theme of story patol babu,film star in about 300 words

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The story Patol Babu, a very beautiful narrative by Satyajit Ray, has highlighted the idea that personal satisfaction is more important than financial rewards. According to him, one does a job because he feels passionate towards it rather than because he can get reward from it.

In the story, Patol Babu gets an opportunity when he least expects it, especially when he is very aware of the fact that he is fifty-two years old. He is taken aback when he talks about this offer with his neighbour Nishikanto Babu to act in films. Here, we are introduced to another side of the character of Patol Babu who was a very well known and talented actor on stage in his days. He had a real passion and was obsessed with the mere idea of being on the stage. This is why we see him thrilled with excitement at getting this offer.

His anxiousness is well projected in his activities like asking for ginger juice to clear his throat, claiming himself to rise to fame and glory before the day of shooting and last but not the least, reaching the spot of shooting much earlier than asked to. His punctuality, discipline and dedication to whatever he does is praiseworthy.

He is shown to be a very humble person undaunted by the people's reaction towards him and others on the site of shooting. He is all praises for the hard work people were engaged in. Although he hasn't seen many films he has heard Chancal Kumar's name. He is concerned about his dialogue which he asks from Naresh Dutt. Sosanko is the person who gives him his script which is a simple sheet of paper which reads 'Oh!'

At first he finds it humiliating and quite strange about his role in the movie. Even Sosanko, displaying hollowness of modern man, tries to persuade him by saying how lucky he is that in such a crowd of people who lacked opportunities to become known, he has been given a chance.

However, among all this embarrassment, he regains his compose when he recollects his mentor, Gogon Pakrashi's words: “...however small a part you're offered never consider it beneath your dignity to accept it...” Noteworthy in this entire episode is how sportingly Patol Babu takes everything and rehearses again and again and adds props to his countenance, just in order to add a special touch to his character.

Eventually, he does a terrific job and receives praises from Chancal Kumar, "You timed it so well that I nearly passed out." and Barren Mullick "Jolly good! Why, you're quite an actor!" He feels very pleased with his performance and "a total satisfaction swept over him." He thinks that it did not matter whether he receives any payment or not. "What were twenty rupees when measured against the intense satisfaction of a small job done with perfection and dedication?" Thus, he does not wait to collect his payment. Patol Babu realizes that personal satisfaction cannot be measured and weighed by money. To him, personal satisfaction is more crucial than material rewards. Ever since the beginning, Patol Babu did not act in the film because of the money merely. In contrast, it is because of his passion towards the job that drives him to act in the film. He proves his ability and talent in acting and these work as a sort of motivation to him. In the nutshell, personal satisfaction had always been more important than financial rewards and this idea work as one of the main issue in the story.

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what does the patol babu done in his past?

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