Hirak Rajar Deshe


Hirak Rajar Deshe is an Indian Bengali dystopian fantasy science-fiction film, sequel to the 1969 film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and the second installment of Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne series directed by Satyajit Ray. A unique aspect of the film is that most of the dialogues exchanged by the protagonists of the film are rhyming. The only person who did not speak in rhyme was the teacher, symbolizing that though the thoughts of everybody else are bound, the teacher was a free-thinker.
The film was followed by the third film of the series directed by Satyajit Ray and assisted, camera and colourotography by his son Sandip Ray.

Plot

The magically musical duo of Goopy Gyne and Bagha Byne make a comeback in this sequel, where they are invited to the court of the Hirak Raja for their musical skills. They are to perform at the kingdom's Anniversary Celebrations.
Goopy and Bagha are bored with their lives as crown princes of Shundi and Halla. They are looking for a change, which comes in the form of a chance to visit Hirak, known for its huge diamond mines. They happily set out for Hirak, unaware of the machinations of the King of Hirak, who is a tyrant. Diamonds and riches get pent up in his treasuries, while his subjects starve and suffer. Those who protest are taken care of in the 'Jantarmantar', a chamber for brainwashing devised by the scientist, who the king mocks calling as "Gobeshok Gobochondro Gyanotirtho Gyanorotno Gyanambudhi Gyanochuramoni." His ministers are mere puppets. The only enemy the king has in his land is Udayan Pandit. He is a school teacher and, more than that, he is a believer of values. The king forcefully closes his school down, and he flees to hide in the mountains.
Meanwhile, Goopy and Bagha are on their way to Hirak. By coincidence, they meet Udayan, who informs them of the king's true nature. The two impress Udayan with their magical powers, who makes plans to use them against the tyrant. Goopy and Bagha agree.
The duo then head into Hirak, where they are welcomed with grandeur. They entertain the tyrant king, fooling him into believing that they think he is great. They rob the treasury using their magical music, to get diamonds for bribing the guards.
The king has his tricks, too. He captures Udayan and all his students, and takes them to the Jantarmantar for brainwashing. But Goopy Bagha have already reached there using their magical powers. They have also bribed the Gobeshok onto their side, with the guards. On reaching the laboratory, the king and his ministers are stunned magically by Goopy's singing and then pushed into the Brainwashing machine.
After the king is brainwashed he turns to the good side, he then along with the villagers pull down his own statue situated at the center of the village, and everything goes back to normal in the land of hirak raja.

Crew

CharacterActor
Goopy GyneTapen Chatterjee
Bagha ByneRabi Ghosh
Hirak RajaUtpal Dutt
Udayan PanditSoumitra Chatterjee
Shundi'r RajaSantosh Dutta
Gobeshok Gobochondro Gyanotirtho
Gyanorotno Gyanambudhi Gyanochuramoni
A.K.A. Scientist
Santosh Dutta
Prohori Kamu Mukherjee
Udayan's FatherPromod Ganguli
Udayan's MotherAlpana Gupta
CharandasRabin Majumdar
Fazal MianSunil Sarkar
BalaramNani Ganguli
BidushakAjoy Banerjee
Sobhakobi aka Court PoetKartik Chatterjee
Raj Jyotishi aka Court AstrologerHaridhan Mukherjee
MinistersBimal Deb
Tarun Mitra
Gopal Dey
Sailen Ganguli
Samir Mukherjee

Awards

YearAwardAwardee
1980National Film Award for Best Male Playback SingerAnup Ghoshal
1980National Film Award for Best Music DirectionSatyajit Ray
1980National Film Award for Best Feature Film in BengaliSatyajit Ray
1984Cyprus International Film Festival - Special AwardSatyajit Ray

Songs

All the songs were composed and penned by Satyajit Ray. He prominently used Anup Ghoshal as a voice of Goopy. So most of the songs were sung by Anup Ghoshal except one sung by Amar Pal.
The soundtrack won two National Film Awards. Satyajit Ray won the award for the Best Music Direction. Anup Ghoshal won the Best Male Playback Singer Award.
TrackTitleSingerDuration
01"Mora Dujonai Rajar Jamai"Anup Ghoshal05:09
02"Aar Bilombo Noy"Anup Ghoshal02:15
03"Kotoi Rongo Dekhi Duniay"Amar Pal01:46
04"Aaha ki Anondo Akashe Batashe"Anup Ghoshal02:54
05"Aha Shagore Dekho Chaye"Anup Ghoshal01:40
06"Eje Drishyo Dekhi Anyo"Anup Ghoshal01:32
07"Ebare Dekho Gorbito Bir"Anup Ghoshal01:09
08"Eshe Hirok Deshe"Anup Ghoshal02:55
09"Dhoronako Shantrimoshai"Anup Ghoshal01:41
10"Paaye Podi Baghmama"Anup Ghoshal03:21
11"Nohi Jontro"Anup Ghoshal04:26
12"Mora Goopy Bagha Dujon Bhayra Bhai"Anup Ghoshal01:19

Background score

TrackTitleDuration
01"King Arrives"00:28
02"Ministers Get Necklace"01:12
03"Entry of Scientist"
04"The Brain-Washing Machine"01:32
05"The Reciting Of Mantras"
06"Udayan Advises His Students"01:14
07"Burning The Books"
08"Hiding The Distressed"00:51
09"At The Kingdom Of Hirak"01:48
10"Rings For The Kings"00:46
11"Statue Inauguration"01:17
12"Inside Diamond Mine"00:36
13"To Find Udayan"02:10
14"In The Secret Room"02:58

Sequels

Goopy Bagha Phire Elo

, son of director Satyajit Ray directed another sequel named Goopy Bagha Phire Elo. The film released twelve years after release of Hirak Rajar Deshe.

Future

want to make another sequel to this series. He had received many request to make the fourth Goopy - Bagha movie. Ray said to The Times of India about the plot of fourth film: "Making a Goopy Bagha movie without Tapen and Rabi is unthinkable. The only way I can do a fourth is by taking the story forward and introducing Goopy and Bagha's sons," he said. The idea to weave a story around the next generation came from a line from the introductory song 'Mora dujonai rajar jamai in 'Hirak Rajar Deshe' — "aar ache polapan, ek khan ek khan... ".