{"id":6011,"date":"2021-01-10T08:34:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T03:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=6011"},"modified":"2021-01-17T22:28:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T16:58:30","slug":"murmurs-moments-with-soumitra-chatterjee-episode-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/murmurs-moments-with-soumitra-chatterjee-episode-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Murmurs: Moments with Soumitra Chatterjee (Episode 7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"7<\/p>\n

\"1<\/a>

Standing tall, from the private collection of the author<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018There are no dialogues here,<\/p>\n

Even soliloquies are silent,<\/p>\n

No expression, facial manners, twitching of eyebrows \u2013<\/p>\n

None.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is natural that one draws moments and fragments of one art to another. Experiences link arts. And life.<\/p>\n

We are discussing poetry. The darkness of evening is becoming deeper and sombre each passing minute. I am facing some problems in understanding the connotations of a few words in his verses that I have taken up for translation.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think a language-to-language translation makes it difficult to express. Each language has its own fragrance and charm,\u2019 I have always imagined translations to be tough. More so, with poems. Added to it is my eternal doubt about my grasp on both the languages I have, for long, set out to write.<\/p>\n

\u2018But don\u2019t you think that is what you should do, at least initially,\u2019\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0is a bit hesitant to support my view.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do you think, I, as a poet, will bring in my vision instead, without at times even knowing?\u2019 I am trying to understand\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0slight mistrust at my idea. For so many years on several occasions whenever I have written on\u00a0him<\/em>\u00a0or transcribed interviews,\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0has seldom spoken about them. \u2018You don\u2019t have to show me what you have written. I know it will be good,\u2019\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0has always embarrassed me such.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I was young, in theatre, I loved to do makeups,\u2019\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0suddenly went on a different track leaving me clueless even more.<\/p>\n

\u2018But in\u00a0Nam JIban<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Rajkumar<\/em>\u00a0you didn\u2019t have makeups, did you?\u2019 I haven\u2019t watched\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0initial productions. I was too young at that time.<\/p>\n

\u2018There were, though minimal. That is because I wanted the characters to look like me, why else,\u2019 he chuckles.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0Tiktiki<\/em>\u00a0was based on Anthony Shaffer\u2019s\u00a0Sleuth<\/em>\u00a0which was filmed back in 1972 with Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in the lead. I have watched the film and liked it immensely though felt that his theatre on stage was a notch higher.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have a couple of auto-biographies \u2013 one of Sir Olivier and the other of Michael Caine. And in both they write, more than just a passing, on\u00a0Sleuth<\/em>\u00a0and its shooting,\u2019 I find him stretching a bit forward with an intent as I utter these words. Every accomplished person in any field probably feels a gush of tensed anxiety hearing about another great, a rival if not directly but surely through work, in posterity.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sir Olivier was rusty in the first few days leading to the shooting. During rehearsals he was forgetting his part. Was a bit restless as well. It so transpired later, as per Caine\u2019s account, that Sir Olivier was then having a very rough patch with London\u2019s National theatre of which he was in charge. He was expelled quite unceremoniously a week or so back and during the shooting of\u00a0Sleuth<\/em>\u00a0he was already on pills, fighting to forget the pains of rejection.<\/p>\n

On the second day of the shooting, he would tell all \u2013 \u201cI have found a solution to the problem I have. Will let you all know tomorrow.\u201d He returned the next day with a moustache. \u201cI need this to go behind the mask of the character. Otherwise, it is too much me.\u201d There were no more problems after that.\u2019<\/p>\n

He sits there, still with a wry smile faintly disappearing at the corner of his lips.<\/p>\n

\u2018These are a few gimmicks may be, of great actors. And we don\u2019t even know if these are true. I find Caine better than Laurence Olivier in\u00a0Sleuth<\/em>,\u2019\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0finally said as I forced him with my silence. He wanted to film\u00a0Tiktiki<\/em>\u00a0as well long back with Uttam Kumar. Strange that it may seem now, he could never convince producers to cast just the two of them in a film bereft of songs and heroines.<\/p>\n

\u2018You know, when I sit before the mirror and wait for makeup, it is my transformation time. I stare at the mirror to trace my transformation in front of me. To me that is the most crucial part of my preparation before any performance on stage. When I find any actor spending less time there, I get nervous. All my day\u2019s other work, all my busy schedules are slowly removed from my mind and the character\u2019s imprint slowly resurfaces. That is how I focus,\u2019\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0tells all in one spree. Then coughs drily and waits to gasp breath.<\/p>\n

\u2018Now as well?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Now? Now I don\u2019t like to do makeup at all. I wish to be as natural and probably wish to be over with it as early as I can.\u2019<\/p>\n

I look at him sitting on his chair, books and paintings on the background and see how tired he feels drudging his aged body with a not-so-aged mind. The mind draws the body like a snow-dog hauling a sledge in a fiercely inclement weather.<\/p>\n

\u2018The role of a translator is the same as that of a makeup. It translates the artist to deeper meanings. Not to provide with one of its own. Just a medium, the best makeup is the natural skin, to be unnoticed, to remain so,\u2019 I can suddenly understand\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0implications of bringing me around these stories, holding my hand in showing\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0view of the world.<\/p>\n

Soumitra Chatterjee nods now, in affirmation.<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes, Amitava. In life and in art, try to be as unobtrusive as you can. Not easy. But as far as I know you, I think, you will remember me for saying this.\u2019<\/p>\n

I leave\u00a0him<\/em>\u00a0humming from my translation of\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0poem \u2013<\/p>\n

\u2018I decorate me with a new dress<\/p>\n

Each day \u2013\u00a0Hamlet, Karna, Neelkantha<\/em>,<\/p>\n

And, so many more.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a preview collection of interactions that is set to release as the book Murmurs: Moments with Soumitra Chatterjee<\/a><\/em> by Amitava Nag, on 19th January 2021 to celebrate the legend\u2019s 87th birthday.<\/h3>\n

\"MURMURS<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

Click here to read all published episodes of Murmurs: Moments with Soumitra Chatterjee<\/a>.<\/h3>\n

Catherine Berge’s Gaach<\/em><\/strong> (The Tree, 1998) is a rare documentary on Soumitra Chatterjee. Silhouette is grateful to Catherine and producer James Ivory for providing permission to make it available to the Silhouette readers.<\/span><\/p>\n