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Master
of classics
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One of the distinct memories I have of Bimal Roy is him watching
the rough cut of Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool at Dutt’s
bungalow in Pali Hill. Several other producers were also present.
But while the film seemed to engross Roy, it seemed to embarrass
the others present to the point of restlessness. The screening
was to have been followed by dinner and sarod recital by Ustad
Ali Akbar Khan, but most of the guests chose to leave soon
after the screening. Roy watched the entire film and stayed
back for the dinner and recital. Kagaaz Ke Phool’s failure
dealt a blow to Dutt’s confidence and shattered him.
At that time Roy was one of the sources of strength to Dutt.
And now the film is a classic.
The very
first work of Roy’s that I saw was Do Bigha Zameen, when
I was in school. It moved me greatly and so did Sujata and
Parineeta. The finely scripted films stood out for what they
were and this was visible in Madhumati and Bandhini.
Roy was
one of the many film-makers whose work inspired and moved
me a great deal. He started off as a cameraman for P C Baruah,
shooting his Devdas and then went on to capture the subsequent
version of the classic made by K L Saigal. Roy’s advent
into the film industry was a fascinating journey because he
was one of the few newcomers who arrived with a keen sense
of aesthetics. At that time, a lot of people, who sought to
make the industry their home, came with the minds of technician.
Amongst them it was Bimal Roy who invested in his work a great
deal of aesthetic sense, which was not very common. This was
one of the two qualities that marked him out from the rest,
the other being his strong sense of social concern which he
managed to bring into his work.
Cinema,
being a public art, needs to appeal to the public at large
the market. In order to survive, you need to succeed. Roy
managed all the three ingredients, which not only set his
films apart but also provided him with commercial success.
His films had aesthetic appeal, they touched the masses and
they addressed social issues. And this stood him in very good
stead.
The first
International Film Festival in India, in 1952, showcased works
of the Italian neo-realist film-makers lke Vittorio deSica.
An exposure to these films had its impact on Roy’s works
which were gentle and compassionate and which was also Roy
in real life. In the very strong commercial atmosphere, his
works stood out because of this quality.
A whole
kind of Bimal Roy’s school of film-making emerged later
film-makers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Mukul Dutt, Basu Bhattacharya,
to some extent Basu Chatterjee followed more or less the same
tradition of film-making.
With Smriti
Sandhya, which is organised by Roy’s daughter Rinkie
Bhattacharya every year, the present generation is provided
with an opportunity to see the classics made by Roy. Such
a programme not only keeps his memory alive but also allows
the younger generation to place Roy’s works and the works
of his co-artists in the perspective of Indian cinema.
(As told
to Nilanjana Sengupta)
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