Well, there’s a lot of discussion regarding this topic which goes on every evening in Bengali film industry, tollywood, or in ‘adda’s at tea stalls or in drawing rooms. Last night only when I returned from a party and went to the drawing room I found my mom and dad enjoying the late night show of a masterpiece, a super hit block buster stating in today’s words by mahanayak Uttam Kumar, a movie named ‘Jay-Jayanti’. though I was quite fatigued, I couldn’t stop myself joining them with a glass of mountain dew in hand. The show went on till it was midnight, and mom and dad were awake till they could see the specifically styled writing ‘samapta’ meaning ‘the end’ as it used to be in earlier days. Now what is it all about? Why my mom and dad and every other Bengali is fond of the black and white movies starring Uttam Kumar, Suchitra sen, Madhobi Mukherjee, Aparna Sen and to name a thousand of them, and simply ignoring the commercials starring Prosenjit, Indrani etc? And why after being so much tired also I kept on watching the movie till the end? It’s because of the class, the charisma, the picturization,the natural acting and the exact usage time, place, and goods. All those which went missing in Bengali cinema in the late eightys’ and ninetys’. A single turnaround of Uttam Kumar, his way of shouting “Why”, his smoking style, his haircut was unique and was followed- followed by huge number of fans as of Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan of today. Not only Mahanayak, other maestros like Aparna Sen, her elegance , Suchitra Sen’s resplendence, Pahari Sanyal’s fatherly dominance, each of those were a mark, footstep to be idealized year after year.
Even the ecstasy,the taste, everything was so much ‘made for the character’, which was totally missing in the late eighty’s, which was scribbled and destroyed by ridiculous and immature acting, belly dancing, poor music lyrics and to say a lot of things. The music was so heart touching that people of my age still murmur ‘ amader chooti chooti’ and ‘ ei poth jodi na sesh hoy’. I sometimes do wonder whether there was any need of color cinema to come in Tollywood.
(l-r) Bhanu Bandopadhyay, pahari Sanyal, Chobi biswas, Suchitra Sen
Why young girls of those times fantasized to be Suchitra Sen, why Uttam-Suchitra and not Uttam Supriya and not Prosenjit-Indrani, why Saptapadi and not Sakh- Sindurer-Dibbi; Questions go on endlessly.
These questions will never stop coming and the discussion will go on, but what’s more important is there’s so much in bengali movies, there’s no need to actually go for prototype bollywood bombshells, here lies out past, and we can very well have our future based on this glamorous and glorious past.
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After the golden era, there was a long stagnant period during which all that Tollywood was producing was some commercial (trash) stuff save for a few flickers of hope now and then. But the last few years have seen a change of perception, now good movies are getting the funds they require. With time the number of quality movies released per year is increasing. Recently I watched some films like Kalpurush, Anuranon and I loved them. Watch them and you will believe that the Dark Age is over and Tollywood is all set for a renaissance of sorts.
right friend, but u know still that essence is absent unless a rabindrasangeet or some good musical support is given, diction problem, cinematography, picturization nothing up to the mark….and dressing sense :: better not to talk about