CBSE Class 10 English Assignment - Patol Babu Film Star. Students are advised to refer to the attached assignments and practice them regularly. This will help them to identify their weak areas and will help them to score better in examination. Parents should download and give the assignments to their children for practice.

FICTION: PATOL BABU, FILM STAR

SUMMARY

PatolBabu lives a life of resignation and isolation in Nepal Bhattacharji Lane,

fighting hard for existence.

One morning he is informed by his neighbourNishikanto Ghosh to make up his

mind for a film role to be offered by his brother-in –law, Naresh Dutt, on behalf of

a film production house in which he works.

PatolBabu feels both nervous and excited at the prospect of playing role in a

movie which he has never attempted in his life even though he had worked as

stage artist during his younger days.

The prospect of playing a movie role makes him nostalgic and he goes down the

memory lanes and recalls his past life.

He remembers of his past when he had shifted from Kanchrapara to Calcutta in

1934 to join Hudson & Kimberley where he had worked smoothly till 1943. He

also remembers the fact that he had lost his job in the company because of

sudden retrenchment due to world war. Since then his life has become

challenging and he has to struggle for survival.

The present offer of the role reminds him of his theatre days when he was

appreciated and acknowledged as a legendary stage actor but he hasn’t acted for

many years which makes him feel a bit apprehensive of accepting the present

offer.

Finally he agrees to work in the movie when a formal offer is made to him by

Naresh Dutt, who also gives him a brief idea of the role- the role of a pedestrian.

Excited PatolBabu shares the breaking news to his wife who shows no sense of

excitement and even blames him to be a day dreamer.

On the next day PatolBabu reaches the shooting site – Faraday House, and gets

the first hand feel of film shooting and gets the detail of others associated with

movie- the hero of the movie, the director etc. but he is more curious about his

scene and role.

After many requests, he is detailed about his scene and dialogue, which make

him feel humiliated. He feels himself to be cheated as he comes to know that his

dialogue is merely a single word – ‘Oh’.

Sosanko, the person who tells him about his dialogue, tries to convince him by

claiming that his role is very significant as per the scene and situation in the film

but PatolBaburemains undeterred. He makes up his mind to leave the place but

at this very moment he is reminded of his acting mentor &guruGogonPakarshi

and his preaching that no role is big or small. The actor makes a role the way he

sees it.

Now, he gets convinced of his role and then he puts his best effort to make his

role and performance a memorable one. He works upon his expression, body

language, accent etc. so that the scene becomes a perfect one. He rehearses his

dialogue many a time to meet with the required expression as per the scene.

Finally, he performs his scene/role with precision and gets appreciation from all.

After performing his role with satisfaction, he does something very unusual

which surprises everyone. He decides to leave the place without getting paid as

he believes that his performance and satisfaction can’t be valued in monetary

term as these are invaluable.

And thus he proves himself to be a real film star.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF THE MAIN CHARACTER(S)

PATOL BABU

PatolBabu carries so many wonderful human traits in him. His ordinary

appearance is a deceptive one as we find him to be an extraordinary human

being and more so an extraordinary actor. He is kind hearted, committed,

friendly, punctual, dedicated, meticulous and to certain extent a perfectionist.

He is very passionate of acting and his involvement and preparation for his

small role is an evidence of it. For him personal satisfaction holds more

importance than money and that’s why he leaves the shooting place without

getting paid.

EXTRACT BASED COMPREHENSION QUESTION EXERCISES

[A] “Buying provisions in the market, PatolBabu mixed up his wife’s orders and bought

red chillies instead of onion seeds and he quite forgot about aubergines. This was not

surprising. At one time PatolBabu had a real passion for the stage.’

(a) Why does PatolBabumix up his wife’s order?

(b) Why did PatolBabu stop acting on the stage?

(c) What is the meaning of the word ‘provision’ in the given context?

Answers:

(a) He does so because his mind is pre-occupied with the thought of the offer of a film

role to be made to him after a few hours.

(b) He did so because he had to make his both ends meet as he was jobless and thus he

could not focus upon his acting.

(c) food items, here it refers to vegetables.

[B] “This is only the first step on the ladder, my dear better half! Yes…..the first step that

would.. God willing…..mark the rise to fame and fortune of your beloved husband.”

(a) What does PatolBabu mean by ‘first step on the ladder’?

(b) What do we come to know about him?

(c) What is the contextual meaning of ‘fame and fortune’?

Answers:

(a) He means that even though his film role is a small one but it will pave the way for his

grand success.

(b) We come to know that he has the habit of counting his chickens even before the eggs

are hatched.

(c) success as an actor

[C] “Oh, oh, oh, oh…. PatolBabu began giving the exclamation a different inflection each

time he uttered it. After doing it for a number of times he made an astonishing

discovery.”

(a) Why does PatolBabu repeat the word Oh, over and over again?

(b) What does he discover after repeating the dialogue again and again?

(c) What is the meaning of the word- ‘inflection’?

Answers:

(a) PatolBabu repeats the word so that he can give exact expression required for his

scene.

(b) PatolBabu discovers that the same word Oh, can be performed with different

expressions carrying different meaning.

(c) change in the tone or pitch of voice.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

Q.1. How does PatolBabureact at the prospect of a movie role?

Answer. When Nishikanto Ghosh informs him about the role he feels both excited and

nervous. Excited because he will have the opportunity to relive his golden past and

nervous because he hasn’t acted for years and film acting will be a new experience

for him.

Q.2. ‘PatolBabu had acted in many a play but still he felt nervous because he hadn’t got

his dialogues to rehearse’. What does this suggest about him?

Answer. It suggests that he is a well-planned actor who needs every bit of detail to make

his performance satisfying and that’s why he insists for his dialogue so that he can go

into the skin of his character.

Q.3. How does PatolBabureact on knowing his dialogue?

Answer. PatolBabufeels cheated/duped when gets to know of his dialogue. He

concludes that everyone is making fool of him, he curses them and wishes to leave

the site.

Q.4. How does PatolBabu convince himself for the role?

Answer. PatolBabu convinces himself for the role by remembering the inspiring words of

his mentor GogonPakrashi who had told him not to measure the importance of the

role on the basis of its length as no role was small or big. It was up to the actor to

make it small or big.

VALUE BASED QUESTION WITH ANSWER

Q.5 Through the character of PatolBabu, Satyajit Ray has portrayed that personal

satisfaction is more important than financial rewards. Explain the statement with

reference to the story.

Answer. PatolBabu gets the opportunity of acting after many years. The opportunity

makes him feel both elated and nervous but once he makes up his mind to act, he

moves ahead. When he comes to know about his dialogue, he initially feels

disappointed but very soon he regains his spirit and gives more than 100% for his

role. The performance gives him immense satisfaction and then he decides to move

away from the place without getting his payment even though he suffers from

immense financial crisis. This goes to show that for him personal satisfaction of

performing his task with perfection and dedication is invaluable. We also need to

understand that life means going beyond materialistic achievements. Money should be

given importance but not at the cost of quality and no compromise should be made

in this regard.

ADDITIONAL SHORT ANSWER/VALUE BASED QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q.1. How does PatolBabu prepare himself for the role?

Q.2. How does his wife react when he shares the news with her?

Q.3 Why does PatolBabu give up stage acting?

Q.4. Why is PatolBabu so eager to know every detail about his role from Naresh Dutt?

Q.5. How does Sosanko try to convince him about his role?

Q.6. What changes PatolBabu’s outlook about his role?

Q.7. Why does PatolBabu choose to rehearse his part many a times?

Q.8. PatolBabu leaves the shooting place without getting his payment. Why?

VALUE BASED QUESTIONS

Q.1. The story tells us about the importance of taking every task seriously irrespective

of its grandness or smallness. Comment upon the statement.

Q.2. ‘The memory of his guru made PatolBabubow his head in obeisance.’ In the light of

the statement reflect upon the importance of teachers in grooming up the children.

Q.3. ‘In the modern materialistic world where everyone seems to be running after

money, characters like PatolBabu reflect the true meaning of human life.’ In the

context of the story comment upon the statement.

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