Two

Two: A Film Fable is a 1964 Indian black-and-white short film directed by Satyajit Ray. The film was made under the banner of Esso World Theater at the request of a non-profit American public broadcasting television, PBS. It was made as part of a trilogy of short films from India. The other two films in the trilogy featured Indian Sitar player, Pandit Ravi Shankar and a Ballet troupe from Mumbai, then known as "Bombay". Ray, who worked prominently for Bengali cinema, was requested to make a film in English language with a Bengali setting, however Ray being an admirer of silent film decided to make a film without any dialogue as a tribute to the genre. The short film shows an encounter between a child of a rich family and a street child, through the rich kid's window. The film is made without any dialogue and displays attempts of One-upmanship between kids in their successive display of their toys. The film portrays the childlike rivalry with the help of world of noise and that of music. The film is among less known films of Ray but experts rated the film as one of Ray's best. It is often regarded as a prelude to another Ray film, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969). Made during the Vietnam War, experts believe that the film makes "a strong anti-war statement"[which experts] as it ends with street kid's flute sound overpowering sound of expensive toys. Academy Film Archive, part of the Academy Foundation, took an initiative to restore Satyajit Ray's films and could successfully restore 19 Ray films. Two was preserved in 2006. The film's original script was included in a book named Original English Film Scripts Satyajit Ray, put together by Ray's son Sandip Ray. Plot The film begins with a rich kid (Ravi Kiran) shown to be playing with his toys and enjoying the bottled soft drink possibly symbolising the imperialist capitalist First World. While playing, he overhears a sound and curiously overlooks the window to see a slum kid playing a flute, possibly symbolising the exploited Third World. In order to show off his toys, the rich kid takes out his toy trumpet to make loud sounds. The street kid then goes back to his hut and returns playing a small drum to which rich kid shows his battery-powered monkey drummer toy. When the street kid comes out home-made mask and bow and arrow, rich kid wears various masks including one of a demon, native American and Cowboy brandishing swords, spears, and guns.