Devdas (1955) - Dir. Bimal Roy

This write-up is a part of a number of film introductions I did on Bimal Roy's films that were shown as a part of a web event.

If I had to name just one Indian novel that seems to have fascinated generations of Indian artists and filmmakers, it is Sarat Chandra’s Devdas

A few words about Devdas before we go on to discussing Bimal Roy’s adaptation:

Devdas (Bengali: দেবদাস, Debdash; Hindi: देवदास, Devdās) (also called Debdas) (1917) is a Bengali Romance novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay when he was only seventeen years of age. In many ways, it parallels the Krishna, Radha, and Meera myths, the relationships between its three protagonists – Devdas, Parvati, and Chandramukhi. – Wikipedia

Now, Sarat Chandra (1876-1938) essentially wrote romantic pulp fiction in the period of 1915 to 1935 and was hugely popular in his days. His books may not be literary masterpieces but they did capture that period of contemporary Brahmo Samaj social renaissance Bengal rather well and had a sense of drama that perhaps fascinated many artists, especially filmmakers. It is interesting to note that Sarat was very dismissive of his most popular novel which he considered to be an immature effort with deplorable characters.

Till date Devdas has seen countless adaptations on screen and Bimal Roy was associated with the first significant one which was P.C Barua’s Devdas (1935). As I mentioned in the Roy intro thread, he was the cameraman on this film which became extremely popular for its songs and the actor K.L Saigal who played the lead protagonist as well as sung all his songs, became a legend. This adaptation is significant because Roy has dedicated his adaptation to the memory of the late P.C. Barua in the film credits. Those who might have seen Barua’s version will also notice that Roy also uses some of the plot points of the screenplay of the old version which was also mostly faithful to the novel.
Bimal Roy makes one major change in his screenplay which is that he starts his film when Devdas and Parvati (Paro) are kids growing up together just like in the novel. There are moments which will remind people of Pather Panchali and it is strange that both films were released in the same year. If the kids in Pather are fascinated by the train, Devdas and Paro are fascinated with nature, especially the Bulbul bird which acts as a constant comfort in their lives. Roy was a man close to his roots and nature always played a significant role in his films. Devdas who as a child sings songs for the Bulbul, grows up to hunt them and even in his most desolate moments, the bird remains a reminder of the carefree innocence of the past.

The Krishna, Radha, Meera connection is stronger in this screenplay. For those who are unaware of Hindu mythology, it is perhaps worthwhile reading a little about these three. This connection is established in the second song where the minstrels sing for the child Parvati just after Devdas has left for Kolkata.
Roy was brilliant at conveying poetic images on screen and the first significant one is the way he travels forward in time as Paro grows up from child into a beautiful young woman. The waves created in the lake by the pot act as metaphors for the waves of time and the lotus bud blossoms into a flower with Raag Bahar playing in the background.

The children have now grown up and the childhood friendship has blossomed into love. The first meeting of the grown up Devdas and Paro is a great scene showing the coyness of Parvati as well as the discomfort of Devdas.

At this point, it is significant to discuss the character of Parvati. Her character is at the crossroads of the old and the new age Indian woman. We see her as a dutiful but self-respecting woman who expects her man to give her the same respect that she gives him. So on one hand we see several scenes where she touches Devdas’ feet and hopes to serve him as his wife and in others we see her standing for her feminist values. This strange dichotomy is significant to understand some of the cultural background in this film as well as the sympathy that Sarat as well as Roy had for the emancipation of women.

The reason for the discord between Devdas and Paro is very important to understand and so we will come to the scene at the lake. Parvati has received a letter from Devdas saying that he perhaps doesn’t love her and that he would not be able to disobey his parents who are against them getting married as they belong to different castes. Parvati’s ego is hurt and even when Devdas apologizes to her for his naivety she refuses to forgive him. There is a moment of violence between the two where Devdas delivers a blow on Parvati’s forehead. This is perhaps one of the greatest love scenes I have ever seen on film because although there is violence in the act, it actually conveys the intense love between them.

After this significant scene, both Devdas and Parvati embark on a journey of self-destruction. Parvati gets married to a much older male, playing mother to boys and girls of her own age whereas Devdas will slowly and steadily kill himself by becoming an alcoholic. At this point enters the third significant character which is the courtesan Chandramukhi.

The relationship of Chandramukhi to Devdas is a strange one. Devdas hates her and her kind and refuses to speak to her until he is sloshed. Chandramukhi on the other hand is attracted towards Devdas’ honesty and naivety. He, unlike her other patrons, never comes to her to get physical pleasure and that perhaps makes an impression on her. She wants to serve him and hopes for the day when Devdas will stop hating her. Devdas will never really love Chandramukhi but he develops respect for her as the movie progresses. He is bewildered (as are we) that a naïve like him is loved by two beautiful women who are so different, yet so similar. They will seek him and try to restore his derailed life right until the end.

But Devdas has stubbornly set out on a journey of self-destruction even though he has family support and loved ones to care of him. There is no point asking why Devdas refuses to come out of this spiral of destruction. It is almost as if he is destined to punish himself for his naivety and weakness. He is that way a weak minded deplorable defeatist but still we do end up sympathizing with him maybe because we see our weaknesses in him.

A special mention of the actors who play the lead roles in this film. All three are brilliant and have immortalized their roles with their minimalist performances especially Dilip Kumar who plays Devdas. It is impossible to imagine how difficult it must have been for Dilip to step into the shoes of K.L Saigal whose life and death had almost echoed his character in Barua’s Devdas, making him a legend. The fact that Dilip Kumar overcame this humungous challenge and perhaps delivered a textbook performance for method acting is one of the great artistic achievements in the annals of Indian cinema. The cinematography by Kamal Bose once again has moments of sheer brilliance which I am sure viewers will appreciate.

This film is fairly lengthy and I hope people would have the patience to sit through it. I believe Devdas is immensely rewarding if perhaps a little inconsistent but I hope people will be able to appreciate the poetic’s of this beautiful film that celebrates an immortal story of love and destruction.

Naukri (1954) - Dir. Bimal Roy

This write-up is a part of a number of film introductions I did on Bimal Roy's films that were shown as a part of a web event.

This is basically a synopsis of the film although not an entire account of it. I have attached the screenshots for everyone to see which will hopefully make people watch the film. Portions marked {SPOILER) can be avoided

“Naukri” (Hindi for “Job” or “Work”) was Bimal Roy’s follow up to the critically successful Do Bigha Zameen(Hindi for “Two Acres of Land”) which won the International Prize at the Cannes Festival 1954. If Do Bigha Zameen was about the oppressed farmer who had to migrate to the city to save his land, Naukri was about the poor educated youth looking for a livelihood in the city.

Ratan Kumar Chaudhary(played by Kishore Kumar) the protagonist of “Naukri” has a sister who is sick with tuberculosis and a widowed mother who seems to have somehow managed to educate their son who is expected to take the burden of the family’s livelihood as soon as he graduates. His motive is simple. Get a small house, shift his family there, get his sister treated in a city hospital, get her married and then think about his own marriage. This motive is explained in the first song sequence of the film.

A fairly typical background for the protagonist of a neorealist film you may think but right from the outset the film maintains a tragicomic tone. It is neither too serious like its predecessor film nor very funny. It makes use of satire and melodrama to highlight the comedy/tragedy which you will notice at various points during the film. There is also the occasional escapist song sequence which was a given in mainstream Hindi cinema. The good part is that these songs are for the most part well  written and not too lengthy if not entirely indispensable.

So, our protagonist Ratan Kumar having received his B.A results heads to the big city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) with his simple aspirations and joyful optimism. He gets a room in a cheap lodging where he finds many youngsters like him looking for jobs. The faithful servant of the lodge played by Kanhaiyalal turns out to be a good hearted if often overworked soul who develops a bond with Ratan Kumar due to his good nature. Here begins Ratan Kumar’s desperate search for jobs. Every office has a board of “no vacancy” to keep out people or else the position is already fixed for some relative of the employer. Ratan Kumar tries to keep his optimism going, sending out type-written applications from a rented typewriter to any opening he notices in the daily newspapers which he often has to borrow. In the meantime, there is also a romance brewing between Ratan Kumar and a girl in the building opposite to his window whom he hopes to marry after he finds a job.

{SPOILER} Unfortunately the “Naukri” continues to elude him. One fine day he receives two telegrams and there is a fine moment of satire(one among many) when on one hand his sister has died and on the other the hospital bed for which he was desperately trying to get his sister admitted, becomes vacant.{SPOILER}

Ratan Kumar is disappointed but keeps trying for a job until one fine day he gets an offer from a company in Bombay (now Mumbai). He sends a letter asking for the girl’s hand in marriage along with his offer letter. The girl’s father gets mad when he finds that some guy is sending his daughter love letters and simply burns it. 

Now Ratan Kumar is in a quandary as he has comically forgotten the name of the company as well as its address. The letter being burnt, he has no option but to travel to Bombay and hope that he remembers the name on the way.

Bombay also isn’t too kind to Ratan Kumar and he becomes an easy target for pickpockets. When he tries to get the pickpockets apprehended, he himself ends in jail as he has no proof of his intentions or even a relative to vouch for him. Fortunately, after much comedy, he does remember the name of the company and is able to join it, albeit a day late.

At the office, Ratan Kumar now experiences the harsh reality of working life where employees are often overworked but underpaid. Due to his helpful nature when he tries to help an old employee at work, he gets himself dismissed and now again is jobless. To add to his woes, his girlfriend from Calcutta has eloped and he finds her in his room on the very day he has lost his job. Ratan Kumar is obviously desperate and doesn’t know what to do. Does he get a job or does he do something silly out of desperation?

Irrespective of what happens, Bimal Roy through this story beautifully captures the difficulties of youth in a newly independent nation and through satire he pokes fun at the void promises of the political leaders of the country and hopes that the common people take charge of their own lives. I hope all of you enjoy and ruminate over this bitter-sweet comedy of life that at no point becomes didactic.

The cinematographer of Naukri is Roy’s frequent collaborator Kamal Bose who I believe does an excellent job in this film. The protagonist ( Kishore Kumar) was an extremely versatile and accomplished singer and even acted in several films. He gives playback to all his songs here. His comic screen persona was quite legendary but it was fairly unusual to see him in serious roles. Roy was famous for breaking character stereotypes and he did it here as well.

SUDDENLY, ONE DAY

EK DIN ACHANAK

India

1989

105 Min

Color

Hindi

• Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
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DIR Mrinal Sen

PROD N.F.D.C.

SCR Ramapada Chowdhury, Mrinal Sen

DP K.K. Mahajan

CAST Shriram Lagoo, Shabana Azmi, Uttara Baokar, Aparna Sen,Rupa Ganguly

MUSIC Jyotishka Dasgupta

Imagine, one fine day, the man of the house steps out in the evening saying that he would return in some time. He doesn’t tell his wife where he is going but tells her he will return soon. This man never comes back. He is neither reported dead nor there is any information about his location. He simply disappears from the face of this planet. Just thinking about this idea is devastating for someone who has lived in a family.

Mrinal Sen revisits this concept of a person not returning home after addressing it in a previous Bengali film. That film takes place over one night though and the conclusion as well as the ideas that it seeks to evoke are much different from this one. It is hence quite commendable that Sen could use a similar storyline and evoke some deeply affecting ideas by simply changing the missing family member.

After the old man’s disappearance, his family has various recollections and each one draws a certain conclusion about his behavior. The son feels his father was callous and that he didn’t care a hoot about what happened to his family. The younger sister remembers her father as an egotist. The elder sister feels her father tried to hide his ordinariness under a facade of egotism and that he eventually succumbed to it. His wife fears he had an affair with one of his students. These ideas appear to be supported by the memories of the family that we get to see in flashbacks. He seems to have been a person too much involved in his academic pursuits to pay much attention to his family. He has a turbulent relation with his son and feels ashamed that he couldn’t even graduate. His relation with the elder daughter is perhaps the only cordial one in which he happens to share some of his deep thoughts with her. In a telling scene he recounts to her his regret: “Everyone judges a person by how he succeeds in life; There is no value to dedication”. There is another scene where the old man’s student shows him criticism of his article in a journal in which he is accused of plagiarism and dabbling. Even she suggests that perhaps he was a bit careless. The old man gets riled up by the accusations but he has no answer to the critics.

The family members suspect that all these circumstances were behind the old man’s disappearance. In the final scene, after an year has passed since the man’s disappearance, we see each of the family members recounting their feelings about the old man. The wife reveals something he had said the night previous to his disappearance : " The only regret I have is that we live only once".

This film raises some strong questions about the mental tribulations of an intellectual and his desire to be recognized. These questions resonate strongly with me for some reason as I probably have similar doubts as the main character. The fear of being ordinary for an intellectual in this fiercely competitive world is a real one. In this particular case, it results in his literal disappearance from the world but I am sure there are thousands out there who virtually disappear from society by going into their shell. Life remains nothing more than a baggage of regrets in such a case.

RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON

NÁVRAT ZTRACENÉHO SYNA

Czechoslovakia

1967

103 Min

Black and White

1.33:1

Czech

• Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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DIR Evald Schorm

SCR Sergej Machonin, Evald Schorm

DP Frantisek Uldrich

CAST Jan Kacer, Jana Brejchová, Jiří Menzel, Milan Morávek,Dana Medrická

ED Jirina Lukesová

PROD DES Bohumil Pokorný

MUSIC Jan Klusák

Return of the Prodigal son is pretty much an archetypal nihilistic film. The protagonist has tried to commit suicide and is now being treated as if he was mentally ill when his problem is nothing but plain nihilism. He is a liberal who seems to have got tired with the phoniness and immorality that seems to come along with it. He hates his wife sleeping around with other men but being a liberal himself, he can’t complain about it. He is sick of being fed and pampered by his in-laws yet he knows he really has nothing to complain. He also shows his frustration with the phoniness of his employers, the homophobia of people with respect to the dancer and other social ills that seem to vex him but he simply cannot complain as he also is a part of that same society. In a telling scene he gets chased by people calling him a murderer until they realize that it was a case of mistaken identity. That scene pretty much encompasses the story of this prodigal son who essentially has no problem other than a growing conscience that seems to push him back to the ways of morality. It’s just that returning proves almost an impossible task unless of-course, life itself were to end.

The Runner

The Runner
Davandeh
Iran
1985
94 Min
Color
Persian
DIR Amir Naderi
PROD Ali Reza Zarrin
SCR Behrouz Gharibpour, Amir Naderi
DP Firooz Malekzadeh
CAST Abbas Nazeri, Majid Niroumand, Musa Torkizadeh
ED Bahram Beizai
My Rating : 5/5


Amir Naderi’s The Runner is such a powerful film that it literally screams out for the values that it stands for. It’s a timeless film that is especially relevant today for Iran as well as the rest of the world.

Amiroo is an orphan who is often screaming out to distant ships and airplanes. They excite his young mind and he dreams of travelling to far off lands in them. His life unfortunately is full of hardships. He begins working as a rag picker until one of his friends suggest collecting bottles. Later he sells ice water and eventually becomes a shoe shiner. At every stage of these odd jobs he faces injustice and young Amiroo fights it with all his heart. Life is a constant struggle for Amiroo but he is not a person to give up. He has a conviction that he is born to win. In fact, he enrolls himself in a part time school just because he cannot tolerate the taunts of a magazine seller. He memorizes his lessons shouting against the waves of the sea as if challenging nature itself to stop him. In a poignant finale, Amiroo and his friends compete in a race which is an astounding metaphor for their fight against their own destinies. Amiroo predictably wins this race but he also shares his trophy with others. Amiroo is a symbol for the fight to survive in this world full of injustice and betrayal. He is a model of hope for a largely disillusioned world that desperately needs people like him to put up a fight.

The Bogeyman

The Bogeyman
Kummatty
India
1979
90 Min
Color
Malayalam
DIR Govindan Aravindan
SCR Govindan Aravindan
DP Shaji N. Karun
CAST Ramunni, Master Ashokan, Vilasini Reema, Sivasankaran Divakaran, Kothara Gopalkrishnan, Shankar, Vakkil
MUSIC M G Radhakrishnan, Govindan Aravindan
My Rating : 5/5



Films have the power to develop a nostalgia for times in the past that sometimes never actually existed in our lives. Aravindan’s “The Bogeyman” reminded me of a childhood that I hope I had lived.

Aravindan takes us into a fictional village in Kerala with beautiful hilly landscapes. We see the sun rising in the morning, children going to school, the old village lady filling water from the pond and getting teased by the kids, children playing in the school playground, singing songs, studying etc. In short, we see a life free from worries and full of dreams of wondrous lands and fascinating creatures until one fine day, The Bogeyman arrives.

He is a strange person wearing a fake beard, holding a staff and a wooden pole balanced on his shoulder, singing wondrous songs and performing magic tricks. The children are initially scared of him but soon they start getting comfortable with him. The Bogeyman treats them to sweets and games and in return the children take care of him when he falls sick. He is a welcome distraction to the kids and they can’t seem to get enough of him. He evokes a goodness in them as they even stop being nasty with the old lady. They dance and sing along with him, a moment that we wish could freeze in time. But unfortunately, time never stops and one fine day, The Bogeyman decides to leave the village.

Before leaving, he performs one last trick to entertain his dear children. He transforms each one of them into different animals for some time before returning them back to their human form. Unfortunately, one of the boy’s who got transformed into a dog, runs away from the scene as he gets chased by a real wild dog. He is now trapped in the dogs body and has been chased far away from his home. Fortunately, he gets discovered by a teenage girl from a rich family who is fond of dogs. She puts a collar on him and treats him like her pet. The dog remains unhappy even after the love he gets from the girl and finally they decide to set him free. By chance, the dog is able to return to his family where his mother recognizes him. The family tries all kinds of god men to perform ceremonies to transform the boy back into his human form but its all in vain. In the mean time, the old village lady dies. Hopes of The Bogeyman returning to the village start diminishing when one fine day his chanting voice travels across the village and the dog rushes to him. As soon as he hugs The Bogeyman, he is transformed back into his human form. A rather predictable ending you might think.

But then, the boy returns home and does something inexplicable. He releases his pet parrot from the cage into the sky and there are poignant images of birds flying in formations. We now realize that the boy learn’t an important lesson through all his misery which most of us never learn in our entire lives. We take our freedom for granted. We never realize what it actually means to be free. Maybe every village needs a Bogeyman to teach us this important lesson.

The Woman in Rumour

The Crucified Woman/The Woman in Rumour
Uwasa no onna
Japan
1954
83 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Kenji Mizoguchi
SCR Masashige Narusawa, Yoshikata Yoda
DP Kazuo Miyagawa
CAST Kinuyo Tanaka, Tomoemon Otani, Yoshiko Kuga, Eitarô Shindô, Bontarô Miake, Chieko Naniwa, Haruo Tanaka, Hisao Toake, Michiko Ai, Sachiko Mine, Kimiko Tachibana, Teruyo Hasegawa, Teruko Daimi, Kan Ueda, Saburo Date, Sumao Ishihara, Kotaro Kawada, Keiko Koyanagi, Midori Komatsu, Kanae Kobayashi, Kyôko Hisamatsu
ED Kanji Sugawara
PROD DES Hiroshi Mizutani
MUSIC Toshirô Mayuzumi
My Rating : 5/5




Plight of women in prostitution has been the subject of several Mizoguchi films and Women in Rumour (The Crucified Woman) is one of his best takes on the subject. The reason I say this is because this film has a very complex screenplay that Mizoguchi seems to execute with ease without losing out on the main issue of interest. This film is a precursor to Street of Shame; an excellent finale by Mizoguchi on the subject of prostitution which is similar to this film in its basic storyline but handles it from a different point of view.

We are introduced to a madame of a geisha house played by Kinuyo Tanaka whose daughter has just returned from the city after a failed love affair and a suicide attempt. Through the eyes of this new entrant, we are introduced to the mechanics of the household where regular customers arrive at their usual hour. Then there are some customers that require a visiting geisha. Men appear ridiculous and lecherous as they get drunk silly and create a ruckus in the house. Some of them try to lure the geisha’s away from the house in order to cheat them and some have their eyes on the madame to become a partner in the business. Women somehow appear to hold their own in all this madness. They have to tread a fine line in the patriarchal society where they have to take the help of men without getting exploited by them. The running of the household initially seems to embarrass Tanaka’s daughter but with the help of a visiting doctor(who appears to be a good person), her opinion about them seems to change. She realizes the misery of the geisha’s who, more often than not, have to support poor dysfunctional families and try to prevent their siblings from entering the business. Tanaka herself seems to want to give up the business by helping the young doctor set up a clinic and hopes to be his lawful wife some day. Unfortunately, Tanaka’s daughter also seems to fall in love with the doctor who seems to reciprocate this feeling. When Tanaka discovers this mutual love between her daughter and the doctor, she is naturally heartbroken and her dream to escape the business is shattered. Eventually though, we realize that the doctor happens to be a vile opportunist and his treachery seems to bring the daughter and mother closer than ever before. In the meantime, one of the geisha’s at the house dies of cancer and her young sister requests Tanaka’s daughter to let her work in their house as a geisha.

The film reaches a poignant and ironic finale as on one hand, Tanaka’s daughter starts managing the affairs of the house(with Tanaka falling sick) and on the other hand, there is the inevitability of the sister of the dead geisha entering the vile business. The film ends on a wistful remark by one of the geisha’s hoping for a day when there would be no need for poor young girls to sell their bodies to make a living. We cannot help but pray along with her for the same to happen some day. For the moment though, there seems to be no end to this vicious cycle.