Now that Alfonso Cuaron's Roma bagged so many Golden Globes and nominated for multiple segments of Oscars, I add examples of some Indian movies hereby and I shall give an anecdotal evidence of how maids in this subcontinent matter more than family members sometimes. Roma by Cuaron documents his growing up days in Mexico city and their family maid Roma.
Khokababur Pratyabartan is a famous novel by Tagore which was made into a movie in 1960 in Bengali by starring Uttam Kumar, the screen legend. This movie and the story shows moral pangs of a trusted servant who loses the master's child and later on returns his own child to the master.
Another recent Bengali movie Nayanchapar Din Ratri (2015) made by Sekhar Das is starred by Roopa Ganguly who essays the role of a maid in Kolkata. In fact the entire movie is about the life story of maids who come to work from surrounding villages of South Bengal to Kolkata.
Hollywood has several examples which I provide below. The Maid's Room of 2014 is a thriller based on murder and disappearance of a Columbian maid in Long Island household.
Maid in Manhattan (2002) is a Romcom starring J Lo which is quite enjoyable.
Similarly I remember an anecdote after Benazir Bhutto's assassination. I read when the entire Zardari and Bhutto family were searching for her last will , the loyal old maid of Benazir came forth and declared that she has been handed over the will by Benazir and she will hand it over only to Bilawal Bhutto, Benazir's son upon his return from UK. This story indeed buttresses the view on importance of maids in Indian subcontinent where maids turn out be trusted more than the family sometimes.
If readers can suggest any Bollywood film on maids I shall be glad because I don't recall anything other than Lust Stories starring Bhumi Pednekar where the complexity of love and power struggle between the maid and the master is shown.
Who told Rabindranath Tagore is no longer relevant? You have to watch the reinvented version of Kabuliwala to realize Tagore's stories are timeless and holds sway over an audience which is more than 100 years younger than his time. The time in which the movie is set in in 1990's Calcutta where a cinephile Kabuliwala flees from war ridden Afganistan and swoons children with his mobile cinema. He befriends a small girl Minnie, daughter of a fashion photographer Rabi Basu who reminds him of her own daughter. Just like the earlier story he gets embroiled in a murder accusation and goes to Jail. While escaping the prison he comes for one last time to visit that girl but gets imprisoned again at the behest of Rabi Basu. Upon his release finally he becomes demented and Rabi Basu now tries to fly him back to Afganistan. He dies in a plane crash and her daughter, now a film maker in France, comes back to discover Rahamat, the Afgan bioscopewala who made her childhood full of imagination and joy. I don't want to spoil the ending by disclosing the plot entirely, but the credit goes to Deb Medhekar, the director for weaving such a story of love, imagination and life as a whole. Reinventing the story in present days touching on the older strands is a task where the screenplay writers and director excel. Acting skills of Geetanjali Thapa ( Minnie) is noteworthy. Her dilemma, her reluctance, her brazen When actors of Danny's time are engaged in mindless films, Danny Denzongpa chose a meaningful film to come back. Those who are retaining Danny's image as a Bollywood villain, please see this movie to observe a new avatar. Adil Hussain's salt n pepper look is always an winner and he did justice for the little time he spent on screen.
I particularly liked songs written by Gulzar and some deep dialogues in this film. When Minnie encounters her father's supposedly paramour, the attractive Tisca Chopra says " Jibon amai emon kichui dei ni ja Mrityu amar kach theke kere nilo" meaning life has not given me anything that death could take away. This sentence will be etched forever in my mind.
Overall, this is a heart warming everlasting tale of universal feeling of fatherhood which Tagore portrayed. Earlier this story was made into movie twice - once in Bangla in 1957 by Tapan Sinha and another time in Hindi by Hemen Gupta in 1961. Balraj Sahani in the Hindi film and Chabi Biswas in the Bengali film made such a mark that people still remember them. Director Deb Medhekar made this movie a memorable one with Danny not deviating from the high standard of acting.
Bengalis are often asked why are they obsessed with Rabindrasangeet or Tagore Songs. Many find Tagore songs melancholic and of a typical pattern. However the lyrics he wrote speaks of every possible emotions humans experience and hence its popularity never wanes. Tagore mixed Ragas, folk tunes and English music to make something new....he was the original Fusion maker ....Shyam Benegal once told in an Interview on Film music to Outlook magazine in 2006 that Bengali film makers are lucky to have Tagore songs since it blends so nicely to buttress cinematic moments. He particularly spoke highly of Ghatak and Ray using Rabindrasangeet in cinema.
I grew up in 1980's and 90's Calcutta where some Rabindrasangeet in films made me hear again and again. I hereby make a list of 10 though it is not a comprehensive list. I tried to include the old and the new, the past and the recent. However a list like this cannot be complete.I urge my readers to add more in the comments section below.
1) Charano Dhorite Diogo Amare from Dadar Kirti
This one is my all time favorite sung by mellifluous Hemanta Mukherjee in a Tarun Majumdar film based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay novella. Except Piano there is no background music in this song and the ups and downs of notes by tenor of Hemanta is unbelievably heart rendering. It is still immensely popular.
2) Je Rat e Mor Duar Guli from Meghe Dhaka Tara
One of the classics of World Cinema by Ritwick Ghatak, this movie has a Rabindrasangeet which cannot be more apt to display the suffering of the female protagonist Neeta. The sounds of lashing reverberates with her pain. Ray being my personal favorite, grudgingly I accept that Ghatak was much better in choosing Rabindrasangeet used in his films.
3) Tumi Rab e Nirobe in Kuheli
This is another of my favorites where sugar sweet voice of Lata Mangeshkar pitches in after a long passage by Hemanta Mukherjee....the handsome Biswajeet plays a piano and Sandhya Roy joins him....a song to celebrate togetherness and romance
4) Momo Chitte Niti Nritye ( Instrumental) in Charulata
The beginning of Charulata has an instrumental version of Momo Chitte composed by Ray and being an exiled Calcuttan I always yearn for home the moment I hear this lovely tune. Nothing essays the lonely housewife more than this music.
5) Aji Jharer Rat e Tomar Abhisar in The Last Lear
Rashid Khan singing this in a classical style was a scoop by Rituparno Ghosh in the end of this film when the title card begins to roll. It was a treat for me despite many criticized the style of singing Rabindrasangeet not fitting into the usual method.
6) Amar Bichar tumi Karo in Bicharak
One of the best examples of music in cinema where the dilemma and moral pangs of a judge is submitted to the hands of the Lord for final justice and deliverance. Brilliantly sung by Hemanta Mukherjee starring Uttam Kumar.
7) Sajani Sajani Radhika lo in Chokher Bali
As Aiswarya Rai gets ready for a meeting with her lover , you can feel her urge for a rendezvous.I could not obtain the video from Youtube, however I recollect vividly the song in Chokher Bali.many will remember too.
8) Mayabono Biharini in Bedroom
This was an iconoclastic fusion of rock and Rabindrasangeet which delighted me...the freshness , the spunk of Somlata Acharya Chaudhuri made me fall in love with her voice.
9) Diner Seshe Ghumer Deshe in Mukti
My grandfather, a famous surgeon of his time operated on Pankaj Mallik's daughter saving her from an amputation and the legendary Pankaj Mallik sang this to him in return and hence my personal favorite. This was also a Tagore poem set into music by Pankaj Mallik and Tagore, pleasantly surprised , allowed him to use it for a Pramathesh Barua film, Mukti.
10) Majhe Majhe Tobo Dekha pai in Island
This is sung by Ritu Guha in Island, a Paul Cox film. Paul Cox was an Australian who used this song in his film. However there is no Youtube video. I recall seeing this in Calcutta in 1996 and it beaitfully captures the wait of a lady in love with a man who is coming home in a ship. The lyrics weaved into the cinematic moment of pangs of loneliness of a lover. I add a link below for my readers to read about Paul Cox and Ritu Guha.
Making Film music is not an easy job. Sergei Eisenstein recruited the famous classical musician Prokofiev to put music in his films. Film has moments when music speak the language of cinema and Rabindrasangeet fits in nicely to portray the cinematic moments and evokes the emotions of the viewers in sync with the characters. I am aware this list did not include many songs and list like this can never be complete. I tried my best to cull my favorite ones, I know my readers can add many more which can be interesting additions to this blog. I welcome you all to add your favorite one with your feelings written along with it. Please write in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.
I watched a movie in Sony Le Plex channel recently quite late at night in a Mahabaleswar hotel room. I was sleepy but as I started watching the story caught my attention and kept me awake yearning to see what happens in the end.The movie grabs your attention.
The movie begins with a World War veteran Tom Sherbourne ( Michael Fassbender) taking up a Lighthouse guard job in order to find some solitude; however he falls in love with a local girl, Isabel ( Alicia Vikander)and marries her. But two miscarriage by the wife shatter their hope of having another. The woman's depression was so palpable and the man's effort to mollify her was encouraging. The empty cot, The ruffling ocean, whistling winds, two crosses reminding the miscarriages, woman's sigh... everything put the tone of the movie into deep melancholy. However arrival of a boat with a dead man and an infant girl changed everything. Isabel sprang into life taking care of the baby. The empty cot which they prepared with great hope earlier got filled. The transformation of Isabel from a melancholic lost soul to an exuberant mother was so vividly noticeable. The call of duty dictated Tom that he informs the authorities about this sudden arrival of an infant but faded into oblivion as a frantic Isabel persuaded her husband not to steal her new found bundle of joy. The husband obliges but here begins the moral dilemma which is going to cause enormous turbulence later on.
I don't want the full story to be disclosed but the ensuing human drama that begins after Tom finds out and contacts the infant's mother out of sheer moral compulsion. Tom lands up in jail but not a single moment he accuses Isabel. She never betrays her trust either. In the end the baby girl reunites with her biological mother and family and we see Isabel dying aged and infirm tormented with life long guilt. This movie is going to rivet you to the screen and while engrossed you will find it is a simple story of human need of love, parenthood or pangs due to lack of it. The stoic acting of Micheal Fassbender blows your mind and the melodramatic Alicia Vikander tug your heart strings.
Please watch till the end. After a long time I was engrossed by simple tale of human emotions. I expected the movie to be a dark one, instead it turned out to be a heart tugging riveting watch. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover it is based on a novel written by M.L. Stedman whom I have never heard of. Now I will be finding and reading her books.
