All part of a colourful concoction

On the face of it, Bengali cinema would appear to be going places. Regardless of the mixed reactions to Rajkahini, the director claims the credit for being offered a Hindi version that will mark his debut in Bollywood with Vidya Balan as Begum Jaan. Another director announces that the rights of Bela Sheshey have been picked up in the south where the film is likely to be remade because someone was overwhelmed by the idea of the film that had resulted in a major box office success on home ground. Yet another director, who has not been doing so well in his recent films, takes pride in the fact that he has joined Shoojit Sarkar and Sujoy Ghosh in getting Amitabh Bachchan to act in his film. And now there are reports of how Tollygunge stars were flown to the USA to join what was proudly announced as the first international awards ceremony for Bengali films.

This is not to mention the films that are now shot on locations from Pattaya to the Amazon forests, from Italy to Iceland and from Austria to America. Producers are more liberal with budgets than ever before. Directors and actors couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Does all this reflect the true health of the industry? Some directors would appear to be taken seriously and are in a position to dictate terms. Or else it would be unthinkable that Kamaleswar Mukherjee, with all his enterprise and skills, would be writing a script that would take the Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay hero on another adventure — this time to South America. Chander Pahar was a major success though it was not clear how the limited market could support the budget that should, by any calculation, go up in the sequel. The last film by Kaushik Ganguly, Cinemawala, came a cropper despite the awards it had gathered and his earlier offering, Vastushap, wasn’t more inspiring on either critical or commercial considerations. He can still be pleased that he can do a film like Dhumketu with a popular star on a snowy location.

There are quite a few such extraordinary experiences to confirm that new age Bengali cinema has been given more freedom to grow than ever before.

While all this creates a sense of wellbeing that expresses itself in success parties and bizarre concepts like “first looks” and poster launches, there are persistent doubts about how much of the industry is covered by the positive impression. Does it cover only a small minority while the rest that constitutes a large section of the 100 and more films made every year must be satisfied with a token presence in theatres with no one knowing how they will recover even a fraction of the money spent on them? What is to be said of films like Niyoti, Saheb Bibi Golam, Rater Rajanigandha, Postmaster, Chorabali, Beproyaa and many more? Not that potboilers like Power, Hero 420 and Ki Korey Tokey Bolbo are doing much better with their gangsterism or song-and-dance rituals. The overall scenario is such that all options are being explored.

If Jeet is considered a popular face with the masses on the big screen, he needs to play the Big Boss in a Bengali version of a popular reality show. If Prasenjit takes pride in being part of the production house of Shankhachil and emerging with one of his most sensitive performances, he cannot ignore the mediocre thrills of looking back on the golden years of Bengali cinema in Mahanayak for television that involves a pathetic attempt to recreate a few ageless icons. It is all about opportunities that are not to be missed because blurred reputations are compensated by the rewards.

This is the climate that gives rise to the idea of “international awards” for Bengali films that are not to be confused with recognitions at film festivals. They are decided by unknown people and are part of the colourful concoction of the Banga Sammelan in the USA. The annual carnival is organised by enterprising individuals and covers the community that laps up the imported attractions of music, food, textiles, theatre, recitations and, now, fi