{"id":1730,"date":"2015-05-14T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T00:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=1730"},"modified":"2023-12-12T17:47:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:17:39","slug":"mrinal-sen-films-where-morality-counts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/mrinal-sen-films-where-morality-counts\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Morality Counts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mrinal

Mrinal Sen<\/p><\/div>\n

The least memorable of Mrinal Sen\u2019s films is his first, Ratbhor <\/em>(1956), largely because it no longer exists. I\u2019ve never met anyone who has seen it, and even Mrinal Sen, when I mentioned it to him some twenty-five years ago, had almost, it seemed, convinced himself that the film had never really been made. Nevertheless, after an inglorious birth as a filmmaker, Sen would go on to make a few more readily forgettable films, but also many worthy ones.<\/p>\n

The first period of his career, up to the three related films Interview <\/em>(1970), Calcutta \u201971<\/em> (1972) and Padatik <\/em>(1973), has little memorable to offer except for the beautiful and exquisitely understated film, Baishe Sravan<\/em> (1960) and arguably the best comedy film ever to come from the Indian art cinema, Bhuvan Shome <\/em>(1969).<\/em> There are some nice pieces of cinematic confection, such as Akash Kusum <\/em>(1965), <\/em>and Nil Akasher Niche <\/em>(1958) is a commendably original endeavour to portray an unusual character in an unusual historical context. However, as well as being fine films in themselves, Baishe Sravan <\/em>and Bhuvan Shome <\/em>point to future highlights in Sen\u2019s career. In Baishe Sravan<\/em> we meet Everyman helplessly entangled in the unalterable course of history or, more simply, the way of things. The way of things finds depiction in various contexts in Sen\u2019s films, while the individuals in conflict with it are also many and various.<\/p>\n

\"Bhuvan

Its (Bhuvan Shome’s) timeless humour is very funny, largely due to the superb performance of Utpal Dutt as the almost incorrigible Mr Shome.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bhuvan Shome<\/em> was proof that fine cinema can also be successful box office (and it is interesting to note that Sen never made another comedy). Its timeless humour is very funny, largely due to the superb performance of Utpal Dutt as the almost incorrigible Mr Shome. However, its importance to Indian cinema history lies at least partially in the technical innovations with which Sen decorated the film and which were used to some extent or another in later works, particularly Calcutta \u201971.<\/em> The use of still photography, caricature, animation, quasi-documentary and the like enhance Bhuvan Shome<\/em> brilliantly, but are also indications that Sen was ever willing to try something new. (Who would ever think of making cinema out of a telephone conversation?)<\/p>\n

Interview, Calcutta \u201971<\/em> and Padatik <\/em>were made in the climate of protest, general and intense, of the Naxalite years and are the best of what many have described as his political films (although I have always believed that the political aspect of Mrinal Sen\u2019s films \u2013 certainly his better ones \u2013 is eclipsed by their over-riding human concern). Protest here is not sloganeering processions punching the air, but a genuine attempt to make an audience think about what might be wrong with \u2018the way of things\u2019. Much the same is to be said of Satyajit Ray\u2019s Calcutta triptych (Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha, Jana Aranya<\/em>) made almost contemporaneously. Fingers of blame are indeed, pointed at society\u2019s leaders, most notably the self-interested and largely anachronistic captains of industry, even the faceless puppeteers of the Naxalite movement, but of much greater interest is the suggestion that traditionally held values urgently need to be reassessed. In a moral sense, the city needs to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n