And from there on it was Vishvabharati University that preserved his writings and
anyone wanting to make a film on his story had to go through a laborious process of
seeking permission. Not everyone had the patience. In 1961 Satyajit Ray made a
documentary on Rabindranth Tagore, Teen Kanya (Postmaster, Monihara and Samapti)
and in 1964 he made a feature film Charulata based on Tagore’s novella Nastanir with a
minor deviation. In the book, the story ends with the husband knocking on the door and
the wife waiting at the entrance wordless. Satyajit Ray felt that the open interpretation
ending will not be accepted by the audience and asked his heroine Madhabi Mukherjee to
stretch her hand briefly and whisper, “Ashi” (come in). The change was criticized by
Tagore fans and the controversy subsided only after Ray penned an explanation in a
leading newspaper.
There was another story Tagore Ray was obsessed with but no producer was willing to
invest in the subject and he had to wait till 1985 to make Ghare Baire. Other directors
who projected Tagore stories on the big screen included Tapan Sinha, who made
Kabuliwala set in the social context of feudal Bengal and Kshudito Paschan, a story of a
young collector in love with a ghost. Sudhendhu Roy made Upahaar and Ritu Porno
Ghosh made Chokherbali.