Question 1.
With your partner answer the following questions: What are your strengths?
| Strengths | Why do you feel so ? |
What is your dream career?
- Is there any correlation between your strengths and aspirations ?
- Do you think you can achieve your dreams ? Give reasons.
Answer:
Self Attempt.
Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly :
(a) What was the news that Nishikanto
Ghosh gave Patol Babu?
Answer:
Patol Babu was just to go out when Nishikanto Babu called on him. He told
Patol Babu that his youngest brother-in-law was in film production department
and he was looking for an actor for a scene in a film they were shooting. A
character should be of fiftyish, short and bald. So he gave him Patol Babu’s
address. They would pay him, of course.
(b) How did Patol Babu react ? Why?
Answer:
Patol Babu hadn’t expected such
news at the beginning of the day that an offer to act in a film could come to
an ordinary man who was 52 years old. That was beyond his imagination.
(c) Why had Patol Babu lost his first job in Calcutta?
Answer:
Patol Babu worked as clerk with
Hudson and Kimberley in Calcutta and was lucky to have a flat in Nepal
Bhattacharji Lane. He lost his factory job because of retrenchment in the
office.
(d) How does Patol Babu reconcile to the dialogue given to him?
Answer:
The youngster Jyoti produced a
red dot pen and gave it to Sosanko who scribbled something on a page and
handed it to Patol Babu. Patol Babu saw a single word “Oh!” scrolled on it. He
was surprised that this was the only dialogue he had to speak. He remembered
his mentor’s advice that however the dialogue and the role is short, it should
be done with dignity.
(e) Who was Mr. Pakrashi ? How do his words help Patol Babu in enacting his
role?
Answer:
Mr. Pakrashi was Patol Babu’s mentor. He used to say, “Each word spoken in
the play is like a fruit in a tree. Not everyone in the audience has assessed
to it. But you, the actor, must know how to pluck it, get at its essence, and
serve it up to the audience for their edification.” The memory of these words
of his Guru made Patol Babu bow his head in obeisance.
(f) How do we know that Patol Babu was a meticulous man?
Answer:
Patol Babu had to say only one
word “Oh!” Patol Babu began giving the exclamation a different inflection each
time he uttered it. After doing it for a number of times he made an
astonishing discovery. The same exclamation when spoken in different ways,
carried different shades of meaning. He suddenly felt that he could write a
whole thesis on that one exclamation. A true actor could make a mark with this
one single syllable.
(g) Why did Mr. Mullick turn down Patol Babu’s request for a rehearsal?
Answer:
Mr. Mullick turned down Patol
Babu’s request for a rehearsal and shook his head impatiently. He said there
was a large patch of cloud approaching the sun and this scene must be shot in
the sunlight.
(h) What were the special touches that Patol Babu gave to his role to make it
more authentic?
Answer:
Patol Babu told Mr. Mullick that if he had a newspaper open in his hand and
if the collision took place while he had his eyes on the paper then perhaps
the scene would be more effective.
Question 3.
Discuss the following questions in detail and write the answers in your
notebooks:
(а) 7 hope the part calls for some dialogue ?’ Who says this ? Why does he /
she ask this question ?
Answer:
These words are spoken by Patol Babu. He asked this question because the
part that he had to play was of a pedestrian. An absent-minded, short-tempered
person, though the part was not a big one but that was not the main thing,
what was important was that he would be playing a part in a film. Patol Babu
was very keen on acting in films. At one time he had a real passion for the
stage, in fact he could not think of anything else accept working in the
theatre. He was always in demand, his name was also on the handbills, people
liked his acting and now he was getting a chance to work in a film. He thought
he was perfect for the part but he was curious to know about his dialogues, so
he asked this question. He thought this was the first step on the ladder, the
first step that would make him successful. He thought his lifelong desire
would come true.
(b) ‘Were these people pulling his legs? Was the whole thing a gigantic hoax?
A meek, harmless man like him, and they had to drag him into the middle of the
city to make a laughing stock out of him. How could anyone be so cruel ?’ Why
does Patol Babu have these thoughts?
Answer:
Naresh Dutt asked Sosanko to
give Patol Babu his dialogues. Sosanko turned to Patol Babu and said, “Come
along ‘grandpa.” He told Jyoti to give him his dialogues. Jyoti produced a red
dot pen and Sosanko scribbled something on it and handed it to Patol Babu.
Patol Babu saw that a single word had been scrolled on it – ‘Oh! Patol Babu
felt a sudden throbbing in his head. He felt very strange,’ he had expected
some longer dialogues. Sigh came out of the depths of his heart. Just one word
— No, not even a word, a sound — ‘Oh! He felt stifling.’ Sosanko said, ‘What’s
the matter grandpa?’ You don’t seem to be pleased, several questions were
arising in Patol Babu’s mind. Were these people pulling his leg? Was the whole
thing a gigantic hoax? Why did they want to drag this simple man into the
middle and make a laughing stock of him. How could these people be so cruel?
Patol Babu could hardly speak. He slowly said, Just ‘Oh. Is that all I have to
say? I find it rather strange.’ Sosanko raised his eyebrows and said, “You
think that nothing, at least you are getting a speaking part in a Baren
Mullick film, do you realise what that means? You are the luckiest of the
actors.”
(c) Patol Babu is an amateur actor for whom walk-on part in a movie turns into
an ultimate challenge. Discuss.
Answer:
Patol Babu at one time had real
passion for stage. It verged on obsession. In Jatras, in amateur theatricals,
in plays put up by the club in his neighbourhood, he was always in demand, his
name had even appeared in handbills on many occasions. There was a time when
people bought tickets especially to see him. One day he was offered a part to
play in a film directed by Baren Mullick. Patol Babu thought his lifelong
dream coming true. When he reached the site of the shooting he was given his
dialogue. To Patol Babu’s surprise it was not a proper dialogue but only an
expression ‘Oh’. Patol Babu felt discouraged, he found it rather strange. He
thought that thos^people were trying to make fun of him as he was a simple
man.
On asking he was informed that this was a regular speaking part. A speaking part in a Baren Mullick film – didn’t he realise what that meant? Why he was the luckiest of the actors? There were at least a hundred who had appeared in this film who had had nothing to say, even the hero had no lines to speak that day. Patol Babu was the only one who had.
Patol Babu thought about his mentor’s advice that however small a part may be you should never consider it beneath your dignity to accept it, a play/film is a combined effort.
Patol Babu now thought that this little word ‘Oh’ if spoken in different ways carried different meaning. Why had he then felt so disheartened when this single word contained a gold mine of meanings? A true actor could make a mark with this single word.
(d) Do you agree with the statement that Patol Babu is a practical man who
comes to terms with whatever life has to offer 1 Give reasons for your
answer.
Answer:
Patol Babu is a practical man. He was offered a role in Baren Mullick’s film
of an absent- minded pedestrian. The dialogue he was given was only a single
syllable ‘Oh’. Patol Babu thought it rather strange for once he had been a
famous stage actor, he thought as if those people were making fun of him but
he was told that at least he was lucky to have a dialogue. There were others
who appeared in that scene but had nothing to say, even the hero. Patol Babu
still felt discouraged. He thought it was all just a waste of time but his
mentors words awakened him, he remembered his mentors advice. He had once told
him (Patol Babu) that as an artist his aim should be to make the most of his
opportunity and he should bring out the true meaning of his lines. Patol Babu
suddenly felt that he could write a whole thesis on that one syllable because
the same exclamation if spoken in different ways carried different meanings.
He now wanted to present his part in the best possible way. For him money did
not matter though he needed money very badly. Surely he was a practical man
who came to terms with whatever life had to offer.
(e) Why does Patol Babu walk away before he can be paid for his role ? What
does this reveal about his character?
Answer:
Patol Babu was surprised to get
his dialogue for it was only a single syllable ‘Oh’. He felt very discouraged.
He thought he would be made fun of. Things were much better on the stage. A
faint memory was stirred up in his mind.
The words of his mentor Gogon Pakrashi rang in his ears, “Each word of the dialogue is like a fruit on a tree. As an artist one should make the best of his opportunity. However small a part maybe, never consider it below your dignity.” This small single syllable if spoken in different ways would carry different meanings. A true actor could make the best of it. Now he completely got over his apathy. All he felt was a keen anticipation and excitement.
He performed his part well. He had put all his labour in this one act. It was the satisfaction of doing it with perfection. Money did not matter though he needed it. So he went off without being paid. This showed that he was not only talented but a diligent, passionate actor.
(f) Do you think making a movie is an easy job ? Discuss with reference to the
story.
Answer:
Although movies are intefesting but making a movie is not an easy job. It
requires finances as well as proper actors for particular roles. The setting,
background music, dialogue delivery must correlate with each other. The rgovie
should have an effective ending so that it leaves an impact and message to the
audience.
Question 4.
Here are some lines from the
lesson. What do they tell us about Patol Babu’s character ? You may take help
from the words given in the table below or find some of your own from the
dictionary. The first one has been done for you.
(a) That an offer to act in a film
could come to a 52-year-old nonentity like him was beyond his wildest dreams
unassuming; modest
(b) Indeed, there was
a time when people bought tickets especially to see him
(c) ‘I was with Hudson and Kimberley for nine years and wasn’t late for a
single day.’
(d) It didn’t matter if the
part was small, but, if he had to make the most of it, he had to learn his
lines beforehand. How small he would feel if he muffed in the presence of so
many people
(e) Patol Babu cleared his
throat and started enunciating the syllable in various ways. Along with that
he worked out how he would react physically when the collision took place—how
his features would be twisted in pain, how he would fling out his arms, how
his body would crouch to express pain and surprise—all these he performed in
various ways in front of a large glass window
(f) It is true that he needed money very badly, but what was twenty rupees
when measured against the intense satisfaction of a small job done with
perfection and dedication?
Answer:
(b) passionate actor, talented
(c)
meticulous, humble
(d) diligent,
meticulous
(e) talented
(f) genial, diligent
Question 5.
Here are some lines from the
lesson. Match the meanings of the underlined words with their meanings listed
below.
| (a) Then he had a job in a Bengali firm which he gave up in disgust when his boss began to treat him in too high-handed a fashion. | (i) stimulate the imagination |
| (b) A faint memory was stirred up in Patol Babu’s mind. | (ii) to surrender or relinquish |
| (c) At first he opened a variety store which he had to wind up after five years. | (iii) staged |
| (d) In Jatras, in amateur theatricals, in plays put up by the club in his neighbourhood, Patol BatJu was always in demand | (iv) to gain control over one’s actions |
| (e) Patol Babu was about to step forward when he was pulled up short by a voice shouting Silence!’ | (v) shut down |
| (f) Patol Babu pulled himself together. | (vi) stopped |
Answer:
(a) to surrender or relinquish
(b) stimulate the imagination
(c) shut
down
(d) staged
(e) stopped
(f) to gain control over
one’s actions
Question 6.
After Patol Babu returns home
he recounts his experience in front of the camera to his wife. In pairs write
out the exchange in the form of a dialogue and enact it before the class. You
may start like this …..
Patol Babu’s wife: So what happened at the shooting today? Did you get to do your role?
Patol Babu: Oh, Yes, I had the time of my life
Answer:
Patol Babu’s wife: What dialogue did you get?
Patol Babu: I was surprised that I had only to say ‘Oh!’
Patol Babu’s wife: That is very strange.
Patol Babu: Yes it was surprising, just one word — no, not even a word, a sound —
‘Oh’.
Patol Babu’s wife: Then how did you act?
Patol Babu: I began giving the exclamation ‘Oh’ a different inflection each time I
practised. Suddenly I felt I could write a whole thesis on the single word. I
could make a mark with it. And to my surprise when my turn came I was able to
act perfectly.
Patol Babu’s wife: How much did they pay you?
Patol Babu: Money at that moment did not matter, what mattered to me was that I
could get to fulfil a lifelong dream to act in a film.