Chapter III A BRIEF HISTORY OF BENGALI CINEMA Introduction The Beginning Silence and Sound The Post-Fifties Scenario

Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen Bengali Cinema 1990s 2009 Bengali cinema in a global world Conclusion Introduction Bengali cinema has witnessed many ups and downs over its chequered 100-and-odd y ear history. It has given to world cinema one of the greatest talents to ever gr ace the history of cinema -- Satyajit Ray. The natural school of acting began here through another great persona named Pramathesh Barua who introduced Rabindra Sa ngeet to Bengali films with Mukti, the telephathy shot in Devdas and the flashback technique and the use of artificial lighting to effective advantage in Ruplekha . Bengal has gifted Indian cinema with the golden honey voices of K.L.Saigal, Pa nkaj Mullick, Hemant Kumar and Kanan Devi. Two geniuses in music, R.C.Boral and S.D.Burman began their composing in Calcutta. It brought in two of the greatest actors in the country -- Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee. Also, one of Indias greatest stars -- Suchitra Sen, greatest actresses -Madhabi Mukherjee. It has gifted the Bollywood mainstream with actors like Mala Sinha, Biswajeet, Sharmila Tagore, Mousumi Chatterjee, Raakhee and Rani Mukherjee. They all made their deb ut in Calcutta. Some of the countrys best filmmakers are from Bengal. Notable amo ng them are Pramathesh Barua, Debaki Bose, Nitin Bose, Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen, Gautam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Utpalendu Chakravarty, Tarun Maju mdar, Asit Sen, Ardhendu Mukherjee, and Raja Mitra. And as if one can forget tha t controversial genius Hritwik Ghatak! Some of the best film producing studios in the country began in Calcutta. Thelea ding lights were -- Madan Theatres, Aurora Film Corporation, Taj Mahal Film Comp any, Eastern Film Syndicate, Imperial Film Company and of course, Eastern Filmcr aft of Sir B.N. Sircar which changed itself into New Theatres Ltd. in 1931.New T heatres films are credited with many innovative techniques in cinema. Its Chandid as, directed by Debaki Bose, pioneered the use of background music to add intens ity to dramatic narration in cinema. In Puran Bhakta, for New Theatres, he used the editing principles of dramatic cutting and editing for the first time. Bose is also credited for directing the countrys first poetically styled musical, Vidya pati, starring singing actors Pahari Sanyal and Kanan Devi. One of NTs best camer amen. Bimal Roy, migrated to Bombay to make history there with his ouvre of film s based on great literature with much of the music created by a newcomer, Salil Choudhury. Technical aesthetics in Indian cinema will remain indebted to Bengal for being a t the receiving end of creative and innovative excellence from this state. Nitin Bose, who later migrated to Bombay, was a camera-wizard of his times. New Theat res Bhagya Chakra (1935) marked him out as a director of creative imagery and rev olutionary technique. The playback system of recording songs was introduced by N itin Bose in this film. Subrata Mitra is one of the best cinematographers the wo rld has produced till today. He invented bounce lighting (lighting that fakes natu ral light situations in indoor scenes) during the indoor shoot of Rays Aparajito in Calcutta. Ramesh Sharma (whose New Delhi Times was cinematographed by Mitra,) calls him the painter who paints with light. The late Bansi Chandragupta, product ion designer for most of Rays earlier films, is one of the best art directors the country has ever seen. His production design for Rays Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne will remain etched in the memory of those who have seen the film. Soumyendu Roy, who succeeded Mitra when the latter left the Ray camp, is another talented cinemato

grapher. Bengali cinema may perhaps be credited for being the richest in the cou ntry in terms of its literary content. This, in the sense that some of Indias bes t literary works have been recreated, reinterpreted, translated, transcreated, o n celluloid. From Rabindranath Tagore to Munshi Premchand, from Bankim Chandra C hatterjee to Henrik Ibsen, from Sarat Chandra Chatterjee to Sunil Gangopadhyay, from Jnanpeeth awardwinner Tarasankar Bandopadhyay to Jnanpeeth awardwinner Maha sweta Devi to William Shakespeare, all have some of their best literary works ar chived on celluloid, in Bengali. The late Salil Choudhury and Pulak Bandopadhyay have given Bengali music some of its best lyrics, both in and out of films. The Beginning: In 1896, one Mr.Stephen exhibited moving pictures in Calcutta for the first time . Among those who watched the show was Hiralal Sen. Fascinated with this bioscope, he quit studies to fall headlong into the business of moving pictures. In 1898, he formed The Royal Bioscope Company. Initially, Sen concerned himself with the exhibition of films for feudal and affluent families of Bengal. He imported fil ms from abroad to screen them in his home state. With time, he involved himself with the making of a film. But where was the camera with which to shoot? His clo se links with the Pathe Company of France which sent their own cameramen to shoo t topical pictures in India, helped him learn how to click moving pictures. Betw een 1900 and 1904, with his own ingenuously devised camera, Sen shot interesting sequences from stage-plays. These were shown as additional inserts along with the live stage shows. These included the famous dance sequence from one of the bigges t hits, Alibaba starring Nripendra Nath Bose and Kusum Kumari. In 1911, Sen film ed Delhi Durbar as a historical news-documentary. But this was banned for politi cal reasons. Jyotish Chandra Sarkar, a contemporary of Sen, could perhaps be credited with ha ving shot the first Indian news-short, all on his own. He shot the famous anti-P artition procession led by Sir Surendra Nath Banerjee in 1905 as a moving film. It was exhibited at the Corianthan Theatre between 1907 and 1908. Jyotish took u nder his wing, a young man named Debi Ghosh. Ghosh learnt the rudiments of the m ovie camera from Sarkar and shot an interesting sequence from the stage-play Bis h Briksha in 1915. This was shown alongwith the actual play at the Manmohan Thea tre in 1915. A flashback into some of these earliest shots of moving pictures in the country offers an interesting kaleidoscope of cinema as it was then defined -- cockfights, scenes from stage plays, street scenes, natural events, and so o n. Theatre audiences were fascinated with this new medium of moving pictures. Silence and Sound: The Madans of Calcutta, already in the business of film exhibition since 1904, w ith permanent cinema halls in all important cities of India, expanded their hori zons by stepping into production. Perhaps Dadasaheb Phalkes success inspired them . With foreign technicians and artistes, they began producing the first full-len gth feature film in Bengali, Bilwamangal (1918) released for public exhibition a t the Cornwallis Theatre (now Sree) a year later on November 8. It was directed by Rustomji Dotiwala. The Madans followed this with Raja Harishchandra, Mahabhar ata, Nal Damayanti and Dhruva Charitra. Since films were made by non-Bengalies t hen, they were essentially non-Bengali in character. It took another three years for Bengal to witness its very first film which was essentially Bengali in char acter though, with sound still absent, it was sans dialogue or music. Though Anadi Bose (under his own banner of the Aurora Cinema Company,) wished to become the first producer of the first full-length Bengali feature film with a Bengali cast and crew, he was raced to the winning post by Dhiren Ganguly, (D.G. ). Anadi Boses Ratnakar could not find release before August 1921. D.G., along wi th Nitish Lahiry, then-manager of M.G.M., floated a purely Bengali concern, the Indo-British Film Co. They released their first feature film, Bilet Ferat (Engla nd Returned) on 26th February, 1921, at Russa Theatre. It was directed by Lahiry with camerawork by Jyotish Chandra Sarkar. D.G. played the title role supported

by Nripen Bose and Miss Susheela Devi. This was followed with two more films fr om the same company, namely, Yasoda Nandan and Sadhu-ki-Shaitan released at the Russa Theatre in 1922. Ratnakar could be released only in August that year. A few talkie shorts marked the debut of sound in Calcutta. These were screened at the Globe Theatre under the title Phonofilms and British Talkies between 27th March, 1927 and 1st December 1928. The shows attracted record crowds. But India ns experienced the real thrill of the first synchronised sound film when Melody of Love was released at Madans Elphinstone Picture Palace on December 29, 1928 -before Alam Ara was released. Sound changed the entire character of cinema, ope ning up a world of creative, aesthetic and technical possibilities for making ci nema a more appealing, charismatic and enriching medium of mass entertainment. T he very first full-length Bengali talking film in India was Jamai Shashti, produ ced by the Madans and directed by Amar Choudhury. It was released on April 11, 1 931, within a month of the release of Ardeshir M. Iranis Alam Ara.NTs first full-l ength feature film in Bengali was Dena Paona (1931.) Once the charisma of sound per se wore off and silence made a graceful exit, Ben gali cinema reached its peak, from 1935 till 1952, with a stalemate during World War II. Some milestones of this period are -- Devdas (1935), Grihdah (1936), Mu kti (1937), Adhikar (1938) and Shaap Mukti (1939) all directed and acted in by P ramathesh Barua for New Theatres.Then, Debaki Boses Vidyapati (1937), Sapurey (19 39) and Nartaki (1940 - in Hindi and Bengali.) Other hallmarks of this period we re Phani Majumdars Saathi and Madhu Boses Ali Baba and Abhinaya which expanded the genric forms of film-making. New Theatres Udayer Pathey (1944) marked the direct orial debut of its young cameraman, Bimal Roy. Imbued with a strong social messa ge and with a slight slant to the Left, Udayer Pathey brought vitality and fresh ness to the film form. Satyen Boses Paribartan (1949) (later remade as Jagriti in Hindi), Nimai Ghoshs Chhinnamul(1950) and Kartick Chatterjees Mahaprasthaner Path ey (1952.) Each of these films explored totally unique realms in cinema, distinc t in theme, style and treatment. Bose explored the psyche of a group of boys in boarding school. Chhinnamul dwelt on the problem of the refugee, a bold and cour ageous film. Chatterjees film, a very big commercial hit, journeyed through the l ife and times of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, giving cinema a new form without dist ancing his audience from his work. The Post-Fifties Scenario: Everything changed with the discovery of Satyajit Ray and his Pather Panchali. Sud denly, an entire new world of expression opened up with this film. It led to wha t is now known as the New Wave in Indian cinema which spread, witnessing the eme rgence of directors who were unwilling to compromise with cinema purely as popul ar entertainment. We saw the rise of Mrinal Sen, Hritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha. Alongside, mainstream Bengali cinema got noticed for its moving storylines insp ired from literary works, excellent music and songs and some brilliant acting by a rising generation of actors from Asit Baran, Uttam Kumar to Soumitra Chatterj ee through Utpal Dutt, Anil Chatterjee, Vasanta Choudhury, Kali Banerjee, Madhab i Mukherjee, Sabitri Chatterjee, Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Bikash Roy, Arundhati Mukhe rjee and scores of others. Some notable films in this scenario are Chalachal dir ected by Asit Sen, Ganga directed by Rajen Tarafdar, Kicchukhhan directed by Ard hendu Mukherjee and Maa directed by Prabhat Mukherjee. Side by side came signifi cant films from Mrinal Sen with Bhuvan Shome, Calcutta 71, Chorus, Padatik, Ekdi n Pratidin, Akaaler Sandhane, Kharij, etc., Hritwik Ghatak (Meghe Dhaka Tara, Ko mal Gandhar, Subarnarekha), Tapan Sinha (Adalat O Ekti Meye, Jotugriha, Atithi, Galpo Holeo Satti, ) Arundhati Mukherjee (Chhuti, Harmonium), Tarun Majumdar (Ba lika Bodhu) Asit Sen (Deep Jele Jai) and many others. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen From the Fifties through mid-Seventies, Uttam Kumar was to Bengali cinema what A mitabh Bachchan was to the Hindi mainstream in a much later period. With this si ngle star, Bengali cinema saw the sustained commercial viability of its films, b

oth commercial and off-mainstream. Whether he was cast opposite his popular co-s tar Suchitra Sen or whether it was a rank newcomer like Anjana Bhowmick, Uttam c arried the entire burden of Bengali cinema on his strong shoulders till his unti mely death in the mid-Seventies. More than 20 years after his death, all the Ben gali heroes of the mainstream from Prasenjeet to Chiranjeet to Tapas Paul cannot together produce the charisma and the versatile performance this single man was capable of. Till this day, theatres screening films starring Uttam Kumar draw f ull houses. All Bengali channels thrive on films starring Uttam. Even Ray create d a special script with Uttam Kumar for one film, Nayak. His first film Dhristidaan was released in 1948. Some say that he made his debut as an extra in a film called Mayadore in 1947. His last film, Ogo Bodhu Sundari, loosely adapted from My Fair Lady, hit the screens in 1980. He suffered a massiv e stroke during the shooting of this film and passed away on July 24, a few days later, at the ICU of a leading nursing home in Calcutta. Over more than three d ecades, he acted in not less than 159 Bengali films, investing the characters he played with a unique charm, whether he played an old faithful servant in Khokab abur Pratyabartan based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore, or whether it w as the role of an amnesiac industrialist opposite Suchitra Sen in Harano Sur, in spired from the famous Hollwood hit Random Harvest. As he mellowed into characte r roles with age, his performance matured and his screen persona took on a new l ook, though he continued to dominate the screen in mature roles such as the comm itted doctor in Agnisnaan or the strange villain in Ayananta or Chunilal in Dili p Roys Devdas. His success lay in his total Bengali-ness for one. For another, he never ever tr ied to imitate the style or mannerism of any actor, Bengali, Indian or foreign. He treated every character he played as a Bengali first and as a character next. This made his portrayals original and inimitable. Chhobi Biswas, a great actor, delivered his English lines by imitating the English spoken by the British. The y came out distorted and unreal. Uttam Kumar delivered his English lines exactly like Bengalis speak English. Thirdly, his research and homework for every chara cter, big or small, hero or cameo, is without parallel. If he took wrestling les sons in an akhada for a few scenes in a given film, he took riding lessons for a nother till he had almost mastered riding and did not need a double. Uttam Kumar was brilliant in negative roles too. He played the villain obsessed with his love for a young woman in Ayananta. When he discovers that the woman is in love with his nave and innocent friend, he kills her. In Baghbondi Khela, Utt am Kumar as the middle-aged hero plays a debauch whose way of life makes his wif e leave him. Though he is a wealthy man, he traffics young girls from poor famil ies. The mature Uttam Kumar put in an unforgettable performance in the film. In Stree, Uttam Kumar as the villainous landlord is shocked to discover on the day of his sons wedding that he is not the father. He rides on horseback to the home of the family photographer, the real father and shoots down the already dead man . He rides back and shoots himself. In Lal Pathar, Uttam evolves from a cold-bl ooded, cruel and oppressive zamindar into a mentally deranged, doddering old man , a ghost of his former self, cared for by the woman he had kidnapped and kept i n his home, but had never married. His smashing looks were conducive to any costume, be it a three-piece suit, a dh oti-punjabi worn Bengali style, a nightgown, a naval uniform or the elaborate co stume of a Moghul emperor. He slipped under his costume and make-up and closeted himself in his make-up room, concentrating on the shot for the day, sometimes f or hours at a stretch till the spot-boy came to tell him that the camera was rea dy to roll. When Satyajit Ray directed his make-up man Ananta Das to inform Utta m Kumar that the actor would not wear any make-up for his title role in Nayak, D as was scared. When the actor sat in his make-up room on the first day, shouting out for Ananta to begin, Ray told him that there would be no make-up for him, e

xcept for a little padding on the face for the flashbacks showing the hero as a young man. Uttam Kumar was not exactly overjoyed. But after the film was comple te, he told Ray that for the first time, he could act naturally without the bagg age of make-up. Acting without make-up was a different cup of tea my facial expres sions were smooth, seamless and spontaneous, which would not have been possible under the weight of heavy paint, said the actor. Suchitra Sen made her debut in Shesh Kothai (1952). She was paired with Uttam Ku mar for the first time in Saarey Chuattar (1953), an effervescent comedy marking a breakthrough in director Nirmal Deys career. The two turned into overnight ico ns of Bengali romantic melodrama, sustaining the on-screen chemistry for more th an twenty years. It created a distinct genre unto itself. They starred in 30 fil ms, beating the Spencer Tracy-Audrey Hepburn pair hollow. When the young and bea utiful Suchitra Sen emotes a love scene with Uttam Kumar in Chaoa-Paoa, Pathey H olo Deri, Alo Amar Alo, Shaaede Chuattar, Kamallata, the electrically charged fe elings between them come across so tangibly that one can stretch ones hand to tou ch them. Their films were famous for soft-focus close ups, particularly Sens, and lavishly mounted scenes of romance against windswept expanses and richly decora ted interiors with fluttering curtains and such mnemonic objects such as bunches of tuberoses etc. Some popular films of the pair include Shap Mochan (1955), Sa garika (1956), Harano Sur (1957), Saptapadi (1961), Bipasha (1962) and Grihadah (1967). Suchitra Sen became a nationally renowned actress with a few meaningful Hindi fi lms. Two of them are Gulzars Aandhi, based on an original story by Kamleshwar and Mamta, directed by the late Asit Sen, where she portrayed the two diametrically opposite characters of the kothewalli mother of a sophisticated daughter who is a barrister. The film was the Hindi version of the original Bengali film Uttar Phalguni that turned out to be a box office hit. In Aandhi, one could see in the character she played, glimpses of the mannerisms and characteristics of Indira Gandhi. Released during the Emergency, the film created a storm within the prime ministerial office and was briefly banned briefly because Mrs. Gandhi who was t hen the PM, felt it would carry negative reflections of the PM. When this writer spoke to Kamleshwar about who his inspiration for the story really was, he had a good laugh and confessed that it was fashioned after Rani Gayatri Devi of Jaip ur and Mrs. Gandhi was nowhere in his mind when he wrote it. Suchitra Sen insist s that she did not fashion the character after Mrs. Gandhi. Her magic pairing with Uttam Kumar began with Saarey Chuattar. The film, an effe rvescent comedy was also the breakthrough film of director Nirmal Dey. They beca me icons of Bengali romantic melodramas for more than twenty years creating a di stinct genre unto themselves. Their films were famous for the soft-focus close u ps of the stars particularly Sen and lavishly mounted scenes of romance against windswept expanses and richly decorated interiors with fluttering curtains. Some popular films of the pair include Shap Mochan (1955), Sagarika (1956), Harano S ur (1957), Saptapadi (1961), Bipasha (1962) and Grihadah (1967). These films are still big audience draws whenever released or telecast on the Bengali channels. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen formed one of the most formidable romantic pairs in the history of cinema. At their best, the pair made the likes of Raj Kapoor-Nar gis, Spencer Tracy-Katherine Hepburn pale in comparison, such was the luminosity and chemistry between them on screen. Together, the Uttam-Suchitra pair heralde d the golden age of Bengali cinema. They brought spring, and a breath of fresh a ir that lasted over two decades. Suchitra Sen-Uttam Kumar became the subject of every conversation around the dinner table at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Every member of the audience would wait with bated breath for the typical climax of a Suchitra-Uttam film with the two embracing each other. Between them, the two wro te a new chapter in the history of Bengali cinema. They acted together in 30 fil ms spanning two decades. They created between them a distinct genre of romance t

hat acquired the label of the Uttam-Suchitra romance. It is a romance that has n ever known anything remotely close to this celluloid chemistry either before or after. Bengali Cinema 1990s 2009 Breaking the Shackles of Mediocrity After the Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen golden era and the intellectual impact of Sat yajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak faded away, Bengali cinema wandered for decades in the wasteland of mediocrity. Apart from the occasional film by Buddha deb Dasgupta, Aparna Sen or Gautam Ghose, mainstream cinema in Bengal continued to produce trash. Yet, many of these films were hits at the box office. Mainstre am filmmakers like Anjan Choudhury, Haranath Chakravarty, Ratan Adhikari and Swa pan Saha seemed to have invented (imported?) a magic xerox machine which could n ot only xerox Hindi commercial films, but could also relocate them in terms of l anguage, casting, dialogue and mise-en-scene. The machine did the same with Tami l films, Kannada films, Telugu films and Malayalam films, converting them into B engali duplicates and triplicates. It is still these sophisticated, upmarket mac hines which neatly converts a creative film-maker into a copyist, a translator, an interpreter, and perhaps, even an avid fan of dominant Hindi cinema. Along th e way, he strips himself of his main job direction. One cannot argue against this thriving market for mainstream Bengali films. It h as tapped a lot of creative and technical potential in the State. Cinema halls h ave received a long-overdue face-lift. Arijit Dutta, who owns Priya theatre, is also eastern Indias distributor for Columbia Tristar (Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, and Buena Vista), that brings in nearly Rs.1 crore every year. He has introduce d branding as a cult among cinema theatres in the city. First was a retailing ti e-up with Pepsi. Then Sonys World entered the frame. A Sony TV linked to a video camera in the basement shows audiences as they stream in. The hall went for a co mplete facelift with upgraded sound equipment including Dolby Digital CP500D pro cessor, reverse scanners, active crossovers with the best JBL speakers, and four subwoofers with amplifiers capable of producing a combined output of over 7500 watts. Priya now has a generator that keeps the blower systems running during su dden power-cuts. Dutta runs another theatre, the Globe, which he has taken on a profit-sharing arrangement with its absentee owners. Geetanjali, another movie t heatre built by the West Bengal Government in Bolpur, Santiniketan, was handed o ver to him to run and manage from the day of its inception a couple of years ago . In the meantime, the market for Bengali films has expanded to a 340-million-stro ng Bengali audience in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. The industry could truly flourish if films from this state have a proper distribution network . While around 60 films were released in West Bengal last year, few turned out t o hit the box office. Bangladesh in contrast, produces 100 films a year and expo rts about 25 to Malaysia, West Asia, UK and US. Co-productions between West Beng al and Bangladesh like Beder Meye Jyotsna and Judge Barrister have been major bo x office draws wherever they were released. But all this commercial success has been at the cost of culture, aesthetics and content. Just as we were beginning to mourn the death of meaningful cinema, some films that one would otherwise label off-beat such as Rituparno Ghoshs Unishe April and Dahan , Gautam Ghoshs Dekha, and Aparna Sens Paromitar Ek Din turned out to be hits at t he box office and the line between these two fragile words mainstream and off-beat a lmost disappeared. The audience lapped up Rituparno along with Swapan Saha and this was precisely the shot of adrenalin Bengali cinema needed. Prosenjit keeps calling the ahots along with the audience even today, with a rlease every other month and sometimes, a release every month and few films starring this post-Utta m star bite the dust. This went on till in mid-2001, a film called Ek Je Aachhey Kanya (The Girl) was released. The debut film of erstwhile political correspond ent of The Statesman, Subrata Sen, the film walked the tough tightrope between t

he off-mainstream film and the mainstream film. Ek Je Aachhey Kanya marked sever al firsts in Bengali cinema. It was the debut film of its producer Sandeep Sen, di rector Subrata Sen, cinematographer Shirsa Ray, production designer Sukanya Roy and Konkona Sen Sharma as the girl. Sen managed to work out a proper balance betwe en action and visual style, between technique and theme, inviting the audience t o allegorical readings on human relationships, on love, on the evolution of marr iage as an institution, on teenage crime, and on female seduction. The film turn ed out to be a big box-office success. Tapan Biswas of Cinemawala who produced Rituparnos Utsab jointly with NRI Sutapa Ghosh, opened the doors of Bengali cinema beyond Indian shores. Says Biswas, I be lieve that this is the first time Bangla films are attracting a global audience as well as funding. Utsab was screened in six cities to packed halls. Aparna Sens English film Mr.& Mrs. Iyer drew a packed hall of 700 people when it was recentl y screened at Berkeley, US. Another NRI, California-based Arya Bhattacharya, fou nded Arjoe Entertainment to enter the Bengali film industry in a big way. His fi rst commercial production Antarghat (Inner Conflict) was a flop. In 2001, he pro duced two more Bengali films. These were Subrata Sens second directorial film Swa pner Pheriwalla (The Dream Merchants) and Buddhadeb Dasguptas Mondo Meyer Upakhya n (Tale of a Naughty Girl.) Though Dasguptas film is yet to be commercially relea sed in the country, it has compensated many times over for the massive loss we in curred from Sens film which was a miserable flop, informs Bhattacharya. Mondo Meyer Upakhyan is based a short story by Prafulla Roy entitled Akasher Cha nd O Ekti Janla (The Moon in the Sky and A Window). Into this basic one-line plo t, Dasgupta has woven in, three of his own poems, Anya Graha (Another Planet), G adha (Donkey) and Beral (Cat.) This has created a new form from which a third ge nre has evolved. Transcending sharply defined frames of respectability in a worl d inhabited by outsiders, Dasgupta offers his characters a wide range of strong ac tion, assertions and decisions. Stripped of explicit show of violence, the film almost thrives on the inner violence structured into life itself, often making t he characters turn more against themselves than against each other. The characte rs refuse to remain each others sole referent and look for a world outside to be acted on, a hypothetical reality that is defined and assumed through imagination , illusion or fantasy. Arjun Chakraborty, a noted actor, says, These films are trying to highlight a sec tion of society, which was not the focal point for many years. The audience can identify with the characters on screen and that is one of the main reasons why t hese films are successful after a long, long drought. But it is not yet time to say that the films are trendsetters. It is only a positive sign and we should no t bask in this short-time glory. The glory, happily, is not as short-lived as he thought. Because, Bengali cinema is not only doing very well in commercial terms, but in terms of aesthetics and in terms of transcending the borders of state, language and country. Not very c onsciously or by design, Bengali cinema is acquiring a more cosmopolitan identit y than it ever had before also in terms of production, distribution and cast-str ucture. Aparna Sens new film Mr.& Mrs. Iyer is the best example of this cosmopolit an identity. Aparna Sen, through Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, uses the bombing of the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001, as a trigger for the film, her first ever roadmovie. She returns to English language territory more than two decades after her first directorial film, 36, Chowringhee Lane. Her script, jointly executed with Dulal Dey, takes a microcosm of India on a bus journey down the terrains of the snowcapped backdrop of some undefined region in the North as it winds its way d own to Kolkata where most of the passengers are to catch a train or other from S ealdah. Her actors are drawn across the length and breadth of the country, which goes for the characters too. This opens up the distribution network for the fil m across the world.

Eight films that made news in 2002-2003 deserve mention. They offer a microcosm in new genres straddled by veterans like Rituparno Ghosh and newcomers like Anja n Das. They span several genres, creating a couple of new ones in the process. T he good news is that only three of them flopped. Chhelebela (Childhood Days) bas ed on the boyhood of Tagore, directed by Sukanta Roy and produced by Pradip Kund alia, flopped because with the best of intentions, it was a badly made film. Raj a Sens ambitious project Desh, with Jaya Bachchan playing the lead, flopped too, though technically, it was a good film. The most unfortunate film at the box off ice was Mrinal Sens Amar Bhuvon which heralds his return to filmmaking after a hi atus of around a decade. The eight films are Saanjhbaatir Roopkathara, Shilpanta r, Chhelebela, Saathi, Desh, Amaar Bhuvon, Subho Muhurat and Patal Ghar. Saanjhbaatir Roopkathara marks the entry of sophisticated managerial skills into film production, marketing, distribution and exhibition. Taking Bengal to the wo rld is the bottom-line of SPE Films India, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company. It made a landmark venture in Indian cinema by choosing to take a Bengali produ ction, Saanjhbaatir Roopkathara, for international distribution. SPEs global oper ations cover the production and distribution of motion pictures, branching out t o include television programming and syndication, home video acquisition and dis tribution, operation of studio facilities, development of new entertainment prod ucts, services and technologies and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 c ountries. It is the telling of the story rather than the story itself that makes Saanjhbaa tir Roopkathara an exquisitely beautiful film. Every frame has been thought out with aesthetics taking priority over incidents. The story grows naturally and se amlessly through the characters and their narration rather than the other way ro und. The film is soaked with moments that are sometimes smooth, sometimes appea r with a jerk and a flash of light and one gets into grips with the core of the film light in its myriad shapes and colours. Let there be Light in love, in life, in relationships, even in betrayals and deaths, defines the core of the film. Shilpantar, based on a story by noted writer Sirsendu Mukherjee, unfolds the sad tale of Nibaran Potua who makes colour dyes at home to paint the speciality he is known for - pictures of the Devil. To sustain his market, he blends modern th emes and ancient myths evolving around the Devil. But his paintings are characte rized by a quality that reminds one of the rough truths of life. This strange ch aracter is pitted opposite another stranger one Miss K. Nandy who makes a living out of eating live chickens and snakes as part of a circus act. In other words, she is a modern-day witch. Bappaditya Bandopadhyay who directed the film, had t he guts to pick this piece to place on film. It is now earmarked for screening a t seven international film festivals across the world. The film borders on the horror genre without diluting the aesthetics of the medium. The cinematography a nd the acting by the two main actors are commendable. Saathi produced by Venkatesh films at a budget of Rs 90 lakhs has been a runaway hit, both in Calcutta and right across Bengal and the producer-duo are still co unting. Directed by masala-man Haranath Chakraborty, it introduces a new hero, J eet, who might give the jading Prasenjeet a run for his money in the near future . A take-off from a an original Hindi flop Dil Ka Kya Qasoor starring Divya Bhar ati and Prithvi, this Bengali remake has turned the tables completely on its ori ginal source. Saathi is a kind of co-production between the South and the East b ecause a lot of technical and musical inputs have come from the South while the acting, editing, direction, etc. are pure Tollywood stuff. Beginning with the bo ttom-line, love is blind, the film traverses the entire gamut of twists and turns in an interesting story. Subho Muhurat, based on an Agatha Christie thriller, marks a change in track by Rituparno Ghosh. He has made an out-and-out murder mystery attempted after a lon g time in Bengali cinema, with fly-by issues of Tollygunje politics and gossip m

aking its exciting way to a not very thrilling climax. The reasonable commercial success of the film sets a precedent for similar films to follow, Agatha Christ ie or no Agatha Christie. Patal Ghar, West Bengals first ever sci-fi film, is dir ected by an ad-film maestro, Abhijit Chaudhuri. This magical film with ghosts, e xtra-terrestrials, lovely music and an exciting storyline, throws age-old concep ts of entertainment via cinema to the winds to redefine it in every which way. T he story, adapted from Sirsendu Mukhopadhyays work, creates a fine mix of Harold Pinters Theatre of the Absurd and Satyajit Rays Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, offering a wonderful roller-coaster ride on the entertainment bogie with a flourish that is impossible to either slight or ignore. A number of films that raised a lot of promise and expectations did not fulfill the promise they made. Among them are - Subrata Sens Nil Nirjane (Vacation Blue s), a psychological exploration of lesbianism, Urmi Chakrabortys Hemanter Pakhi ( The Winter Bird), produced by NFDC, a subtle but strong statement on the margina lization of the housewife by her own family. Gautam Ghoses Abar Aranye, took off from where Satyajit Ray left off his Aranyer Din Ratri, 34 years after the origi nal was made, with Tabu in an important role. Add to this the reality of Shyam B enegal shooting for his Netaji The Last Hero, Rituparno Ghoshs celluloid represen tation of Tagores Chokher Bali (Eyesore) with Aishwarya Rai portraying the beauti ful young widow, Binodini, and the sun is shining brightly on and in the Eastern horizon. His Dosar, shot in Black-and-White, fetched Prosenjt his first long-ov erdue National Award for Best Actor. Bengali cinema in a global world The cultural identity of Bengali cinema has been changing over the years. The cu lture it produces is defined and redefined by the time, the place and the sociopolitical context in which it functions. Does Indian mainstream cinema have a cu ltural identity that is predominantly and obviously Bengali? Or, has it become r ather hybrid with influences of Bollywood pervading the screen? Do commercially motivated pressures of external values and norms threaten the Bengali-ness of Be ngali cinema? Or is it being redefined by the stimulus it receives from the Boll ywood brand of cinema? Answers to these questions are undercut by the fact that culture itself is in a constant state of flux. It is being influenced and determ ined by the changes taking place in our social, economic and political domains. Culture is not a monolith that defies change. It does not exist in a vacuum. Nor is it bound within the framework of geographical parameters that stand threaten ed by modern warfare and communicational globalization via the electronic media. Culture therefore, is "hybrid" in its sense of defiance of Western notions of w hat constitutes "Bengali Culture. It is hybrid in the way it resists academic att empts to entrap it within predetermined concepts and preconceived notions of sch olastic terminology. The cinema of Bengal, Bengali in language, spirit, culture and storyline, laid its first international milestone with Satyajit Rays Pather Panchali (1955). Shot in rural Bengal, featuring Bengali actors, the film was based on literary classic by Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay and was directed by Satyajit Ray. The film opene d a window to the world for Bengali cinema. It won the prize for the best human d ocument in Cannes the following year. Over the years, Bengali cinema that was in trinsically Bengali, be it Satyajit Rays films or Devaki Boses Sagar Sangame (1958 ) or Mrinal Sens Bhuvan Shome (1969), reached out to shape an evolving global ide ntity for Bengali cinema. But this journey began almost a decade after Independe nce. Mrinal Sens Bhuvan Shome marked an outstanding exception. It was made in Hindi, p roduced by the Film Finance Corporation and starred Utpal Dutt, a famous figure of the Bengali stage and cinema. The other two main actors were Sadhu Meher from Orissa and Suhasini Mulay, a Maharastrian actress made her debut with this film . It was a commercial success, won many awards including the Gold Medal at the V enice Film Festival.

Producers shied away from touching English for many years for fear of losing out on the audience. Ironically, no one wished to touch the language of the British since it carried the ugly stink of its 200-year colonial rule. Was it a sense o f patriotism that tinged regional cinema in Bengal for filmmakers to stick to th eir language almost with a vengeance for so many years? If this was the spirit, it changed with the accolades and awards Ray brought back home. International re cognition and international awards slowly and surely became the benchmark for a directors fame on the international map. Contemporary off-mainstream filmmakers w ere thrilled if their films got a viewing at an international festival, without much concern about their box office takings at home. The audience at home has no t seen many contemporary Bengali films that have graced the theatres of the worl d. Satyajit Rays Pikoo for example, never had a public release in India. Early Bengali producers and established a bank of quality films. Mainstream Beng ali cinema starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen appealed to the Bengali audienc e everywhere. No one labelled them trash. Bengali cinema, mainstream and off main stream, was intrinsically Bengali. The gradual downfall of Bengali mainstream ci nema is due to its duplication of the Bollywood formula minus the technical expe rtise, the production values and the marketing strategies Bollywood has. English used by a Bengali filmmaker set in Kolkata began with Aparna Sens 36, Chowringhe e Lane (1981.) Today, almost every Bengali film uses a spattering of English dia logue and some films are done completely in English. The cultural evolution in the identity of Bengali cinema is a reflection of the evolution and globalization of the Bengali identity even in Bengal. Bengali film makers, old and new, noted and not well known, are stepping into the fragile ter ritory of crossing the language barrier. The average Bengali even 20 years ago, was proud of his linguistic identity. This is no longer true if one were to take a look at contemporary films like Anjan Dutts Chalo Lets Go or Sumon Mukhopadhya ys Herbert. Anjan Dutts Bow Barracks Forever, in English, focussed on an Anglo-Ind ian pocket in Kolkata. The music was Western with Usha Uthup belting out a song on screen. English is the power language so this vests Bengali cinema with a pow er it was hitherto a stranger to. What do films like The Last Lear, Love Songs Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, , Th e Japanese Wife, and Bow Barracks Forever have in common? Filmmakers whose heart and soul are rooted in Bengali cinema have directed them. Yet, these films spea k in English. Part of the acting cast, such as Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta an d Arjun Rampal (The Last Lear) Jaya Bachchan and Om Puri (Love Songs), Rahul Bos e (Anuranan, The Japanese Wife, Kaalpurush) has been sourced from Bollywood. The re is international outsourcing too. Aparna Sen chose a Japanese actress for the title role in her new film. Budhhadeb Dasguptas The Voyeurs is a Bengali film pr oduced by Anurradha Prasads Communications with Lilette Dubey and Neha in importa nt roles. Saregama, the music house that has stepped into film production, is pr oducing Aparna Sens film. NRI Raj Basu had invested in Piyalir Password, shot ent irely in the US. Films are being shot across the world from London through Tokyo to the US and Darjeeling, the Sunderbans and the streets and bylanes of Kolkata . Bengali cinema has broken out of its regional straitjacket to carve a global ide ntity. Does this mean that Bengali cinema as a cultural perpetuator of language and literature is on its way out? Not if one takes a closer look at contemporary mainstream cinema. The Mithun factor offers another dimension to the changing t rends in Bengali cinema. Pushing sixty, he is giving the two top stars in the in dustry, namely Prosenjeet and Jeet, a run for their money. This man has proved i s turning out extremely diverse portrayals in films as different as Minister Pha takeshto and Kaal Purush. Every commercial film of his is a box office grosser. His off-mainstream performances underscore his fluidity as an actor par excellen ce. Tulkalam had house full signs at all the 47 theatres it was screened in. Mit

hun has gifted Bengali cinema with a genre not one of his predecessors could the genre of the action film and the credo of the crusader hero. Buddhadeb Dasgupt as Kaal Purush, has thrown up more faces of this versatile actor who stepped into films sans the qualities needed to become a marquee star - voice, class, film background, looks and screen presence. Some mainstream films are direct but very bad plagiarisation of Hindi films. Two recent examples are Prem and Aloye Phera. Prem is a very bad version of Baaziga r. Aloye Phera is almost a frame-to-frame copy of Shakti Samantas Anuraag. Bengal is are best when they explore original stories or fall back on rich literary sou rces. For original, one has Anuranan, a debut film by advertising man Aniruddha Roy Choudhury, who has made his presence felt with this delicate celluloid essay on man-woman relationships. For literature, one could cite Anjan Das Jara Brisht itey Bhijechhilo, part of a long poem by Joy Goswami. For middle-of-the-road cin ema, Prabhat Roys Pitribhoomi, based on a Prafulla Roy story, shows how mainstrea m can produce wholesome family entertainment. Pinaki Choudhurys Ballygunge Court, a moving account of loneliness and old age, is adapted from Deepshikha, a story by Bani Bosu. Aparna Sens The Japanese Wife is the celluloid interpretation of K unal Basus new novel. Music in Bengali cinema has transcended the regional to step into global and ric h fusion music. With the copyright on Tagore having gone for good, music directo rs are generously dipping into Tagore songs for their film projects with excelle nt results. Anjan Dutta on the other hand, has brought in band music, old Englis h songs and fusion music in a big way in Bong Connection and Bow Barracks Foreve r, Madly Bangalee and 033. Birsa Dasgupta has chosen a strikingly unusual subjec t in 033. We saw a film about youngsters trying to build a Bangla band in Anjan Dutts Madly Bangalee. Birsa has exploited the scope his choice offers him mainly in terms of form and technique because than the storyline does not really offer much in terms of originality, diversity or variety. He has used the tools of hi s trade camera, lighting, sound effects, production design, music, lyrics and th e characterizations to add flesh and blood to a cinematic experiment that is as unique as it is amazing. Santiagos home-cum-music shop is choc-a-bloc with huge p osters of the Beatles. Even a door of this room has the words The Fab Four painted across in bright red. The other music celebrity who finds place here is Pink Fl oyd. He plays on exotic blowing instruments like the Piccolo Flout, wears long s ideburns to complement a glossy red shirt with floral prints. Is he for real, on e wonders. The lighting in his room is like the lights of a discotheque bright a nd sharp reds, blues and greens where some areas are completely dark and the oth ers are lit in primary colours. His aquarium as it unfolds has no fish, only me morabilia. The absence of talented newcomers is a lacuna. Sanghamitra Choudhury spoilt what ever little promise she made with her first-released-second film Raatporir Roopk atha when her first Chakra, released after the former. Rajaa Mukherjees Bidhataar Lekha was nothing to write home about. Hrishitaa Bhatts Bengali debut in the fil m was a debacle but Priyangshu Chatterjee as the villain did strike an impressiv e note. Vivek Trivedi and Debashree in Prem would first need to shed weight and then take acting lessons. Newcomers Clayton Rodgers and Sohini Pal in Bow Barrac ks Forever hold great promise while among directors Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury who broke into the feature film scenario with Anuranan and bagged several National A wards for his second film Antaheen has a good future ahead. Nilesh Sharma with A amra made a promising debut, with Moinak Biswas debuting as director. Conclusion The lights are bright, the cameras are busy, there is plenty of action in Tollyg unje, and quality is not the casualty. Tollygunje studios, despite the obvious o dds, have been churning out top-drawer stuff for the past two years. Bengali cin ema today, is no longer the cinema of mystification duplicated several times ove r. Nor is it surplus value cinema, which underestimates the intelligence of its

audience and overestimates its gullibility. It could ich is slowly evolving a pan-Indian identity, if one m pan-Indian. It is a cinema that has finally come of its moral dependence on Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen *****************************

also be termed a cinema, wh widens the scope of the ter into its own, stripping itself and Satyajit Ray.