Bengali Cinema: An Other Nation

Sharmistha Gooptu

• Publisher: Roli Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9788193704950
• eBook ISBN: 9788193704950
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Sharmistha Gooptu is a founder and managing trustee of the South Asia Research Foundation (SARF), a not-for-profit research body based in India. SARF's current project SAG (South Asian Gateway) is in partnership with Taylor and Francis, and involves the creation of what will be the largest South Asian digital database of historical materials. She is also the joint editor of the journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) and the Routledge South Asian History and Culture book series.

BENGALI CINEMA

Sharmistha Gooptu has a Ph.D in History from the University of Chicago. She is a founder and managing trustee of the South Asia Research Foundation, a not-for-profit research body based in India. Gooptu is also the joint editor of the journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) and the Routledge South Asian History and Culture book series. She is Adjunct Lecturer at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.

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ROLI BOOKS

This digital edition published in 2018

First published in 2010 by

The Lotus Collection

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Copyright © Sharmistha Gooptu, 2010

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For Boria

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Early Years

1. The Idea of a ‘Bengali’ Cinema

2. Bengal and a ‘National’ Cinema: New Theatres Ltd.

3. The Transition to a ‘Regional’ Cinema

4. Bengali Love-Stories: Uttam-Suchitra and the Golden Era of Bengali Cinema

5. Common Man’s Comedy: The Bhanu Factor

6. Satyajit Ray and the Bengali Cinema

7. Changing Context, New Texts: Bengali Cinema and Another Bengaliness

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Bibliography

Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Iwould first of all like to thank Pramod Kapoor and Priya Kapoor of Roli Books for their support, and for their continued faith in me. Priya especially is as much a friend as publisher. I also thank Nandita Bhardwaj and Shalini Krishan of Roli for their editorial support, and all the work behind this book.

The book first began as a Ph.D thesis at the University of Chicago, and I am indebted to all those associated with my work there. My dissertation committee – Professors Dipesh Chakrabarty, Tom Gunning and William Mazzarella were a source of unstinting support, and always gave the best advice. Professor Clinton Seely was most supportive in the initial stages of the project. My gratitude to them is immense. At the University of Chicago, generous funding from the History Department, the Division of the Social Sciences, the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and the Mellon Foundation made possible the research and writing of my dissertation.

A few names come to mind when I think back to when I first started my research for this project. I must thank Monika Ganguli, daughter of Bengali film pioneer Dhiren Ganguli and actress Premika Devi, who graciously shared with me her parents’ memorabilia. I also owe the most sincere gratitude to Dilip Kumar Sircar, whom I first met in 2003, when I was researching New Theatres, and who became, over the years, a trusted friend. Mr. Sircar placed at my disposal the entire surviving archive of New Theatres, and spent many hours sharing with me his experiences of the film world. Even in his last days he nurtured the dream of filmmaking, and I regret that I will not be able to hand him a copy of this book. Bharati Devi, the famous Bengali actress, welcomed me into her home in Calcutta, and my conversations with her have enriched this work.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Umakanta Ray, who was immensely resourceful, and without whose assistance the completion of this book would have been eminently more labourious. A word of appreciation is also due to the staff of the National Film Archives at Pune, the National Library and Bangiya Sahitya Parishat in Calcutta, the British Library and the Regenstein Library in Chicago.

I would also like to acknowledge a few friendships that I have enjoyed over these past years. I cherish the time spent with Nalin Mehta and Nitika Mansingh, and have valued Nalin as a work partner. Manoj and Ranjani Joshi became like family and are trusted colleagues.

Finally, I must thank my entire family for their unfailing love and for bearing with every bit of unreasonable behaviour while I was working to finish my dissertation and then this book. My parents Sulekha and Gautam Gooptu have supported me all my life, and but for them I would never have had the opportunities in life that I did. They gave me my greatest asset – a good education and all they ever wanted in return was to see me shine. Writing this book made me better understand my parents’ generation, why they did certain things, and how much they had enjoyed being young. There is also my brother Deep, who inhabits a very different world professionally, but he was always interested in my doings, and I hope that he and Amrita will like reading this book. Mani, Dida and Mama were always more proud of me than I deserved, and I know that for Dida and Mama my first book will be a truly special present.

My gratitude is due to my mother-in-law Roopa Majumdar, who has been like a mother to me, relieving me of many responsibilities and taking care of me in a way which I can perhaps never quite match up to. Rochona Majumdar gave me a second home in Chicago, and but for her Hyde Park would have been much lonelier. I also thank those people around me – Shyamda, Mashi, Jyotsna – who in their unassuming ways have cared for me. Dear has treated me like one of her own grandchildren. And of course, there is BNatul, who arrived a wobbly pup as I was starting to write my dissertation, and is now every bit the fiery Doberman. This book will not interest him (it won’t smell like chicken or rosogollas), but he has been integral to its writing. Together we shared many midnight snacks and his high spirits kept me going. He and others – Lily, Goopy, Lalu – who were living on the streets but have now got homes, gave that much needed sense of things beyond archive and book manuscript. And finally, my deepest thanks are to my husband Boria Majumdar, from whom I have learnt the most. He has given me that unconditional love which many desire but few are blessed with, and it was because of him that I could be so relaxed about many things and have the luxury of only doing my own work. If anyone could possibly be more excited than myself to see this book in print, it’s he.

INTRODUCTION

The Imaginary of the Bengali Film

An entry in the Ency...

Table of contents

• Bengali Cinema