Continued from Never Have I Made the Same Kind of Film: An Interview With Tapan Sinha (Part-I)<\/a><\/span><\/strong> Robi Basu<\/strong>: After Kalamati<\/em><\/strong> you began filming Khoniker Athiti<\/em><\/strong> (Guest of a few moments) didn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: Yes. This was the first film where I was working on my own story. Before this I had only worked with published literature. Only in three or four of my twenty-nine films have I used my own stories; all the others are by established writers. Khoniker Athiti<\/em><\/strong>, however, does not have my name as the writer. I had given the name of Nirmalendu Sengupta. The theme contained certain traces of a foreign story.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Have you ever written stories or novels? Or poems?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: Never. I<\/p>\n Basanta Chowdhury & Moonmoon Sen in Baidurya Rahasya have the courage. Even the stories that I\u2019ve used for my films were directly written as scripts.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Khoniker Athiti <\/em><\/strong>was a favourite film of mine. The audience also received it very well, didn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: Yes, it was hugely appreciated by the masses. My personal opinion is that the Bengali audience is the best audience in the world. Their devotion to literature, their love for films, music, and theatre is perhaps unparalleled by any other peoples of the world.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Then why do some say that the quality of viewership in our country is steadily declining? They fail to respond to noble ideals?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: That\u2019s not true. We provide the viewers with bad material, and that is why they see it. I wonder if you can really provide me with an instance when the audience has summarily rejected a good movie. But if you cheat them in the name of art and ideology, then they are bound to reject it. That they rejected my Baidurya Rahashya <\/em><\/strong>(Mystery of the Electric Gem<\/em>) did not really grieve me overmuch, I wouldn\u2019t have respected them if they did otherwise.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Khoniker Athiti<\/em><\/strong>, and nearly all of your films are intensely poetic in their appeal. What is the source of such a poetic sensibility?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: The source is Rabindranath. One who has been immersed in the sea of his poems and his songs will inevitably be poetic in his creations. After seeing Khoniker Athiti <\/em><\/strong>Hemanta Mukherjee [Hemant Kumar] in order to make the background score had been of the same opinion. He was the music director of the film. He told me that the entire film was poetry in motion; he would only use Rabindra sangeet in the background.\u00a0 The song that he used as the central theme was \u201cPathe jete dekechile more\u201d <\/em>\u00a0(You called me to travel down the path). Surprisingly, that was also the first song that Arundhati Devi had recorded for H.M.V. Only I didn’t know it!<\/p>\n Baidurya Rahsya – 1985<\/p><\/div>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: What was your next project?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: After Khoniker Athiti <\/em><\/strong>I was wondering about what kind of film to make next. Many producers were approaching me with their ideas when suddenly one day, a gentleman called me up from the Grand Hotel. Over the telephone I got to know that his name was Hemen Ganguly and he wanted to make a film with me. He invited me to meet him at the hotel if I approved of his choice of story\u2026and the story was Rabindranath\u2019s Khudito<\/em><\/strong> Pashan<\/em><\/strong> (The Hungry Stones). The very mention of the name created a flood-like ripple in my heart. While putting down the phone I managed to mutter somehow that I was coming immediately.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: The film bears evidence to your dexterous handling of the topic. Did you have to work very hard for it?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: The labour I put in was mental rather than physical. Khudito Pashan<\/em><\/strong> [This brilliant short story of Rabindranath was later adapted in celluloid by Gulzar as Lekin featuring Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia & Hema Malini]<\/em><\/span> was one of the best stories by Rabindranath. I spent many a sleepless night. This was the first time I framed my script according to the demands of the graph of the sets. The imaginary picture of the house was already there in my mind. My friend & colleague, Satyajit Ray helped me greatly by suggesting the use of Fatehpuri latticework. During those days the directors were respectful of each other\u2019s works\u2026we never hesitated to lend a helping hand.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: The film required expensive sets, it was also shot outdoors; the final expenditure must have been quite stiff?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: I don\u2019t exactly remember the cost. If Hemen babu<\/em> were alive he might have been able to answer your question. Haripriya Pal and Dhiren babu<\/em>, owners of cinema houses like Minar and Bijoli had paid in advance twenty five percent of the budget amount. By this time I had been able to create goodwill for myself, which ensured that distributors were willing to advance their money in my films.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Arundhati Devi and Soumitra babu<\/em> had excelled themselves in the film. Besides this Radhamohan babu\u2019s<\/em> acting and Bimal Mukherjee\u2019s photography made the film unforgettable.<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: Yes, Radhamohan babu<\/em> displayed an immense aptitude for adaptability. He worked tirelessly to get into the skin of the character. Days on end he used to visit the Islamia College to be trained in Arabic and Farsi. And Bimal babu<\/em> had created a surprisingly effective mood-lighting for the film\u2026his death has been an irreparable loss for me. We used to share an excellent understanding. Baidurya Rahashya<\/em><\/strong>, for instance, was a failure, yet even in this film Bimal babu\u2019s<\/em> photography was a pleasure to watch.<\/p>\n Robi Basu<\/strong>: Did Khudito Pashan <\/em><\/strong>receive any awards?<\/p>\n Tapan Sinha<\/strong>: It received the National Award for the second best film. It also won an award in the Ireland Cork Festival in 1960. I\u2019d have been happier if Ali Akbar Khan was awarded for his music\u2026 his music score in the film was praise worthy.<\/p>\n Kaise Kate Rajani<\/strong> (Pratima Banerjee & Ustad Amir Khan in Khudito Pashan<\/em>)<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019d Never Allow My Mind To Gather The Moss Of Stagnation: An Interview With Tapan Sinha (Part-II)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Basanta](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/11\/Basanta-Chowdhury-Moonmoon-Sen-in-BAIDURYA-RAHASYA.jpg\")
Pic: COPYRIGHT PROTECTED<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Baidurya](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/11\/13.BAIDURYA-RAHSYA-19851-682x1024.jpg\")