Celebrating Short Film : Decoding Pikoo

By the turn of the eighties, Satyajit Ray was approached by a French public television channel, France 3 (was probably called something else at that time), to make a short film. For Ray, who had started his professional life in the ad-world, this was a revisit to his old strict vocation. This I say because, short films, unlike documentaries or feature films, have several ruthless constraints. To cite a few, these are - few characters, thin story-line, lesser dialogues, minuscule sets, a few twists and turns and finally, and most essentially, a short time period.

This was the year 1980 and Ray's first short film for television "Pikoo" was shown to the world. Before Pikoo happened, Ray had made "Two" - a rare and unique masterpiece, but it was a silent film by the way. For Pikoo, Ray chose one of his own short stories, by the name "Pikoor Diary". Throughout today's article, we shall make an attempt to deep dive into the world of Pikoo and thereby try to make an attempt to understand the sensational genre of short films.

Being a small-time writer, I have faced enormous challenge whenever I have tried to write a short story. A short story often suffers from a sense of incompleteness, thereby, brings dissatisfaction, if not properly crafted. A short film is likewise; every single frame, every single shot, every minute dialogue, every tiny prop, every subtle emotion, every little camera movement must be thoughtfully and exactly sketched out for it to convey the matter the film wants to say.

Pikoo had 4-5 characters in total. The mother, the father, the grandfather, the caretaker form the inner world of Pikoo. Pikoo is the protagonist, he is cheerful, lively, resolute, yet, thoughtful, sentimental and sensitive kid. There is an uncle who is an outsider, the ranked other person in his small world. The mother is unfaithful, both to the boy and to his inner world. There is tension in the family; there is an ailing grandfather that could be the cause of it and then, there is infidelity. The short film has a definite starting point where Pikoo is shown lonely, trying to stop a barking dog in a neighbor's house. The film also has a concrete end, with the grandfather dying, the mother feeling ashamed and the little boy drawing a new picture of a flower.

The props are excellent. The mother throws the shirt of the father in the wardrobe with a certain disenchantment. The father complains, but only a little, about a torn button on his shirt. All these point to the fact that the family is squarely dysfunctional. The grandfather has a tiny alarm switch that he can use when he feels uncomfortable because no one has the time or patience to stay with a heart-patient for long. The grandfather looks at the picture of the departed grandmother in utter disdain - their separation reveals a separation of values and ideals between generations.

The dialogues are very few, but precise to the core. One gets a feeling that each word written is equal to multiple expressions conveyed at the same time. Several of those can be discussed, but a few must be discussed. The father says that if Pikoo has a holiday it will be an issue for his wife meeting his boyfriend. If less is a virtue, the filmmaker taps that to perfection. Then the caretaker says that chili is hot, but eating it is fun. Once again, a point noted - a society is aware of its vices, but often falls for it! Lastly, the masterstroke comes when Pikoo says something like "Mother, there is no white pen in my sketch pen box. How do I paint a white flower ? I am doing it with black pen only!" The distinction between black and white prevails and will prevail as long as society exists, but the paradox around it never seems to end.

With all these qualities, Pikoo becomes a rather complete film. If one carefully observes the details, pays attention to those and decodes the different layers, the completeness can be found. To bind all these qualities together, Ray uses emotions. Throughout the film emotions come and go like several sudden spells of showers. The mother crying, the mother surrendering to the outsider, the mother doing duty towards her father-in-law albeit in an indifferent mood, the mother feeling guilty, the grandfather succumbing, the little kid roaming listlessly around the garden from a colorful to a colorless flower, the outsider feeling happy, then angry, then indifferent - all are used as effective means to convey emotions. If ever one wanted to learn how to make a short film, one would be advised to visit this film by Satyajit Ray. For us, the viewers, we would advise ourselves to dig up 25 more elemental qualities of this great piece of art that lasts for only 25 minutes!