Tom Alter had got Attenborough to correct his British accent in Shatranj: Sandip Ray

KOLKATA: When news of Tom Alter’s demise reached the Ray residence in Kolkata on Saturday, it opened floodgates of memories of the actor working with Satyajit Ray in ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’. Back in 1977, it wasn’t easy for a young Alter to stand tall in front of the formidable Richard Attenborough who had played General James Outram in the classic. But the actor had managed fine as Captain Weston and till date viewers recall how he had matched his histrionics with that of the legendary actor while playing the role of his aide de camp.
Few can forget the scenes from the film where Alter translates for Attenborough when he asks the meaning of words like ‘bulbul’ and ‘mushaira’.What doesn’t go unnoticed is the difference in pronunciation of the word ‘mushaira’ by Attenborough and Alter. Equally engaging is the section where Attenborough asks Alter: ‘Tell me Weston, since you know the language and the people here, I mean, what kind of a poet ia the king (Nawab Wajid Ali Shah)? Is he any good or do people say he is good simply because he is the king?’ To demonstrate his impression that the king is ‘rather good’, Alter not only recites the original Urdu poem ‘Sadma na pahunche koi mere jism-e-zaar par/Aahista phool dalna mere mazaar par...’ but also recites the English translation as ‘Wound not my bleeding body/ Throw flowers gently on my grave…’.
Alter’s Urdu recitation is impressive and the Attenborough admits to like ‘virtue of brevity’ of the verse though it doesn’t strike him as a ‘great flight of fancy’. Quite interesting is the exchange of views between Attenborough and Alter on their individual perception of the king. While Attenborough is dismissive and calls him a ‘bad king – a frivolous, effeminate, irresponsible and worthless king’, Alter interrupts saying: ‘he isn’t the first eccentric in the world…’
Finally, Alter agrees with Attenborough’s view that such a person has no business to rule. But that’s not before an engaging verbal exchange between the two. Director Sandip Ray, who was on the sets of this 1977 film, said, “It is a rare combination to get an actor who can speak in a foreign accent and is equally fluent in Hindi and Urdu. Tom belonged to that rare and unique category of actors who could do this with ease. It was nice to see the interactions between Tom and Sir Richard Attenborough in these scenes. Tom was such a unique actor. His death is so unfortunate. He was just 67. That’s no age to die.”
Recalling how Alter was cast in this period film, Ray said it was Satyajit Ray’s friends and associates in Mumbai who had suggested his name for the role. “Well-known actor Barry John too had recommended Tom for the role,” Ray said. During their first meeting in Mumbai, Alter had impressed the legendary director with his impeccable behaviour. “Baba had told him that he, being of American decent, would have to pick up a British accent. Tom had promised to do his best. I don’t know if he had got an accent-trainer in Mumbai to help him out. But Tom was well-prepared when he came to the Indrapuri studio to shoot for the film,” he recounted.
In the sweltering heat of June, Alter was always on his toes when he had to shoot. “Back then, there was no AC. Here was Tom who would never complain. Very obedient, he came across as such a warm and affectionate person,” Ray said, sharing his fond memories of Alter’s ‘pleasing personality’.
What was particularly interesting was Alter’s interaction with Attenborough both on and off camera. “Whenever Tom would get a chance, he would go to meet Sir Richard Attenborough. I remember in between shooting, the two of them would sit with Baba and have addas over theatre and cinema. Since Tom was playing a Brit, he also made it a point to get Sir Richard Attenborough to correct his British accent. That was his level of dedication to the project,” Ray recounted.
Decades later, in 2007, Ray himself cast Alter in his Feluda’s film - ‘Kailashey Kelenkari’. During casting for the role of Sol Silverstein, Alter was the first choice. “But during those days, emails and mobile phones were not commonly used. It was quite a task to reach Tom. But once we established contact, Tom was quick to agree and come down to Kolkata. We had also shot in Hyderabad,” he said.
Nostalgia had reigned high during the shooting of ‘Kailashey Kelenkari’. “Tom met many of the unit members who had worked with him in ‘Shatranj…’ They had all grown older and would often exchange notes on Baba’s film during our shooting. We had needed another actor to play an American character. Tom had also suggested an actor’s name for this role,” he remembered.
Some months back, Ray had toyed with the idea of calling up Alter again. This time around, he had wanted to cast Alter in the role of the London-based British geologist Jeremy Saunders – a character from Satyajit Ray’s ‘Professor Shonku’. Said Ray, “If I ever made Professor Shonku, I wanted to cast Tom as Shonku’s friend. I had wanted to keep Tom in the loop and share this plan with him.” Alter’s untimely death altered Ray’s plans leaving him with the regret that that the actor’s skin cancer played the villain and cut short his plans of translating his dream into reality.