{"id":9221,"date":"2024-10-27T08:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T02:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=9221"},"modified":"2024-12-13T15:42:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T10:12:28","slug":"the-healing-touch-doctors-in-tapan-sinhas-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/the-healing-touch-doctors-in-tapan-sinhas-films\/","title":{"rendered":"The Healing Touch: Doctors in Tapan Sinha\u2019s Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Soumitra

Soumitra Chatterjee in Wheel Chair (Source – Sukumar Roy)<\/p><\/div>\n

In Tapan Sinha\u2019s long career spanning half a century and nearly 50 films, he handled many contemporary social issues with depth and conviction, leaving a deep and lasting impression in viewers\u2019 minds. His films are like true mirrors of our society that hold up reality without any sugarcoating or veneer of glamour. In his rich and impressive oeuvre, there are four films that have doctors as central characters. Each of these films projects unique aspects of the medical profession. The motivations that drive the doctors in these four films are triggered by events in their personal life but soon enough, they take on a larger social dimension. The doctor becomes a pivotal figure in his society. Together, the films project the changing scenario of the medical profession in our country over three decades. <\/p>\n

In Khaniker Atithi <\/em>(1959), <\/em>we find the doctor (Nirmal Kumar) in charge of a village hospital. This is not a punishment posting or a mandatory stint to serve rural India. The doctor is here by choice, to bury his past and start a new life. The well-being of this village in Bengal rests on his slender shoulders. His days and nights are taken up in providing care to the village people.<\/p>\n

\"Nirmal

His days and nights are taken up in providing care to the village people.<\/p><\/div>\n

The village hospital has the basic facilities needed to take care of the eclectic bunch of patients as well as the OPD patients who come for a check-up. In 1959, a village hospital like this would be something for India to be proud of \u2013 although nowhere in the film is it projected as an exemplary hospital. Indeed, the hospital is projected as the least one can expect. The doctor is often slightly ashamed of the limited facilities.<\/p>\n

Each inmate of this hospital has his own story, his unique idiosyncrasies that make the nearly two-hour-long tapestry of the narrative rich and colourful. The sub-plots are cleverly interwoven with the primary plot and are given as much importance as the story of the protagonist.<\/p>\n

One day, his past arrives at his doorstep like a southern breeze, bringing in its wake a pleasant freshness, a feminine order in his harsh, disorderly masculine lifestyle. It also brings a fresh medical challenge to his already overburdened life. Meeta\u2019s five-year-old son cannot walk. The doctors in Calcutta have given up, but the mother hasn\u2019t. At the bottom of her heart, she knows that her erstwhile love, who once had a brilliant career at Calcutta Medical College, would have the solution to her problem. Hence, she tracks him down to his humble hospital in a godforsaken village in Bengal. She comes carrying her crippled son in her arms and surrenders to him. He takes up the challenge.<\/p>\n

\"Ruma

He takes up the challenge<\/p><\/div>\n

The challenges are two-fold \u2013 one, an emotional challenge due to the\u00a0unexpected resurfacing of his past; two, the medical challenge of curing the little boy. The medical challenge has been foregrounded in the film. Will he be able to cure the little boy? Will this little boy be able to stand on his two feet and walk? Thus, the narrative moves forward.<\/p>\n

The doctor is Meeta\u2019s last hope. She is now a widow with practically no support system to fall back on. Sinha appraises his viewers of their back story through flashback sequences. They do not discuss their past at all. They lie awake at night in adjacent rooms, with the connecting door closed tight and remember their happy past, full of hopes for a happy life together. Meeta\u2019s uncle plays the spoiler by saying that he had promised Meeta\u2019s mother on her deathbed that he would get her daughter married to someone from the same caste. The doctor stoically accepts this dictum and moves out of Meeta\u2019s life. Meeta gets married to an engineer with a promising career and settles down in her conjugal life. However, fate has other things in store. Her husband dies in an accident. The uncle invites his widowed niece and her infant son to come to Burma with him. But she declines, saying that her mission in life now is to raise her son and she can only fulfil this responsibility in Calcutta.<\/p>\n

\"Khaniker

She declines, saying that her mission in life now is to raise her son<\/p><\/div>\n

In the flashback sequences, framed photographs recur as leitmotifs. In Meeta\u2019s flashback, it is the framed photo of her infant son before the fall that injured his leg. In the doctor\u2019s flashback is a framed photo of the entrance to Calcutta Medical College. This is his alma mater, the institute that gave him his identity as a doctor. It is this institute he re-enters, with a hope for a solution to the medical problem. And sure enough, his erstwhile professor comes to his help. He correctly diagnoses the little boy\u2019s problem, operates on him and rectifies the fault in his hip bone.<\/p>\n

Back in the village, little Babu eventually stands on his two feet and takes the first steps forward when he sees the other boys of his age running around and playing hide and seek. They all hide behind trees and repeatedly call out his name. In response, little Babu makes a huge effort and stands up. It is a triumph of medical science and a triumph of human will as well.<\/p>\n

\"Khaniker

It is a triumph of medical science and a triumph of human will<\/p><\/div>\n

Interestingly, in this film, Sinha endows all his characters with agency. They all make conscious decisions \u2013 whether it is the patient with a golden voice, the ex-serviceman who plays the mouth organ or the drunkard who often escapes from his hospital bed for his \u2018elixir\u2019. Even Babu can eventually stand up because he wills himself to do so as the doctor stands in hiding and watches.<\/p>\n

How does Khaniker Atithi<\/em> end? Does it have a fairytale \u2018and they lived happily ever after\u2019 ending? No. The film ends the way it had begun. In the opening shots of the film, we see a bus winding along the dusty village road and dropping Meeta off in the village. In the closing shot, the bus takes her and her son back to the city. As she bids goodbye, Meeta vows to raise her son to be a good human being. That is her priority in life. The priority in the doctor\u2019s life is to look after the health and well-being of his village folk. So, he stays back, instead of accompanying Meeta to the city.<\/p>\n

Thus, Khaniker Atithi<\/em> proves to be a film on nation-building as well as a feminist film. The woman does not need a man as her life partner. She is confident that she will be able to raise her son as a single mother. The man has set his priorities in life. He does not deviate from these priorities for a woman. The film could as well have been named \u2018Triumph of Will<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Tapan

Tapan Sinha directing Vyajantimala in Hatey Bazarey<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Hatey Bazarey<\/em> (1967) also unfolds against a rural backdrop. But this time the rural setting is a small township just outside Bengal. The film is based on a story by the Bengali writer Bonophul who was also a doctor, with a degree from Calcutta Medical College. Hatey Bazarey<\/em> was a super hit film and won several prestigious awards, including the National Award for Best Feature Film. It remains a timeless classic in the canons of Bengali cinema, deeply entrenched in the minds of the viewers who watched it almost 60 years ago.<\/p>\n

Sinha uses the doctor\u2019s story to tell a classic tale of good vs. evil. The film opens with the shots of the villain \u2013 a lustful predator on the prowl, the spoilt brat of a rich businessman, who has scant regard for the law of the land. Soon we meet the hero, a genteel, civilized doctor, being driven along the countryside by his loyal driver. He is the civil surgeon at the local hospital, in whose hands lies the well-being of his community. The doctor is equally attentive to the lowly chamaar<\/em> woman and the wife of a well-to-do businessman who suffers from manic depression. In 1967, the medical profession had not yet become hi-tech and exploitative. Doctors had to master the art of diagnosis and could achieve a lot with minimal infrastructure. Their fundamentals were clear. They acquired their healing touch through hard work and careful study of the science of medicine.<\/p>\n

\"Film

Film booklet cover of Hatey Bazarey<\/em> (Source – Sounak Gupta)<\/p><\/div>\n

In Hatey Bazarey<\/em>, Dr Anadi Mukherjee\u2019s (Ashok Kumar) prescriptions are simple \u2013 go for a long walk and fill your lungs with fresh air, have your meals on time, and follow basic hygiene. He has a clear vision about the extent and limitations of medical science. When his patients ask him whether they will recover or not, his typical answer is, \u201cI do not know.\u201d He knows that he can only try to the best of his ability. He is no God. He cannot save an old woman in the bustee<\/em> from dying a lonely death or his wife who suffers from a chronic heart ailment.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the villain is on the prowl. His one aim in life is to seduce Chhipli (Vaijayantimala), a young and attractive widow, who makes a living by selling vegetables. When Chhipli spurns his amorous offer, Lachhman (Ajitesh Bandopadhyay) tries to frame her half-brother on charges of theft and has him arrested. The doctor gets him released. Gradually, the doctor becomes the caregiver of his community, attending not only to their physical well-being but also helping to resolve family feuds and other troubles.<\/p>\n

The good doctor comes face to face with Lachhman at a party thrown by latter\u2019s father. Lachhman is drunk and he opens his heart to the doctor. He says, \u201cI have come to enjoy the world, not make sacrifices. The world will cease to live if everybody becomes a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, some of the profound truths of life are uttered by Lachhman. On the night the old woman dies, Lachhman comes to the bustee<\/em> looking for Chhipli. There he finds the doctor, jumps to conclusions and says, \u201cYou, Doctor! Why don\u2019t you accept it? I am there in you. I am a part of you. Why do you pretend to be a saint?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tapan Sinha with Ashok Kumar and Ali Akbar Khan<\/p><\/div>\n

The title, Hatey Bazarey, <\/em>attains its true meaning when the doctor, after his wife\u2019s death, resigns from his post of civil surgeon and decides to become a barefoot people\u2019s doctor. He converts a van into a dispensary cum operation theatre and parks it at the edge of the marketplace. He gets help from all his loyal friends and employees. Chhipli too comes around to help and quickly becomes his able assistant. Lachhman warns Chhipli, \u201cYour destiny is with me \u2013 call me your doom or your ultimate pleasure. I am the villain in this narrative of good deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The climactic clash between good and evil happens on the night of the festival when the whole village is swaying to the tune of a folk song. \u00a0Lacchman tricks Chhipli into a tryst and attempts to rape her. Dr Mukherjee hears the news and in a fight with Lacchman, strangles him to death getting mortally injured in the process. The next morning, surrounded by all his well-wishers, he breathes his last. His dying words are a lament that he could not perform Nani\u2019s eye operation.<\/p>\n

The doctor dies, but the good work initiated by him continues. A young doctor, who had earlier tried to assert his superiority to Dr Mukherjee and had been reprimanded by him, now takes on the mantle and carries on the work of \u2018people\u2019s doctor\u2019. A doctor\u2019s true role in society is thus firmly established. Today, when the medical profession has become a racket, Hatey Bazarey<\/em> attains new significance. Dr Mukherjee\u2019s mobile dispensary project is not utopian. It is a realistic and achievable project, founded on sound common sense, a profound understanding of medical science and a heart to live a little for others.<\/p>\n

But Hatey Bazarey <\/em>is not a didactic film. Its enduring appeal does not stem from any social message hidden in the story. The appeal stems from the mythic dimensions of the timeless clash between good and evil.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Hatey Bazarey<\/em> lobby card (Pic: Priya Films)<\/p><\/div>\n

If Khaniker Atithi <\/em>and Hatey Bazarey <\/em>are about doctors in service of humanity, Ek Doctor Ki Maut<\/em> (1991) is about a doctor turned scientist. Based on a story titled Abhimanyu<\/em> by Ramapada Chaudhury and the real-life incident of Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay\u2019s suicide, Ek Doctor Ki Maut <\/em>is perhaps the only Indian film that dwells on the challenges of carrying out path-breaking experiments in science.<\/p>\n

Dr Dipankar Roy, a doctor at a government hospital, is consumed by his research to discover a\u00a0leprosy vaccine. He has been carrying on this research at home for the last 10 years. He works before and after office hours and has no institutional support for his work. He is an independent researcher, much like Professor Shanku. He turns one room in his rented apartment into a laboratory. His wife helps him equip this laboratory with an incubator, a fridge and a microscope. His lab is also populated with caged mice that are used to test the leprosy vaccine. The film begins with the sound of mice squeaking.<\/p>\n

In the film\u2019s opening scenes, Dr Dipankar Roy is established as self-centred, unsocial and completely absorbed in his work, with no time for pleasantries or small talk. He borrows money from his wife and goes to the\u00a0office on a crowded bus. His wife takes care of him like a little child, but she is on the verge of losing patience with him. There is nothing in Dr Roy\u2019s character for the audience to warm to him. Audience sympathy is more likely to swing toward his wife Seema, who has been enduring this cantankerous man for ten long years. But Ek Doctor ki Maut<\/em> is not a family drama. It is about a scientific breakthrough and society\u2019s response to this breakthrough. It is about the rigour of scientific research and the fiercely competitive world of scientific publications.<\/p>\n

\"Pankaj

His wife takes care of him like a little child<\/p><\/div>Through conversations between husband and wife, we get some idea about the ups and downs in the doctor\u2019s research work. Often, he is frustrated by something going wrong when he is on the verge of getting results. He has to repeat his experiments. His hospital duty leaves him with little time for this repetitive, iterative work. He works alone. The only person with whom he can bounce his ideas is Dr Kundu \u2013 a retired professor who still engages in active research. Dipankar has many a knotty problem to solve before he can possibly arrive at a result. He cries out in desperation, \u201cSo much to do, so little done. Hurry up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Dipankar is busy with his research, his friend and classmate Arijit is busy treating patients and making money. Arijit lives in a big two-storeyed house, his wife wears a long gold chain and he is too busy to take interest in his friend\u2019s research work. However, Arijit\u2019s wife and daughter have a lot of affinity for Dipankar. In Paromita\u2019s eyes, Dipankar is an antithesis to her own husband. She says so at the breakfast table, \u201cDipankar is made of some other clay. He is different from the likes of you.\u201d That is why Dipankar has carved out a different path for himself. He has found an alternative way of applying his knowledge of medicine and adding to the existing body of knowledge.<\/p>\n

Improbable as it may sound, Dipankar does achieve a breakthrough with his skeletal set up. He not only makes the leprosy vaccine, but also discovers its side effect. The vaccine seems to make sterile women fertile. A young journalist Amulya flashes the news in the media. For him, it is a scoop. Little does he realize that all hell would break loose in the medical world of Calcutta. Gynaecologists are up in arms, Dipankar\u2019s superiors in the hospital are irate, and even his friend Arijit is sceptical about Dipankar\u2019s achievement. Junior doctors invite Dipankar for a special lecture only to insult him and try to prove that he is a fraud. He is given a punishment posting to a village hospital; his superior officer suppresses a letter from the John Anderson Foundation. Amidst all these disruptions, Dipankar tries his best to complete writing his paper so he can send it for publication. It is a race against time. His wife Seema tries her best to hold the\u00a0fort. She keeps up a cheerful front to keep Dipankar\u2019s spirits high.<\/p>\n

\"Irrfan

A young journalist Amulya flashes the news in the media<\/p><\/div>\n

One day, hope appears in Dipankar\u2019s new abode in the village, in the form of a scientist from the John Anderson Foundation. She examines Dipankar\u2019s research notes and invites him to her Foundation. But before Dipankar can complete his paper and send it for publication, two scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Microbiology are credited with inventing the vaccine. Interestingly, they have followed an identical path to Dipankar.<\/p>\n

Unlike the real-life doctor Subhash Mukherjee, Dipankar does not commit suicide. He gets an invitation from the John Anderson Foundation to carry out research at their laboratory. The film ends with an aeroplane taking off, heralding a new beginning.<\/p>\n

In Ek Doctor Ki Maut<\/em>, Tapan Sinha masterfully blends human relationships with scientific concepts. Just as he delves deep into the scientific aspects of Dipankar\u2019s research, he dispassionately exposes the ugly side of the medical profession as well as technocracy, without melodrama and without glorifying any one character. The protagonist Dipankar Roy has very few likeable traits. Pankaj Kapoor excelled as the cantankerous scientist, while Shabana Azmi won hearts as his supportive, yet frustrated wife. By not losing faith in her husband and not ceasing to love him, Seema becomes the real hero of the film.<\/p>\n

\"Soumitra

The doctor is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic<\/p><\/div>\n

In his fourth film Wheel Chair <\/em>(1994), the doctor is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic. He runs a centre for paraplegics like him and continues to provide his healing touch to the inmates. The patients are from varied social backgrounds and of varied age groups. Each one has seen better days. The backstory of each inmate brings out the picture of a different era. If the Manoj Mitra character exemplifies the situation in Calcutta during the Second World War, Susmita (Laboni Sarkar) is the victim of lust in Calcutta\u2019s contemporary society. Today, they are all marginalized members of society. Dr Mitra (Soumitra Chatterjee, who gives a unique performance as a paraplegic) gives them new hope. He is a living example of how to live a fulfilling life in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, Wheel Chair <\/em>did not receive wide viewership or the critical acclaim it deserved.<\/p>\n

In all four films discussed, Sinha films doctors in four very different societies, and upholds modern medical science as the foundation of society\u2019s health and well-being. Stylistically, all four films follow the genre of realism. The plots steer clear of coincidences and melodrama. The characters are endowed with agency; they take their destiny into their own hands. Without being didactic, the films impart a strong social message and leave a deep impression in the viewer\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

Click Tapan Sinha@100<\/a><\/h2>\n

for Critiques, Reviews, Interviews<\/h2>\n

\u2014 The Centenary Tribute Series<\/h2>\n