Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary falls on May 9.Tagore tales on talkiesThe works of Rabindranath Tagore have always fascinated filmmakers, asthese are universal — in time, space, emotions and humanrelationships, writes Shoma A. ChatterjiCredit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting and metaphoricaluse of Tagore’s songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in Meghe Dhaka TaraRabindranath Tagore’s writings bring up images of lyricism andromance. Many filmmakers feel that the horizon of a Tagore creation —be it poetry, fiction, essay or drama — is too large,all-encompassing, complex and alien to Indian masses, conditioned to‘popular’ literary figures like Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and BankimChandra Chattopadhyay. Their creations, it is felt, are morecinema-friendly. The 14 remakes of Devdas in different Indianlanguages is an example.The homespun philosophy of Sarat Chandra and the romantic spirit ofBankim Chandra had more appeal than the non-conformist and feministthemes, which Tagore dealt with. Yet, Tagore has been recognised as arich literary source for very good cinema. Satyajit Ray’s films basedon Tagore’s works offer the best example. In 1961, Ray made Teen Kanya(Three Daughters), on three Tagore short stories — Postmaster,Monihara and Samapti. The other Tagore works he filmed are Charulataand Ghare Baire.Tagore’s works are universal — in time, space, emotions and humanrelationships. They offer filmmakers a challenge to make the film aspowerful, credible and appealing on celluloid as it is in print. Afilm based on, adapted from, interpreted from Tagore’s oeuvre offersscope for argument, discussion, analysis, debate and questions amongthe audience, critics and scholars. A massive volume of scholarlytreatises came out after Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, leading to a newgenre — writing on films based on Tagore’s works.Charulata (1964) is based on Nastaneer (The Broken Nest, 1901).Charulata, the film, and Nastaneer, the story, is set in 1879, whenthe renaissance in Bengal was at its peak. Western thoughts of freedomand individuality were about to ruffle the calm feathers of a feudalsociety. Women’s liberation was being talked about, but not beyond fewcases of widow-remarriage and some education. Intelligent, sensitive,graceful and serene, Charu was a traditional woman, whose mindsetslowly and steadily absorbed waves from the world beyond.Charulata is the most critically discussed among Tagore’s worksadapted by Satyajit RayCharulata is the most hotly debated, variedly interpreted, widelydiscussed and critically questioned among Satyajit Ray’s films. Mostof these debates are around Ray’s fidelity to the Tagore original.Tagore and his works are too sacrosanct for a filmmaker to interpretotherwise was the general feeling. Ray responded to attacks on hisalleged distortion of the original through his article CharulataPrasange in the collection of articles, (Bengali) Bishay Chalachitra.In Chokher Bali, Rituparno Ghosh adapts the many worlds of Tagore sothat it reflects our past filtered into our present. Ghoshconcentrated on sound design to bring about the message of thepolitical uprising in Bengal, happening at the same time, as thedisruption of Mahendra’s marriage inside the home.The rising crescendo of "Vande Mataram" filtering into the home, thesound of the horse carriage moving away to suggest Mahendra takingBinodini to the doctor, a thumri floating across the River Ganga inBenaras, the chanting of holy Sanskrit mantras to ease the death of anold widow on the banks, offer a fourth dimension to the narrative andcinematographic space at the same time. These worlds play around withintertextuality, elements of the post-modern in cinema. Yet, they donot take away from Ghosh, the originality and the uniqueness of hisindividual style.Another filmmaker Tapan Sinha remained fiercely loyal in his renderingof Tagore’s works into cinema. Yet, he did introduce his directorialsignature in these films. In Kabuliwalla, he introduced animaginative, pre-titles prologue. For around 10 minutes, a panoramicview of the arid, rough, hilly terrain of the Afghanistan landscapecomes up, with a slowly moving line of camels in silhouette — the onlysign of life. The soundtrack is alive with the earthy music ofAfghanistan.This establishes the time-place-culture setting of Rahmat, theKabuliwalla, throwing up subtle and strong images of his relationshipwith his daughter, Rabeya. As the camera shifts from the dry terrainand the camels in silhouette to the railway tracks, suggestingRahmat’s journey to Calcutta, the titles begin to come up.Tapan Sinha made four films based on Tagore’s works. These areKabuliwalla, Khsudita Pashan, Atithi and Kadambini. In KhsuditaPashan, he used dreams and fantasy to heighten the intrigue of theromance not there in Tagore’s story. In other films, he used Tagore’ssongs generously and to good effect. In Daughters of the Century,Sinha chose Tagore’s Living or Dead (1904).Kadambini, a young widow, is taken to be dead. Before she is cremated,a storm stops the rituals and people run away leaving the ‘corpse’.When she comes home, the family disowns her, taking her to be her ownghost. Unable to make them believe that she is alive, she drownsherself in the family pond, creating one of the best last lines ofBengali literature — "Kadambini died to prove she did not die."In Chaturanga (2008), Suman Mukhopadhyay remains loyal to the originalstory. The cinematic innovations are dictated by change in the mediumfrom word to celluloid, enriching, rather than distorting the film asit moves from one philosophical idea to the next, expressed throughthe wild wanderings of Sachish, the eternal questioner, who finds notruth in the greys that lie between the black and the white of life.The novel is divided into four chapters named after the four maincharacters — Jathamoshai, Sachish, Damini and Sribilash.Tagore’s novel is a first person, point-of-view narration ofSribilash, who is more an observer and a commentator than a character.Mukhopadhyay cut out the voice-over to convert Sribilash into a majorcharacter. The opening frame shows Sachish sitting on a beach, hisback to the camera, while a group of white-robed Sufi singers wanderacross the landscape.The closing frame shows a confused Sachish, watching the Sufi singersperform their devotional song, the burnt embers of the fire they hadmade lying on one side of the beach. The narrative returns to thebeach again and again, like a metaphor on the continuity of life — anddeath.Filmmakers have generously drawn upon Tagore’s music, songs, poetry inBengal. Hindi cinema has had few interpretations and cinematicadaptations of Tagore. Examples are Kabuliwalla produced by Bimal Royand Char Adhyay by Kumar Shahani.Bimal Roy’s Sujata used scene from Tagore’s dance-drama based on alegendary Buddhist tale Chandalika to draw parallels with the story ofan untouchable girl. Sujata used the original tune of a Tagore songfor another song, picturised on Sunil Dutt. Musical adaptations fromTagore were prolific in the 1950s and 1960s in Hindi films. Composerslike S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay were stronglyinspired by Tagore’s songs and often used his original music in theircompositions.In Bicharak, based on a Tarasankar Bandopadhyay novel, Tapan Sinhaused a Tagore song as a leitmotif to express the feelings of guiltthat keep haunting the hero, a judge, since the death of his wife in afire. Credit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting andmetaphorical use of Tagore’s songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in MegheDhaka Tara and Komal Gandhar. He turned the romance and lyricism,linked to Tagore’s musical compositions, on its head and changed it tofit into the dark, exploitative and oppressive ambience of Nita’s life— and death — in Meghe Dhaka Tara, complementing the songs withpowerful visual frames and a brilliant sound design.Lines from a Tagore poem inspired Rituparno Ghosh’s Asookh. Ghosh alsoused Tagore’s songs and poetry in Utsab. He inserted a dramatisedscene from Chokher Bali, the novel, into the screenplay of Bariwalli.Tarun Majumdar’s fine sensibilities come across through Tagore’s songsin his films. In Nimantran, Majumdar used Tagore’s poem, "NirjharerSwapno Bhango", recited without vocal inflections by the hero. InBalika Bodhu, the resident tutor, an old man, keeps to himself andplays a patriotic Tagore song on his violin. Later, when the policecomes to arrest him, we discover that he was a terrorist. Thesignificance of the song then comes across.Some of the films made on Tagore’s works are — Naukadubi, Shubha ODebotar Grash, Steer Patra, Chhuti, Malancha, Malyadaaan, Jogajog,Chirokumar Sabha, Chhelebela, Bouthakuranir Haat, and Nishithe.Purnendu Patrea’s Streer Patra played around with animation in thegraphic titles, still photographs in the closing shots. But he stuckto the original story. The result was confusing. Chhuti defined amoving, subtle treatment of a tragic love story directed by ArundhatiDevi.Functioning in an ambience of illiteracy and a diversity of languages,Indian cinema has evolved into a major medium of communication tobring Tagore to the masses. The process works backwards wheresub-titled films adapted from a Tagore original could inspire viewersto read the literary original after having watched the film. When anIndian publishing house brought out an English translation of ChokherBali almost simultaneously with the release of the film, the book wasa sell-out. Though the film failed to repeat the magic.Tagore’s films as a genre effectively blend words with visuals yetsustain the independence of the original literary work, as well as theindependence of the film that has an identity of its own. When adirector chooses Tagore, he offers an alternative world-view that ishis interpretation of a Tagore creation. In Nastaneer, in the originalstory, Bhupati departs in the end, leaving Charu to her grief andbewilderment. Ray brings them together in Charulata to live forever ina state of suspended animation. Ray’s story is as daring today asTagore’s was when it was first written. Yet, there is no element ofshock, for the process of life comes out silently.Creative geniusIn stature, stride and sweep, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is anall-round creative genius the likes of which have seldom been seen, ifat all, in any country. The Tagore’s roots were affluent,distinguished, in many ways exclusive, if not alienated. Hisgrandfather, Dwarkanath, who built the family fortune, was known as"Prince" and counted among friends, people as far removed as RajaRammohan Roy and Queen Victoria. His father, ‘Maharshi’ (The greatsage) Devendranath, was a man inclined to spiritualism. He broke awayfrom orthodox Hindu ways and joined the Brahmo Samaj. Rabindranath,the 14th and his last child, was born on May 7, 1861, in the ancestralmansion of the Tagore’s at Jorasanko in central Calcutta."Chokher Bali is timeless""It was the delicate interplay of relationships that touched me. Thestory offered a vast matrix of relationships, which, I, as director,could play around with in a myriad different ways. Chokher Bali struckme as a very original text to begin with. It deals with unfaithfulnessin the man-woman relationship within the institution of marriage.Maybe, if you pick on this lack of faith, you may find that one commonlink between Chokher Bali and Bariwali. The ‘period’ flavour, I couldinvest the film with, was another attraction. Tagore’s original storydid not have any time-reference. The characters seem to be hanging inlimbo. The film offered me the chance of preparing the ‘period’ forthe film. In Shatranj Ke Khilari, Ray created the historical contextfor the film turning the ‘period’ into a ‘character.’ He did the samefor Ghare Baire and Charulata. I have done the same in this film"Direct interactionRituparno GhoshTagore’s Natir Pooja’s dramatised version was first staged at theJorsanko Thakurbari in Kolkata in 1927. It was again staged at the NewEmpire, Kolkata, on celebration of the poet’s 70th birthday. Animpressed B.N. Sircar, founder-proprietor of New Theatres, invitedTagore to direct a film version under the New Theatres banner. The NewTheatres Studio played host to Tagore in 1931. The studio was floodedwith crowds assembled to have a glimpse of the great poet. Tagoredirected the film, shot on NT Studio’s Floor Number One. He alsoplayed a role and assembled his acting cast from Santiniketan. NitinBose cinematographed the film and Subodh Mitra edited it. The film wasshot within four days. Breaking the conventional rules of cinema,Natir Pooja was filmed like a stage play. The story was inspired by atale from the Buddhist series in Abadan Shatak. It was released atChitra Talkies on March 14, 1932. Sadly, the prints of the film werereportedly destroyed in a fire at the New Theatres. — SACSunday, September 19, 2010RABINDRANATH TAGORE AND CINEMAAbhishek SahaPoetry, novel, drama, dance-drama and several other forms of creationand expression which are incorporated in Tagore’s massive body ofwork, are well known and well read. But, his works were not expressedin celluloid in his lifetime. The interesting point is that however,in the post-Tagore period his works became the raw material for anumber of great films through the hands of some of the most brilliantfilmmakers of the country. Tagore had said that the flow of imagesconstitute cinema. This flow he wrote should be used so that it cancommunicate with the help of words. Tagore has left an indelibleimprint on the psyche of the Indian ‘serious movie’ audience, helpedalong by ace directors. His stories were endowed with naturalcinematic potential because they were rich in visual metaphor anddramatic intensity. In Tagore’s huge canvas he experimented with andanalysed his fictional characters to bring out their identity and thecomplex social circumstances and relationships they were entangled in.As the world celebrates Tagore’s hundred and fiftieth birthanniversary this year, let’s peep into this part of his work.Satyajit Ray made three Tagore short stories into movies namely-“Charulata” (the lonely wife), “Teen Kanya” and “Ghare Baire”.“Charulata” released in 1964 was based on Tagore’s short story‘Noshtonir’. It captures the conflict between freedom, conventions andthe intellectual awakening of the 19th and 20th century youth. Thestory takes place in 1879, at a time when Bengal Renaissance isclimbing towards its peak; western thoughts of freedom andindividuality are ruffling the age old calm of a feudal society.Madhabi Mukherjee plays the role of Charu and Amal her husband isplayed by Ray’s favourite Soumitra Chatterjee. It is the story of anupper middle class housewife who was trapped in the constraints of hercircumstances. It stunted her creative growth and as a mean to escapethis impending doom she befriended her husband’s cousin Amal in whomshe sought her personal freedom and redemption, but unknowingly theirsweet relationship gave away to complicated sexual love. On one handthere is Charu’s strive for finding her own identity and freedom andon the other there is Amal’s ego and his youthful narcissism. WhenAmal’s ego is satisfied he flees into a marriage in a distant city onhearing about which Charu breaks down. The last scene of the Tagoreshort story finds Charu’s husband departing, without consoling her.But Satyajit Ray opts for a more realistic and compassionate ending ofbringing this troubled couple together.Another of Ray’s iconic movies was ‘Teen Kanya’ based on three ofTagore’s short stories. The year 1961 marked the birth-centenary ofRabindranath Tagore. Ray celebrated it with a long documentary titled“Rabindranath Tagore” and he also made Teen Kanya. It comprises ofthree stories- Monihara, Postmaster and Samapti. Monihara is the storyof an affluent young wife’s obsession with jewellery. It had KanikaMajumdar as the jewel crazy wife. Postmaster explores the relationshipbetween a servant girl played by Chandana Bannerjee and the villagepostmaster. Even have Satyajit Ray changes the ending of the story. Inthe original short story the little girl begs the postmaster to takeher with him and he refuses. In the film, Ray prefers to use thewordless expressive power of the cinema and enhances the girl’semotional maturity by making her run away from him in her woundedpride. ‘Samapti’ is the third story in the film. The theme is of arebellious young girl who refuses to give up her tomboy life butmatures after marriage is forced on her. The story dwells on howMrinmoyee, played by Aparna Sen, transforms herself into a grown upand adjusts to that life. The film was ‘Ghare Baire’ which has astriking resemblance in the plot with ‘Charulata’ as far as the questfor emancipation of women is considered. Ray explored Tagore’s saga ofa lonely elite Bengali woman Bimala’s journey to the world outside theconfines of her palace with a new panache and a subtle allusion to thecomplex physical love. Starring Victor Bannerjee, Swatilekha andSoumitra, this movie was released to a critical acclaim in 1984, andstands tall in Ray’s body of work, with its deep characters andcomplex emotional conflicts.These are the Satyajit Ray films made out of Tagore stories. Severalother established Bengali filmmakers have also crafted out brilliantmovies with plots based on Tagore’s stories and novels. Tapan Sinha,made three of Tagore’s stories into films- ‘Atithi’, ‘Kabuliwala’ and‘The Hungry Stones’ (Khudito Pashan). ‘Atithi’ was released in 1965and is the story of a young Brahmin boy and his longing for freedom.‘Kabuliwala’ got its plot from the famous story of the same title andTagore visualised an entire 19th century Bengali society under theveneer of a simple friendship between the little girl and theKabuliwala. ‘Hungry Stones’ was released in 1960. Tagore’s mostacclaimed lyrical novel ‘Sesher Kobita’ was improvised as acontemporary fictional drama in young filmmaker Subrajit Mitra’s ‘MonAmour’ an Indo French production in 2008. To mark this hundred andfiftieth birth anniversary of Tagore, internationally acclaimedfilmmaker Rituporno Ghosh has announced the release of his next film‘Noukadubi’ based on a Tagore short story.Tagore was a master of his art and his works go into the depths ofemotions, characterisation and plot and this body of work is obviouslyan ocean of thoughts of raw material for anyone in the creative field,and there is no end to the extent to which he can be explored andexplained and re-explained.16th KFF: Rabindranath Tagore on CelluloidMonday, November 15, 2010Shoma A. Chatterji, TWF, Bollywood Trade EditorialIn celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore,the 16th KFF has created a special section of Bengali films based onTagore's creative works covering short stories, novels and poetry aswell.Few today are aware that Tagore himself directed a feature film basedon his Natir Pooja and acted in this film and composed the music. Thiswas his first and last direct involvement with cinema.Tagore’s Natir Pooja’s dramatized version was first staged at theJorsanko Thakurbari in Kolkata in 1927. It was again staged at theNew Empire, Kolkata in celebration of the poet’s 70th birthday.An impressed B.N. Sircar, founder-proprietor of New Theatres, invitedTagore to direct a film version under the New Theatres banner. The NewTheatres Studio played host to Tagore in 1931.The studio was flooded with crowds assembled to have a glimpse of thegreat poet. It was shot on NT Studio’s Floor Number One. He assembledhis acting cast from Santi Niketan...Nitin Bose cinematographed the film and Subodh Mitra edited it. Shotwithin four days, it broke the conventional rules of cinema and wasfilmed like a stage play. The story was inspired by a Buddhist talefrom Abadan Shatak.After editing, the footage was 10,577 feet. It was released at ChitraTalkies on 14th March 1932. Sadly, the prints of the film werereportedly destroyed in a fire at the New Theatres. It is said to havebeen restored recently for public exhibition.The films being screened in this section of the 16th K FF are STREERPATRA (Purnendu Pattrea), CHARULATA (Satyajit Ray), ATITHI (TapanSinha) and KHOKABABUR PRATYABARTAN (Agradoot.) Another film, ARGHYAbased on some poems of Tagore, is being screened in the Tribute toDebaki Kumar Basu section. Tapan Sinha made four films based onTagore’s works.These are KABULIWALLA, KHSUDITA PASHAN, ATITHI and KADAMBINI.Filmmakers have generously drawn upon Tagore’s music, songs, poetry inBengal. Hindi cinema has had few interpretations and cinematicadaptations of Tagore.The credit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting andmetaphorical use of Tagore songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in MEGHE DHAKATARA and KOMAL GANDHAR. Among the most popular films based on Tagore’sworks is NAUKADUBI made three times between 1932 (silent) and 1979 bydifferent directors.The significance of the song comes across. Some of the films made onTagore’s works are – NAUKADUBI. SHUBHA O DEBOTAR GRASH, STEER PATRA,CHHUTI, MALANCHA, MALYADAAAN, JOGAJOG, CHIROKUMAR SABHA, CHHELEBELA,BOUTHAKURANIR HAAT, and NISHITHE.Purnendu Patrea’s STREER PATRA played around with animation in thegraphic titles, still photographs in the closing shots. But he stuckto the original story. The result was confusing.Satyajit Ray made five films based on Tagore’s works. He picked threeTagore short stories as a tribute to Tagore’s centenary (1961) calledTEEN KANYA.These were POSTMASTER, MONIHARA and SAMAPTI. The other two areCHARULATA, based on Tagore’s Nastaneer (Broken Nest) and GHARE-BAIRE,based on the novel of the same name (The Home and the World.) Tagore’sworks are universal in terms of time, space, emotions and humanrelationships.The universal language of cinema makes it possible to render a Tagoreliterary piece for the consumption of an international audienceideally through the medium of film.The 16th KFF has put up a wonderful exhibition of film stills,posters, manuscript pages in Tagore's handwriting, photographs ofTagore and Ray at the Nandan foyer leading to Nandan II.The exhibition has been conceived and curetted by documentaryfilmmaker and researcher Arun Kumar Roy.Tagore classics on the big screenSatyajit Ray once famously said: “Rabindranath Tagore's works are achallenge for any director to film, as their literary values areeternal.” Tagorean literature has inspired many filmmakers in Hindiand Bengali to take them to celluloid. Yet, only a handful of themhave succeeded. On the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, we presentfive trend-setting films based on his works.ZalzalaTagore's Four Chapters inspired renowned German documentary filmmakerPaul Zils to make a feature film on the novel. He prepared a script inHindi, and sought the help of B.R. Chopra, the then editor of CineHerald for the cast. Dev Anand and Geeta Bali were signed for theleads, along with Kishore Sahu for a profound parallel character.‘Zalzala' had a brilliant score by maestro Pankaj Mullick. Though itflopped, ‘Zalzala' was a brilliant effort in filming Four Chapters.KabuliwalaA gifted director, Hemen Gupta was passing through a lean phase in hiscareer when Bimal Roy signed him to direct ‘Kabuliwala', based onTagore's immortal short story. Hemen Gupta opted for Balraj Sahni, wholooked a Kabuliwala, due to his Lahore upbringing. Balraj Sahnirecommended Jayant for the central character. But, both Bimal Roy andHemen Gupta insisted Balraj Sahni play it. In one of his memorableperformances, Balraj Sahni proved he was more convincing as theKabuliwala than Chhabi Biswas, the Bengali icon in Tapan Sinha'sBengali version of the film. The film had haunting melodies by SalilChowdhury — ‘Ganga Aye Kahan Se' and ‘Aye Mere Pyare Watan'. The filmwas an average success.Khudito PashanThis Tapan Sinha classic of 1960, in Bengali starring SoumitraChatterjee and Arundhati Sinha, was ‘Hungry Stones' in English. TapanSinha was at his altruistic best in ‘Khudito Pashan' with a tautscreenplay that had sketches of Fatehpur Sikri by Satyajit Ray. Hecreated the haunting mystery of the theme with subtlety andexcellence, backed by soft natural lighting. Soumitra Chatterjee andArundhuti Sinha performed with rare excellence, and the backgroundscore by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan was its asset. ‘Khudito Pashan' won aNational Award in 1960.Teen KanyaThe inimitable Satyajit Ray's first tryst with Tagore stories in 1961.He adopted three short stories of the maestro, Postmaster, Maniharaand Samapti for filming. Ray's accurate scripting, casting andediting, along with Dulal Dutta, supported by theinternationally-acclaimed Subrata Mitra's cinematography, made ‘TeenKanya' both a viewer's and critic's delight. Ray started composing forhis own films since ‘Teen Kanya.'CharulataThis is Ray's technically most-perfect film based on Tagore'sNashtanir, in 1964. Though rejected at Cannes, it won accolades thesame year at Berlin. It was Madhabi Mukherjee's most memorableperformance, inspiring Richard Burton to term her “an actress whohaunts”. Kishore Kumar rendered his first Tagore melody sansinstrumental support.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
CINEMA & TAGORE
Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary falls on May 9.Tagore tales on talkiesThe works of Rabindranath Tagore have always fascinated filmmakers, asthese are universal — in time, space, emotions and humanrelationships, writes Shoma A. ChatterjiCredit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting and metaphoricaluse of Tagore’s songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in Meghe Dhaka TaraRabindranath Tagore’s writings bring up images of lyricism andromance. Many filmmakers feel that the horizon of a Tagore creation —be it poetry, fiction, essay or drama — is too large,all-encompassing, complex and alien to Indian masses, conditioned to‘popular’ literary figures like Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and BankimChandra Chattopadhyay. Their creations, it is felt, are morecinema-friendly. The 14 remakes of Devdas in different Indianlanguages is an example.The homespun philosophy of Sarat Chandra and the romantic spirit ofBankim Chandra had more appeal than the non-conformist and feministthemes, which Tagore dealt with. Yet, Tagore has been recognised as arich literary source for very good cinema. Satyajit Ray’s films basedon Tagore’s works offer the best example. In 1961, Ray made Teen Kanya(Three Daughters), on three Tagore short stories — Postmaster,Monihara and Samapti. The other Tagore works he filmed are Charulataand Ghare Baire.Tagore’s works are universal — in time, space, emotions and humanrelationships. They offer filmmakers a challenge to make the film aspowerful, credible and appealing on celluloid as it is in print. Afilm based on, adapted from, interpreted from Tagore’s oeuvre offersscope for argument, discussion, analysis, debate and questions amongthe audience, critics and scholars. A massive volume of scholarlytreatises came out after Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, leading to a newgenre — writing on films based on Tagore’s works.Charulata (1964) is based on Nastaneer (The Broken Nest, 1901).Charulata, the film, and Nastaneer, the story, is set in 1879, whenthe renaissance in Bengal was at its peak. Western thoughts of freedomand individuality were about to ruffle the calm feathers of a feudalsociety. Women’s liberation was being talked about, but not beyond fewcases of widow-remarriage and some education. Intelligent, sensitive,graceful and serene, Charu was a traditional woman, whose mindsetslowly and steadily absorbed waves from the world beyond.Charulata is the most critically discussed among Tagore’s worksadapted by Satyajit RayCharulata is the most hotly debated, variedly interpreted, widelydiscussed and critically questioned among Satyajit Ray’s films. Mostof these debates are around Ray’s fidelity to the Tagore original.Tagore and his works are too sacrosanct for a filmmaker to interpretotherwise was the general feeling. Ray responded to attacks on hisalleged distortion of the original through his article CharulataPrasange in the collection of articles, (Bengali) Bishay Chalachitra.In Chokher Bali, Rituparno Ghosh adapts the many worlds of Tagore sothat it reflects our past filtered into our present. Ghoshconcentrated on sound design to bring about the message of thepolitical uprising in Bengal, happening at the same time, as thedisruption of Mahendra’s marriage inside the home.The rising crescendo of "Vande Mataram" filtering into the home, thesound of the horse carriage moving away to suggest Mahendra takingBinodini to the doctor, a thumri floating across the River Ganga inBenaras, the chanting of holy Sanskrit mantras to ease the death of anold widow on the banks, offer a fourth dimension to the narrative andcinematographic space at the same time. These worlds play around withintertextuality, elements of the post-modern in cinema. Yet, they donot take away from Ghosh, the originality and the uniqueness of hisindividual style.Another filmmaker Tapan Sinha remained fiercely loyal in his renderingof Tagore’s works into cinema. Yet, he did introduce his directorialsignature in these films. In Kabuliwalla, he introduced animaginative, pre-titles prologue. For around 10 minutes, a panoramicview of the arid, rough, hilly terrain of the Afghanistan landscapecomes up, with a slowly moving line of camels in silhouette — the onlysign of life. The soundtrack is alive with the earthy music ofAfghanistan.This establishes the time-place-culture setting of Rahmat, theKabuliwalla, throwing up subtle and strong images of his relationshipwith his daughter, Rabeya. As the camera shifts from the dry terrainand the camels in silhouette to the railway tracks, suggestingRahmat’s journey to Calcutta, the titles begin to come up.Tapan Sinha made four films based on Tagore’s works. These areKabuliwalla, Khsudita Pashan, Atithi and Kadambini. In KhsuditaPashan, he used dreams and fantasy to heighten the intrigue of theromance not there in Tagore’s story. In other films, he used Tagore’ssongs generously and to good effect. In Daughters of the Century,Sinha chose Tagore’s Living or Dead (1904).Kadambini, a young widow, is taken to be dead. Before she is cremated,a storm stops the rituals and people run away leaving the ‘corpse’.When she comes home, the family disowns her, taking her to be her ownghost. Unable to make them believe that she is alive, she drownsherself in the family pond, creating one of the best last lines ofBengali literature — "Kadambini died to prove she did not die."In Chaturanga (2008), Suman Mukhopadhyay remains loyal to the originalstory. The cinematic innovations are dictated by change in the mediumfrom word to celluloid, enriching, rather than distorting the film asit moves from one philosophical idea to the next, expressed throughthe wild wanderings of Sachish, the eternal questioner, who finds notruth in the greys that lie between the black and the white of life.The novel is divided into four chapters named after the four maincharacters — Jathamoshai, Sachish, Damini and Sribilash.Tagore’s novel is a first person, point-of-view narration ofSribilash, who is more an observer and a commentator than a character.Mukhopadhyay cut out the voice-over to convert Sribilash into a majorcharacter. The opening frame shows Sachish sitting on a beach, hisback to the camera, while a group of white-robed Sufi singers wanderacross the landscape.The closing frame shows a confused Sachish, watching the Sufi singersperform their devotional song, the burnt embers of the fire they hadmade lying on one side of the beach. The narrative returns to thebeach again and again, like a metaphor on the continuity of life — anddeath.Filmmakers have generously drawn upon Tagore’s music, songs, poetry inBengal. Hindi cinema has had few interpretations and cinematicadaptations of Tagore. Examples are Kabuliwalla produced by Bimal Royand Char Adhyay by Kumar Shahani.Bimal Roy’s Sujata used scene from Tagore’s dance-drama based on alegendary Buddhist tale Chandalika to draw parallels with the story ofan untouchable girl. Sujata used the original tune of a Tagore songfor another song, picturised on Sunil Dutt. Musical adaptations fromTagore were prolific in the 1950s and 1960s in Hindi films. Composerslike S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay were stronglyinspired by Tagore’s songs and often used his original music in theircompositions.In Bicharak, based on a Tarasankar Bandopadhyay novel, Tapan Sinhaused a Tagore song as a leitmotif to express the feelings of guiltthat keep haunting the hero, a judge, since the death of his wife in afire. Credit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting andmetaphorical use of Tagore’s songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in MegheDhaka Tara and Komal Gandhar. He turned the romance and lyricism,linked to Tagore’s musical compositions, on its head and changed it tofit into the dark, exploitative and oppressive ambience of Nita’s life— and death — in Meghe Dhaka Tara, complementing the songs withpowerful visual frames and a brilliant sound design.Lines from a Tagore poem inspired Rituparno Ghosh’s Asookh. Ghosh alsoused Tagore’s songs and poetry in Utsab. He inserted a dramatisedscene from Chokher Bali, the novel, into the screenplay of Bariwalli.Tarun Majumdar’s fine sensibilities come across through Tagore’s songsin his films. In Nimantran, Majumdar used Tagore’s poem, "NirjharerSwapno Bhango", recited without vocal inflections by the hero. InBalika Bodhu, the resident tutor, an old man, keeps to himself andplays a patriotic Tagore song on his violin. Later, when the policecomes to arrest him, we discover that he was a terrorist. Thesignificance of the song then comes across.Some of the films made on Tagore’s works are — Naukadubi, Shubha ODebotar Grash, Steer Patra, Chhuti, Malancha, Malyadaaan, Jogajog,Chirokumar Sabha, Chhelebela, Bouthakuranir Haat, and Nishithe.Purnendu Patrea’s Streer Patra played around with animation in thegraphic titles, still photographs in the closing shots. But he stuckto the original story. The result was confusing. Chhuti defined amoving, subtle treatment of a tragic love story directed by ArundhatiDevi.Functioning in an ambience of illiteracy and a diversity of languages,Indian cinema has evolved into a major medium of communication tobring Tagore to the masses. The process works backwards wheresub-titled films adapted from a Tagore original could inspire viewersto read the literary original after having watched the film. When anIndian publishing house brought out an English translation of ChokherBali almost simultaneously with the release of the film, the book wasa sell-out. Though the film failed to repeat the magic.Tagore’s films as a genre effectively blend words with visuals yetsustain the independence of the original literary work, as well as theindependence of the film that has an identity of its own. When adirector chooses Tagore, he offers an alternative world-view that ishis interpretation of a Tagore creation. In Nastaneer, in the originalstory, Bhupati departs in the end, leaving Charu to her grief andbewilderment. Ray brings them together in Charulata to live forever ina state of suspended animation. Ray’s story is as daring today asTagore’s was when it was first written. Yet, there is no element ofshock, for the process of life comes out silently.Creative geniusIn stature, stride and sweep, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is anall-round creative genius the likes of which have seldom been seen, ifat all, in any country. The Tagore’s roots were affluent,distinguished, in many ways exclusive, if not alienated. Hisgrandfather, Dwarkanath, who built the family fortune, was known as"Prince" and counted among friends, people as far removed as RajaRammohan Roy and Queen Victoria. His father, ‘Maharshi’ (The greatsage) Devendranath, was a man inclined to spiritualism. He broke awayfrom orthodox Hindu ways and joined the Brahmo Samaj. Rabindranath,the 14th and his last child, was born on May 7, 1861, in the ancestralmansion of the Tagore’s at Jorasanko in central Calcutta."Chokher Bali is timeless""It was the delicate interplay of relationships that touched me. Thestory offered a vast matrix of relationships, which, I, as director,could play around with in a myriad different ways. Chokher Bali struckme as a very original text to begin with. It deals with unfaithfulnessin the man-woman relationship within the institution of marriage.Maybe, if you pick on this lack of faith, you may find that one commonlink between Chokher Bali and Bariwali. The ‘period’ flavour, I couldinvest the film with, was another attraction. Tagore’s original storydid not have any time-reference. The characters seem to be hanging inlimbo. The film offered me the chance of preparing the ‘period’ forthe film. In Shatranj Ke Khilari, Ray created the historical contextfor the film turning the ‘period’ into a ‘character.’ He did the samefor Ghare Baire and Charulata. I have done the same in this film"Direct interactionRituparno GhoshTagore’s Natir Pooja’s dramatised version was first staged at theJorsanko Thakurbari in Kolkata in 1927. It was again staged at the NewEmpire, Kolkata, on celebration of the poet’s 70th birthday. Animpressed B.N. Sircar, founder-proprietor of New Theatres, invitedTagore to direct a film version under the New Theatres banner. The NewTheatres Studio played host to Tagore in 1931. The studio was floodedwith crowds assembled to have a glimpse of the great poet. Tagoredirected the film, shot on NT Studio’s Floor Number One. He alsoplayed a role and assembled his acting cast from Santiniketan. NitinBose cinematographed the film and Subodh Mitra edited it. The film wasshot within four days. Breaking the conventional rules of cinema,Natir Pooja was filmed like a stage play. The story was inspired by atale from the Buddhist series in Abadan Shatak. It was released atChitra Talkies on March 14, 1932. Sadly, the prints of the film werereportedly destroyed in a fire at the New Theatres. — SACSunday, September 19, 2010RABINDRANATH TAGORE AND CINEMAAbhishek SahaPoetry, novel, drama, dance-drama and several other forms of creationand expression which are incorporated in Tagore’s massive body ofwork, are well known and well read. But, his works were not expressedin celluloid in his lifetime. The interesting point is that however,in the post-Tagore period his works became the raw material for anumber of great films through the hands of some of the most brilliantfilmmakers of the country. Tagore had said that the flow of imagesconstitute cinema. This flow he wrote should be used so that it cancommunicate with the help of words. Tagore has left an indelibleimprint on the psyche of the Indian ‘serious movie’ audience, helpedalong by ace directors. His stories were endowed with naturalcinematic potential because they were rich in visual metaphor anddramatic intensity. In Tagore’s huge canvas he experimented with andanalysed his fictional characters to bring out their identity and thecomplex social circumstances and relationships they were entangled in.As the world celebrates Tagore’s hundred and fiftieth birthanniversary this year, let’s peep into this part of his work.Satyajit Ray made three Tagore short stories into movies namely-“Charulata” (the lonely wife), “Teen Kanya” and “Ghare Baire”.“Charulata” released in 1964 was based on Tagore’s short story‘Noshtonir’. It captures the conflict between freedom, conventions andthe intellectual awakening of the 19th and 20th century youth. Thestory takes place in 1879, at a time when Bengal Renaissance isclimbing towards its peak; western thoughts of freedom andindividuality are ruffling the age old calm of a feudal society.Madhabi Mukherjee plays the role of Charu and Amal her husband isplayed by Ray’s favourite Soumitra Chatterjee. It is the story of anupper middle class housewife who was trapped in the constraints of hercircumstances. It stunted her creative growth and as a mean to escapethis impending doom she befriended her husband’s cousin Amal in whomshe sought her personal freedom and redemption, but unknowingly theirsweet relationship gave away to complicated sexual love. On one handthere is Charu’s strive for finding her own identity and freedom andon the other there is Amal’s ego and his youthful narcissism. WhenAmal’s ego is satisfied he flees into a marriage in a distant city onhearing about which Charu breaks down. The last scene of the Tagoreshort story finds Charu’s husband departing, without consoling her.But Satyajit Ray opts for a more realistic and compassionate ending ofbringing this troubled couple together.Another of Ray’s iconic movies was ‘Teen Kanya’ based on three ofTagore’s short stories. The year 1961 marked the birth-centenary ofRabindranath Tagore. Ray celebrated it with a long documentary titled“Rabindranath Tagore” and he also made Teen Kanya. It comprises ofthree stories- Monihara, Postmaster and Samapti. Monihara is the storyof an affluent young wife’s obsession with jewellery. It had KanikaMajumdar as the jewel crazy wife. Postmaster explores the relationshipbetween a servant girl played by Chandana Bannerjee and the villagepostmaster. Even have Satyajit Ray changes the ending of the story. Inthe original short story the little girl begs the postmaster to takeher with him and he refuses. In the film, Ray prefers to use thewordless expressive power of the cinema and enhances the girl’semotional maturity by making her run away from him in her woundedpride. ‘Samapti’ is the third story in the film. The theme is of arebellious young girl who refuses to give up her tomboy life butmatures after marriage is forced on her. The story dwells on howMrinmoyee, played by Aparna Sen, transforms herself into a grown upand adjusts to that life. The film was ‘Ghare Baire’ which has astriking resemblance in the plot with ‘Charulata’ as far as the questfor emancipation of women is considered. Ray explored Tagore’s saga ofa lonely elite Bengali woman Bimala’s journey to the world outside theconfines of her palace with a new panache and a subtle allusion to thecomplex physical love. Starring Victor Bannerjee, Swatilekha andSoumitra, this movie was released to a critical acclaim in 1984, andstands tall in Ray’s body of work, with its deep characters andcomplex emotional conflicts.These are the Satyajit Ray films made out of Tagore stories. Severalother established Bengali filmmakers have also crafted out brilliantmovies with plots based on Tagore’s stories and novels. Tapan Sinha,made three of Tagore’s stories into films- ‘Atithi’, ‘Kabuliwala’ and‘The Hungry Stones’ (Khudito Pashan). ‘Atithi’ was released in 1965and is the story of a young Brahmin boy and his longing for freedom.‘Kabuliwala’ got its plot from the famous story of the same title andTagore visualised an entire 19th century Bengali society under theveneer of a simple friendship between the little girl and theKabuliwala. ‘Hungry Stones’ was released in 1960. Tagore’s mostacclaimed lyrical novel ‘Sesher Kobita’ was improvised as acontemporary fictional drama in young filmmaker Subrajit Mitra’s ‘MonAmour’ an Indo French production in 2008. To mark this hundred andfiftieth birth anniversary of Tagore, internationally acclaimedfilmmaker Rituporno Ghosh has announced the release of his next film‘Noukadubi’ based on a Tagore short story.Tagore was a master of his art and his works go into the depths ofemotions, characterisation and plot and this body of work is obviouslyan ocean of thoughts of raw material for anyone in the creative field,and there is no end to the extent to which he can be explored andexplained and re-explained.16th KFF: Rabindranath Tagore on CelluloidMonday, November 15, 2010Shoma A. Chatterji, TWF, Bollywood Trade EditorialIn celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore,the 16th KFF has created a special section of Bengali films based onTagore's creative works covering short stories, novels and poetry aswell.Few today are aware that Tagore himself directed a feature film basedon his Natir Pooja and acted in this film and composed the music. Thiswas his first and last direct involvement with cinema.Tagore’s Natir Pooja’s dramatized version was first staged at theJorsanko Thakurbari in Kolkata in 1927. It was again staged at theNew Empire, Kolkata in celebration of the poet’s 70th birthday.An impressed B.N. Sircar, founder-proprietor of New Theatres, invitedTagore to direct a film version under the New Theatres banner. The NewTheatres Studio played host to Tagore in 1931.The studio was flooded with crowds assembled to have a glimpse of thegreat poet. It was shot on NT Studio’s Floor Number One. He assembledhis acting cast from Santi Niketan...Nitin Bose cinematographed the film and Subodh Mitra edited it. Shotwithin four days, it broke the conventional rules of cinema and wasfilmed like a stage play. The story was inspired by a Buddhist talefrom Abadan Shatak.After editing, the footage was 10,577 feet. It was released at ChitraTalkies on 14th March 1932. Sadly, the prints of the film werereportedly destroyed in a fire at the New Theatres. It is said to havebeen restored recently for public exhibition.The films being screened in this section of the 16th K FF are STREERPATRA (Purnendu Pattrea), CHARULATA (Satyajit Ray), ATITHI (TapanSinha) and KHOKABABUR PRATYABARTAN (Agradoot.) Another film, ARGHYAbased on some poems of Tagore, is being screened in the Tribute toDebaki Kumar Basu section. Tapan Sinha made four films based onTagore’s works.These are KABULIWALLA, KHSUDITA PASHAN, ATITHI and KADAMBINI.Filmmakers have generously drawn upon Tagore’s music, songs, poetry inBengal. Hindi cinema has had few interpretations and cinematicadaptations of Tagore.The credit for the most brilliant cinematic, hard-hitting andmetaphorical use of Tagore songs goes to Ritwik Ghatak in MEGHE DHAKATARA and KOMAL GANDHAR. Among the most popular films based on Tagore’sworks is NAUKADUBI made three times between 1932 (silent) and 1979 bydifferent directors.The significance of the song comes across. Some of the films made onTagore’s works are – NAUKADUBI. SHUBHA O DEBOTAR GRASH, STEER PATRA,CHHUTI, MALANCHA, MALYADAAAN, JOGAJOG, CHIROKUMAR SABHA, CHHELEBELA,BOUTHAKURANIR HAAT, and NISHITHE.Purnendu Patrea’s STREER PATRA played around with animation in thegraphic titles, still photographs in the closing shots. But he stuckto the original story. The result was confusing.Satyajit Ray made five films based on Tagore’s works. He picked threeTagore short stories as a tribute to Tagore’s centenary (1961) calledTEEN KANYA.These were POSTMASTER, MONIHARA and SAMAPTI. The other two areCHARULATA, based on Tagore’s Nastaneer (Broken Nest) and GHARE-BAIRE,based on the novel of the same name (The Home and the World.) Tagore’sworks are universal in terms of time, space, emotions and humanrelationships.The universal language of cinema makes it possible to render a Tagoreliterary piece for the consumption of an international audienceideally through the medium of film.The 16th KFF has put up a wonderful exhibition of film stills,posters, manuscript pages in Tagore's handwriting, photographs ofTagore and Ray at the Nandan foyer leading to Nandan II.The exhibition has been conceived and curetted by documentaryfilmmaker and researcher Arun Kumar Roy.Tagore classics on the big screenSatyajit Ray once famously said: “Rabindranath Tagore's works are achallenge for any director to film, as their literary values areeternal.” Tagorean literature has inspired many filmmakers in Hindiand Bengali to take them to celluloid. Yet, only a handful of themhave succeeded. On the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, we presentfive trend-setting films based on his works.ZalzalaTagore's Four Chapters inspired renowned German documentary filmmakerPaul Zils to make a feature film on the novel. He prepared a script inHindi, and sought the help of B.R. Chopra, the then editor of CineHerald for the cast. Dev Anand and Geeta Bali were signed for theleads, along with Kishore Sahu for a profound parallel character.‘Zalzala' had a brilliant score by maestro Pankaj Mullick. Though itflopped, ‘Zalzala' was a brilliant effort in filming Four Chapters.KabuliwalaA gifted director, Hemen Gupta was passing through a lean phase in hiscareer when Bimal Roy signed him to direct ‘Kabuliwala', based onTagore's immortal short story. Hemen Gupta opted for Balraj Sahni, wholooked a Kabuliwala, due to his Lahore upbringing. Balraj Sahnirecommended Jayant for the central character. But, both Bimal Roy andHemen Gupta insisted Balraj Sahni play it. In one of his memorableperformances, Balraj Sahni proved he was more convincing as theKabuliwala than Chhabi Biswas, the Bengali icon in Tapan Sinha'sBengali version of the film. The film had haunting melodies by SalilChowdhury — ‘Ganga Aye Kahan Se' and ‘Aye Mere Pyare Watan'. The filmwas an average success.Khudito PashanThis Tapan Sinha classic of 1960, in Bengali starring SoumitraChatterjee and Arundhati Sinha, was ‘Hungry Stones' in English. TapanSinha was at his altruistic best in ‘Khudito Pashan' with a tautscreenplay that had sketches of Fatehpur Sikri by Satyajit Ray. Hecreated the haunting mystery of the theme with subtlety andexcellence, backed by soft natural lighting. Soumitra Chatterjee andArundhuti Sinha performed with rare excellence, and the backgroundscore by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan was its asset. ‘Khudito Pashan' won aNational Award in 1960.Teen KanyaThe inimitable Satyajit Ray's first tryst with Tagore stories in 1961.He adopted three short stories of the maestro, Postmaster, Maniharaand Samapti for filming. Ray's accurate scripting, casting andediting, along with Dulal Dutta, supported by theinternationally-acclaimed Subrata Mitra's cinematography, made ‘TeenKanya' both a viewer's and critic's delight. Ray started composing forhis own films since ‘Teen Kanya.'CharulataThis is Ray's technically most-perfect film based on Tagore'sNashtanir, in 1964. Though rejected at Cannes, it won accolades thesame year at Berlin. It was Madhabi Mukherjee's most memorableperformance, inspiring Richard Burton to term her “an actress whohaunts”. Kishore Kumar rendered his first Tagore melody sansinstrumental support.
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