced at a book release function that his firm is all set to publish scripts of films that Ray never got around making, he created quite a sensation. 8220;We are working on them and we hope to publish them by next year,8221; says Mehra.

While the script of Ray8217;s unmade film The Alien is available online at worldofray.com , when it comes to his other unmade films, fans can only speculate. One of Ray8217;s more famous unmade films is most definitely his supposed adaptation of the Bankim Chandra Chatterjee classic, Debi Chaudhurani. The film, apparently, never got made because Suchitra Sen, who was supposed to play the lead in the film, couldn8217;t accept the offer. Mehra, is of course unwilling to disclose whether the collection includes Debi Chaudhurani. 8220;It8217;s too early to say anything on the matter. I know that fans are eager to find out about the films, but we are still working on the project,8221; states Mehra.

However, Ray8217;s son, Sandip Ray, claims that he knows nothing about the project. 8220;I have not been approached by anyone. I don8217;t know what this project is all about,8221; says Sandip.

Given the fact that many of Ray8217;s early screenplays are untraceable, this project might prove to be a Herculean task, states Sandip Ray. 8220;I don8217;t know where will they get these scripts from. It will certainly not be easy to find them,8221; he says.

Yet, Ray fans will hope against hope. After all, the promise of reading the Master8217;s unpublished works is too seductive to not succumb to.