A Discourse on Bollywood and the influence of Bengali Cinema

Today Indian movies are celebrated all over the world. Some of the recent
releases like Dhoom 3, RA One, Krishh, My Name is Khan have been
worthy of such adulation as well. However, it was not very long ago that
our movies were mostly monotonic.
Until the 1990s our movies were predominantly single-themed and the
characters based on the fantastic. We had a clear definition for a
commercial movie - 5/6 fights, 6/7 songs (at least a couple of them should
have the protagonists dancing around trees), a hero and a heroine. The
hero would mostly be a policeman or a college student; in some cases he
would be a gangster but only due to extraordinary social torture or bad
luck and definitely with a moral fibre of the highest calibre (and
possibly even with a special agenda). The commonality between all these
characters were that underneath they were all good guys. They were also
exempt from the menial tasks that lesser mortals have to perform on an
everyday basis.
Movies during those times were unmistakably separated into commercial and
art films. Movies like Pushpak, Sadma, Mili, Anand and Amar Prem
were breaths of fresh air winning applause from massive audiences.
However, the presence of superstars like Amitabh Bachhan and Rajesh Khanna
could have been a factor behind the success of such movies. In general,
though, art films were not always so lucky and typically catered to
selective audiences. Great films like Amanush and Shatranj ke Khilari
had few takers. These movies were received like analog phones in a digital
world. Furthermore, these films dealt with subjects that the general
populace may have found difficult to fathom.
Another steady current in Indian cinema has always been social and
political interference in films. There is just cause to carefully
deliberate on such attempts to influence the course of a film. For
example, the film Aandhi was banned for supposedly depicting former
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in a way that promoted displeasure in the
ranks of the then Congress government. In another example, some political
parties had been quite vocal against the Vidya Balan starrer The Dirty
Picture alleging that the film was conveying wrong messages to the
youth. Though only two films are mentioned here, there are countless other
such examples scattered throughout the history of Bollywood.
Coming back on track, Baazigar was the first Indian movie to break the
shackles. The main protagonist was a negative character maybe with a few
shades of white. First time ever, the Indian cinemagoer was perplexed.
They were torn between their willingness to help a wronged man and their
distaste of his actions. The feelings the film brought out in its audience
was awe inspiring. This was probably the first time a movie challenged
conventions with a strong storyline and great narration. One may argue
that Darr was released before Baazigar but then Darr simply
portrayed Shah Rukh Khan as the villain. It should be noted that it was in
the 90s that cinema acting truly started to shake off the overlays of
theatre.
Another doubt in the choice of Baazigar could be that Khalnayak,
starring Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit was released before
Baazigar. However, Khalnayak really did not break any shackles. It
failed to do what Baazigar did. Sanjay Dutt changed over from the dark
side and the film ultimately had very clear definitions of black and white
with no space for grey. Baazigar was essentially the story of a
psychologically disturbed man and challenged the audiences sense of
judgement and social responsibility.
However, even Baazigar was not enough to induce other filmmakers to
venture out into the wild. Till 2000, film makers still had success
formulas worked out and they stuck to these. Zakhm starring Ajay Devgan,
however, was a grand exception. This was a movie about a son fighting
against social norms to respect his mothers last wish. This was a bold
movie that was also relatively successful. However, it was not until 2000
that Bollywood saw a complete makeover.
The first film in this respect could have been the Amir Khan starrer
Ghulam. However, like its predecessors it too failed to step beyond the
fantastic. As the millennium turned directors started making movies with
unconventional plots. Some of the movies that deserve special mention
are Raaz, Aankhe, Kante, Jhankar Beats, Pyar Ke Side Effects,
Laagan, Three Idiots, Rang De Basanti, Swadesh, Fashion, Page
3, My Name is Khan, Company, Raincoat, A Wednesday and so on.
Laagan even went on to win a nomination at the Oscar Awards in the
best foreign film category.
Heroes were no longer afraid of doing different roles. And thus we have
seen a major superstar spend a whole movie in a wheel chair (Guzaarish).
We have also seen heroes spending time with escorts or portraying
handicapped people. The shackles were truly broken.
Yet some other restraints remained. Tragic or otherwise bad endings were
typically avoided like the plague even if it meant turning the finale
unrealistic. The first film in a long time to break that trend was the
recently released Dhoom 3. The climax showed both brothers falling off
the Hoovers Dam contrasting an implausible culmination.
However, even with these incredible improvements the industry is not
devoid of its negatives. For example, though the protagonists in our
movies have slowly started coming out of their twenties and into their
thirties, it is still uncouth for the hero to be in his late forties or
older, excepting Mr. Amitabh Bachhan. Also, fight sequences have become
even more unbelievable and the one-man-can-beat-ten mode has to be
really left behind.
Anyhow, another improvement the industry has been showing in recent years
is that of women centric movies. The first such movie in recent times was
the 2001 Lajja with a substantial ensemble cast. However, the greatest
success in this direction probably is the Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia
starrer Dor directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. However even these amazing
films were not enough for the trend to catch on this still is a niche
market as yesteryears art films. Two Vidya Balan starrers The Dirty
Picture and Kahaani have taken the trend forward but the country is
yet to see more movies in this category.
In this context, Bengali cinema was ahead of Bollywood through the work of
the recently deceased Rituporno Ghosh. His 1994 release Unishe April,
1997 release Dahan and 2000 release Bariwali were earlier than even
Lajja. All three films tackled women centric topics in a manner much
more mature than Lajja.
Special mention has to be made of Shubho Mahurat, again a Bengali film
directed by Rituporno Ghosh. This film was adaptation of Agatha Christies
story The Mirror Crackd from Side to Side featuring Miss Marple. Miss
Marples adaptation was portrayed by Rakhi Gulzar while Sharmila Tagore
portrayed a version of actress Marina Gregg. The film also featured
Nandita Das as a journalist covering the murders. It was a gripping movie
with an obviously strong plot that came alive with Rituporno Ghoshs
narration. The speciality of this movie was that it had all major
characters as women. This might have been the first time that every
character of importance in a movie was a woman. While the credit for the
plot definitely goes to Agatha Christie, Rituporno Ghosh takes recognition
for the bold experiment.
As an extension to the above, it should be mentioned that Bengali cinema
till the 90s had no action or Bollywood style dancing to speak of. The
success of movies depended only on a good plot and good narration. The
congregate of Bengali directors led by the legendary Satyajit Ray came out
with one gem after the other over the years. And many of these movies were
remade in Bollywood. Splendid examples of such remake are Chupke Chupke
and Amar Prem.
Two Bengali movies that deserve mention for influencing directors for
decades. One is Meghe Dhaka Tara (Star covered by Clouds) by Ritwik
Ghatak of which David Dhawan has famously said, it showed me that movies
can be made about nothing. The other movie is Satyajit Rays Agantuk
(The Stranger) which had Dipankar De, Mamata Shankar and Utpal Dutta
portraying major characters. These two movies are also representative of
Bengals art and commercial cinema at their height.
Bengali cinemas proudest moment most likely was when its most illustrious
son Satyajit Ray was awarded the Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1992
while Ray was on his deathbed. An interesting phase of Rays life is his
conflict with legendary Hollywood director Steven Spielberg in the 80s.
Ray claimed that Spielbergs movie E.T. was actually an appropriation of
Rays work. Incidentally, Ray had spent a lot of time in Hollywood in the
70s trying to make a movie on aliens.
Anyhow, Bengals influence on Bollywood has also been a factor in the
development of Bollywood at least till the 90s and then after 2000s.
Prominent directors and actors from Bengal divided their time between
Kolkata and Mumbai. Some of the personalities who shaped both cinemas are
the Ganguly brothers Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar (Abhash Kumar
Ganguly), Devika Rani (also famous for her discovery of Dilip Kumar),
Dhritiman Chatterjee, Raakhee Gulzar (nee Majumdar), Mithun Chakrovarty,
Jaya Bachhan (nee Bhaduri), Sharmila Tagore, Basu Bhattacharya, Basu
Chatterjee, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Utpal Dutta, S.D. Burman,
R.D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury (famous for Anand), Shakti Samanta and so
on.
Any average film goer is involuntarily aware of Kishore Kumars
contribution to Indian cinema. Along with Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh,
Kishore gave us some of the evergreen numbers that are sung in every nook
and corner even today. The same can be said of both S.D. and R.D. Burman
(also known as Panchamda).
Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ritwik Ghatak, Shakti Samanta and Basu Chatterjee
are probably filmmakers who were most important Bengalis in the history of
Bollywood. Between them they gave Bollywood numerous marvellous films
which include Chitchor, Baton Baton Mein, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla,
Mili, Anand, Bawarchi, Kati Patang, Amar Prem and so on. They
made films typically outside the action genre, possibly a carryover from
Bengali cinema, and gave Bollywood some of the films to be proud of. It
should be noted here that Ritwik Ghata did a short stint at Film and
Television Institute of India in Pune during 1996 and influenced a lot of
great future filmmakers like John Abraham (the director, not the actor).
Satyajit Rays direct contribution to Bollywood, on the other hand was
minimal. Despite being a great director and even travelling as far as
Hollywood, Ray never made Bollywood movies except Shatranj Ke Khilari.
The reason is not very clear. Perhaps as he once said, he found it easiest
and most expressive to work in his mother tongue. But Shatranj ke
Khilari dealing with Lucknow during Wajid Ali Shahs rule is a truly
marvellous movie. Nonetheless, Rays greatest contribution to Indian
cinema was perhaps to show how to integrate location details in the
narration to paint a more complete picture and thus draw the audience in.
Another director who contributed immensely to Bollywood was Mrinal Sen.
Mrinal sen was essentially an art house film director who gifted India
movies like Mrigaya and Bhuvan Shome. Mrinal Sen has been studied by
Indian filmmakers for decades and his choice of subject matter, style of
cinematography and ease of narration has been later incorporated by many
Bollywood directors. As a side note, it was Mrigaya that won Mithun
Chakravorty the first of his three National Awards.
One director who had in recent times made a huge impact on both Bengali
cinema and Bollywood was Rituporno Ghosh. As Ray died and Mrinal Sen aged
the sun of Bengali cinema started to wane only to find a new champion in
the young Rituporno Ghosh. By the end 90s and early 2000s he had already
made amazing films like Dahan, Unishe April, Bariwali and Titli.
However, it was Shubho Mahurat that finally had Ghosh burst into public
consciousness. A few short months later Ghosh came out with the superbly
narrated Chokher Bali based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore of the
same name and starring Aishwariya Rai and Prosenjit Chatterjee. This film
marked his entry formally into Bollywood and also marked him as a director
with an amazing amount of talent. He lifted Bengali cinema out of its
darkest period almost single handed. And at the same time Rituporno also
gave Bollywood excellent movies like Raincoat and The Last Lear.
Another director who started making amazing films in the early 2000s was
former actress Aparna Sen. Her film Mr. And Mrs. Iyer starring Konkona
Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose was by all means a landmark film. Her next film
15 Park Avenue again won accolades and even the National Award. However,
Aparna Sens work has unfortunately been somewhat sporadic in the past.
As a last note, it is not only directors and actors from Bengal who have
contributed to Indian cinema but also authors. For example, Parineeta
the 2005 film starring Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan was
based on a novel of the same name by Sarath Chandra Chatterjee. He was
again the author of Devdas which has been made twice in Hindi starring
Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. Rabindranath Tagores novels like Chokher
Bali and Noukadubi have been used for Bollywood movies and television
serials as well.
Overall, the future of Bollywood looks bright. Constraints are being
broken everyday and brave and young professionals are forcing the industry
to experiment with new formulas. It is becoming increasingly rare to
find two Bollywood movies with even similar stories. Bollywood is no more
afraid to make films on the handicapped or on the youth who wants to live
his/her own life. And it is slowly losing its fear of depicting women on a
much broader canvass with immensely more vibrant colours. This article
ends by wishing Indian cinema the very best for the future.