Don’t get too big! Bimal Roy told a pregnant Nutan

Don't get too big! Bimal Roy told a pregnant Nutan

That's just one endearing anecdote from the shooting of Bandini, that lies in the pages of a new book on legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy. To find out why Himesh Reshammiya's Karzzzz owes him big time, pick up a copy

For a man sometimes referred to as a filmmaker's filmmaker, it is intriguing that no record of Bimal Roy's date of birth exists. For someone often described as a man of silence though, this makes perfect sense. Why opt for paperwork when your body of work can speak forever?

A little over 100 years since Roy's birth on July 12, 1909,u00a0 supposedly, of course, his daughter journalist and filmmaker Rinki Roy Bhattacharya has helped haul facets of her reclusive father's life out of the shadows. Bimal Roy: The Man Who Spoke In Pictures brings together essays, photographs, eulogies and anecdotes, not just from folk who knew the director best, but from some who never met him.

Born in Dhaka, Roy moved to post-independence India and started his career as an assistant cameraman. He would evolve, over the following two decades, into the auteur we now celebrate. Eventually, with Do Bigha Zameen in 1953, he helped carve a niche that would one day attract Ray, Ghatak and Benegal.

Why the book works

So, does the book work? Much of it does, if you ignore the sometimes shoddy prose. A number of contributions stand out almost at once, like one from writer Nayantara Sahgal. The latter had never seen a Bimal Roy film before being asked to talk about his work, so her essay of discovery is short, but interesting. What isn't half as interesting is critic Kishore Chatterjee's argument drawing comparisons between Salil Chowdhury's song Bichua used by Roy in his classic Madhumati and Mozart's "melodic rhythm". This critic, for one, remains unconvinced.

There's also a rather pedestrian essay by Bhawana Somaaya, on Roy's sensitive representation of women. The most interesting part of the collection focuses on how Roy is perceived by the West how the Internet is used to discuss Devdas, the politics of costumes in his films, and his mastery of the erotic. Also touching are Nutan's recollections of working with the filmmaker. During the filming of Bandini, she recollects, he found out she was expecting. When told the baby wasn't due for seven months, he was relieved. "We will finish shooting long before that," he told her, "but try not to get too big!"

Creator of Punarjanam

Here's something else to ponder: If it wasn't for Bimal Roy, Bollywood may not have taken to the idea of reincarnation the way it has. Roy and Ritwik Ghatak who wrote the screenplay unleashed Madhumati in 1958, setting in motion a series of remakes that would continue to our time. Now, compare Himesh Reshammiya's Karzzzz with what Roy originally did, and you may find a very good reason to go out and buy this book.

In conversation with Rinki Roy

You mention your father using his life as a template for much of his work. The schoolmaster in Devdas, for instance, possibly modelled on his headmaster at Armanitola Boys' School. Do you see yourself or your family in any of the characters he created?
That is entirely my assumption. I saw patterns that echo his life. I don't know if he consciously featured us, but his female protagonists were assertive, like mother. And I find that same gentleness in his male characters which marked my father out among the filmy lot.

Is there any particular anecdote, from the many chronicled in your book, that you find particularly touching?
Several. My father's abiding generosity, for example. He came from a large family, and we didn't know the extended family. Once, an uncle turned up from Kolkata. He was not a city smart man, and wasn't given a warm welcome at home. Baba was so upset that he called us, saying he was hurt that due to this man's appearance, he was ignored. We felt ashamed. He also made us save power and water u2014 a lesson I try, unsuccessfully, to implement.

Two years ago, you intended to initiate legal action against the producers of Om Shanti Om. What was that about, and was there any resolution?
It happened more recently. I was upset about Om Shanti Om blatantly lifting the climax from Madhumati u2014 with no mention of the classic on its golden jubilee. Sonja Mazumdar documents this. I didn't initiate legal action, though I had every right to. How can one deal with such meanness?

Bimal Roy: The Man Who Spoke In Pictures. 256 pages. Edited by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya.
Published by Penguin Viking. For Rs 499

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