{"id":2131,"date":"2015-08-26T06:18:46","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T00:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=2131"},"modified":"2020-08-26T07:25:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T01:55:52","slug":"bhanu-bandyopadhyay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/bhanu-bandyopadhyay\/","title":{"rendered":"Bhanu Bandyopadhyay – The “Common Man’s” Comedian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BHANU

Bhanu Bandopadhyay created a genre in humour at a time when he had tough competition from the best among comedians in Bengali cinema.<\/p><\/div>\n

Comedy wears many faces. It is characterized by an element of surprise, unpredictability, a turn of phrase, a grimace or a change in body language. Incongruity, as seen in Charlie Chaplin\u2019s films, is an example. Anti-climax is another element that triggers a sense of fun. There is satire veiled as comedy to expose and ridicule controversial or inefficient political leaders through caricatures.<\/p>\n

Bhanu Bandopadhyay, marginalised as an actor like most comedy actors were during his time, could punch his performances with all these qualities and perhaps, reach beyond their written definitions. He belonged to the golden era of Bengali cinema where comedy was king. Bhanu Bandopadhyay created a genre in humour at a time when he had tough competition from the best among comedians in Bengali cinema beginning with his predecessors and continuing into his generation of actors. Among them are talented predecessors and peers like Nripati Chatterjee, Haridhan Mukherjee, Tulsi Chakraborty, Nabadwip Haldar, Shyam Laha and many more.<\/p>\n

Bhanu Bandopadhyay was born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in Dakshin Moishundu village in Dacca district on 26th<\/sup> August 1920. His proper name was Samyamay Banerjee but his nickname stuck to him till he passed away. Though he became sort of a legendary figure in Bengali cinema of those times, he began his career in acting with the stage.<\/p>\n

\"Bhanu\"

Bhanu Bandyopadhyay in Ashite Ashiona (1967)<\/p><\/div>\n

By the time he graduated from Dacca University, he was firmly established in amateur theatre. His first stage performance was in Bonobir <\/em>directed by Amod Dasgupta when he was a student of Class VI. The appreciation the performance brought inspired him to continue in small plays and with small comic skits at neighbourhood functions till he turned famous as Chanakya in the historical play Chandragupta<\/em>. He followed this up with another important role in Girish Ghosh\u2019s Siraj-ud-Daulah<\/em>. Bhanu was forced to leave Dhaka in 1941 with the clothes on his back because there was an extermination order against him though he has never explained why it was served with such a serious notice. He joined the Iron & Steel Control office in Kolkata serving there for 15 years.<\/p>\n

In 1943, Bhanu recorded Dhakar Gadoaan<\/em>, his first comedy performance on gramophone record, setting a trend in recording dialogues and comic episodes for posterity. He had to play the role of a skeleton-like man victimized by the famine. \u201cIn those days, I really looked like a famine-stricken, hungry man and suited the character to a tee,\u201d he said. The same year, he founded Uttar Sarothi<\/em>, an amateur theatre group and staged its first production Notun Ihudi<\/em>. His entry into the professional stage began in 1950 with Adarsha Hindu Hotel <\/em>\u00a0which turned out to be a big hit with the theatre audience.<\/p>\n

His first appearance on screen was in Jagoron<\/em> (1946). He married Nilima Bandopadhyay, a talented singer, the same year. Among his famous films are Pasher Bari<\/em>, Bhranti Bilash <\/em>(based on Shakespeare\u2019s Comedy of Errors<\/em>), Boshu Paribar<\/em>, Barjatri, Bindur Chhele<\/em>, etc. He produced and directed rip-roaring comedies with a message hidden behind the laughter and the fun. Among these are Jomaloye Jibonto Manush<\/em>, Personal Assistant<\/em>, Miss Priyambada<\/em>, and Aashitey Ashiona.<\/em> These films have stood the test of time that can make people laugh till this day.<\/p>\n

\"Bhanu

Bhanu Bandyopadhyay and Jahar Roy in Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant<\/p><\/div>\n

Bhanu Bandopadhyay and Jahar Roy, a comedian who was Bhanu\u2019s best friend, formed an inimitable comic pair and became famous. Bhanu played the East Bengali Bangal<\/em> while Jahar complemented him as the ghoti<\/em> of Calcutta. They made several films together such as Bhanu Goenda, Jahar Assistant <\/em>and Bhanu Pelo Lottery<\/em>. He won the Best Comedian award eleven times! His most famous play was Joy Ma Kali Boarding <\/em>that ran for three years at Rangana Theatre and again for six months at Rang Mahal.<\/p>\n

Sharmistha Gooptu in Bengali Cinema \u2013 An Other Nation<\/em>, devotes an entire chapter to Bhanu entitled Common Man\u2019s Comedy \u2013 The Bhanu Factor<\/em> to one of the best actors Bengali cinema has ever produced. She writes that this ‘Bangal<\/em>‘ persona created and portrayed by Bhanu \u201cwent on to create a new comic prototype of the 1950s Bengali cinema, patented and almost exclusively embodied by Bhanu Banerjee. Bhanu was a star who lacked glamour. His loud Bangal<\/em> style and cultivated un-sophistication made his stardom a somewhat unique thing.\u201d (Page 203.) Bhanu Bandopadhyay is the only comic actor who has been given special place in Gooptu\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

His fame spread with that unforgettable punch-line mashima, malpo khamu<\/em> in his typical Dacca dialect in Share Chuattar<\/em> (1953) that has a veritable bunch of comedians of great merit put together in the same film. \u201cAn artist must declass himself and slip under the skin of the character he is playing. I do not believe in idolizing Western Methodists like Stanivslavsky or Brecht, commonly quoted by contemporary Indian actors. I feel we must first try and follow the steps of great masters in Indian cinema such as Chhobi Biswas or Sisir Kumar Bhaduri and then move on to Stanislavsky or Brecht,\u201d he once wrote. He did not care for technique overshadowing acting be it on stage or on screen. He insisted that it was more challenging and fulfilling to perform on stage or in folk jatra<\/em> performances than on screen. He was a much-in-demand theatre actor.<\/p>\n

The Meeting<\/strong><\/span><\/em> Share Chuattar<\/em> (1953)<\/span><\/p>\n