This ending shot from Charulata (dubbed The Lonely Wife) from a 1964 Satyajit Ray features the lonely wife, Charu, finally about to hold hands with her husband, when -- the frame freezes. The world stops. Is their union not a matter of this world?
This film is based on Nastanirh (translated The Broken Nest), by Rabindranath. Nastanirh is based on Rabindranath's own life -- his experience with Kadambari Debi, the wife of his brother Jyotirindranath Tagore. So the film is in fact the third passage of the narrative of a life tragedy. A tragedy that stabbed Kadambari Debi enough to be passed on into a suicide, witnessed by Rabindranath in its actuality and passed into prose as artistic recuperation, then read and absorbed by Satyajit Ray before being passed onto a film. With each percolation, the tragedy mildens -- as is the nature of narratives. To hide the blood and the hurt from the eyes of a softer, gentler future.
It is a waste of time to be praising Satyajit Ray. He was a trained polymath. If we had the social, educational and economic backing, we could've produced an art critic of world standards. Unfortunately, all we have is a cult following that will never man up do follow the artist's footsteps and pave a deserving tribute in terms of its achievements. We will only have chatter and speculation about a ghost that probably wants to be left alone.