Part I

The Early Films of Mrinal Sen A commentary on the early works of one of India's pioneer filmmakers Mrinal Sen was born on May 14, 1923 in a place which had a distinctive rural countryside flavour, now in Bangladesh. His family was neither rich, nor poor but it was a large family. His father was a lawyer by profession. Before embarking upon filmmaking, Mrinal Sen was a medical representative. For sometime, he was also a member of the Communist Party of India. Before he took to filmmaking, Mrinal Sen got acquainted with film theory, content and form. He wrote articles on film related subjects, which was published in several newspapers of the 50s. His profound knowledge about cinema was evident in those writings. Notable amongst these writings was a biography of Chaplin. 1952 was an important year. The first Film Festival was held in that year and had a positive influence on the insiders of cinema. Mrinal Sen later, in many interviews, acknowledged of being inspired by this event. Sen is acknowledged as a pioneer of the artistic cinema movement in the country. Watching films of his is an enriching experience. His films have an element of freshness unlike most Indian filmmaker. With every new film of his, he has broken newer grounds. The struggle of the common human being, their trials and tribulations is at the heart of his filmmaking. His body of work have a matchless depth and intensity combined with sensitivity, a rarity in Indian cinema. Few filmmakers have been blessed with such an amazing blend of spontaneity, youthfulness, exuberance, flourish and above all, undeniably -- an awesome talent. When pet obsession of parallel cinema have been poverty, rural tragedy, middle class angst or clash between tradition and modernity, Sen have made films which have traversed untreaded grounds, and his enlightening works have been unleashed on eager filmbuffs prolifically for nearly four decades. Indeed, this brilliant filmmaker of powerful intellect forces us to re-examine, each time with his films, the tenets of our accepted wisdom. Mrinal Sen started his career in 1956 with a film which he doesn't care to remember now. His first feature "RAAT BHOR" was an utter failure, both artistically and commercially. Uttam Kumar featured in the cast. In RAAT BHORE (THE DAWN) the images of rural countryside i.e life in the villages of Bengal, where people lead life at one with nature, has been brought out skillfully by Mrinal Sen, with attention to meticulous details. As such some of the sequences from this film is indeed memorable, and worth remembering. Camerework was handled by Ramananda Sen, and music was given by Salil Choudhury. The film was in Bengali. About this time, he also worked as cinematographer in a few films viz in JORA DIGHIR CHOUDHURY PARIVAR ( Soumitro Chaterji, Kali Banerji & Madhabi Chakravorty directed by Ajit Lahiri). His next film "NEEL AKASER NEECHEY" (UNDER THE BLUE SKY) was a fine effort, where the relationship between a chinese hawker ( played with aplomb by Kali Banerji) and a Bengali housewife ( Manju Dey ) was sensitively handled. The wife reminded the hawker of his sister back home, and their friendship was viewed with suspicious eyes by the wife's husband ( Bikash Roy ) and neighbours. The film was set against the turbulent political times of those days. The popular song O NADIRE EKTI KATHA......... sung delectably by Hemanta Mukherjee in this film was a highlight. Another haunting Hemant number -- the title song -- EI NEEL AKASER NEECHEY OI PRITHIBI, AAR PRITHIBIR NEECHEY OI NEEL AKASH ...... was also memorable. Smritirekha Biswas and Suruchi Sengupta formed the supporting cast in the film. NEEL AKASER NEECHEY was based on a story by Mahadevi Verma. It is a film which Mrinal Sen wants to remake again, in a different style. In NEEL AKASER NEECHEY the Director has successfully recreated the ambience of 1930's Calcutta with good results. Especially in the sequences where the female character ( Manju Dey ) is shown involved in the freedom movement in pre-Independence days. Yet inspite of this, the growth of Sen as a creative filmmaker remained unfulfilled during that phase. These two films ( RAAT BHOR and NEEL AKASER NEECHEY ) had lot of unnecessary elements in terms of content and lacking in seriousness and sincerity of approach. Mrinal Sen himself has acknowledged it later. Music Direction for NEEL AKASER NEECHEY was provided by Hemanta Mukherjee. This film was made in 1959 in Bengali. Though lack of continuity and an overriding disjointed pattern is evident in his first two films RAAT BHOR and NEEL AKASER NEECHEY, yet apt usage of cinematic style, form and technique is unquestionable in these two early works of this gifted filmmaker. Essentially, Kali Bannerji loved to take challenging roles. The biggest challenge in his career came in Mrinal Sen's NEEL AKASER NEECHEY. Here he played a chinese hawker in a tense ridden society. It was quite unlike anything he had done or was to do. But that did not mean there were no other challenges for this talented actor. It was his third feature, BAISEY SHRAVAN, which catapulted his reputation and won Sen rave reviews. It estabhlished him as a frontrank filmmaker. Deft portrayal of reality and command over the medium made him one of the new masters of cinema in Calcutta nay India. His association with the Cultural movements of the Left and the Film Societies gave him the additional Rights to be one leader of the new cinema movement. BAISEY SHRAVAN was a tragic love story. It's English title was WEDDING DAY. It was the relationship between an ugly man and his sixteen year old beautiful wife. The film was filmed in a village 50 kms from Calcutta. Amidst the ruins of a sprawling feudal mansion, Sen shot this film in 1959-60. The film revolves around a newly-wedded couple. Gyanesh Mukherjee, who plays the husband, is a small time seller of essential goods, who makes a living by selling these goods, like dental care goods, in a train. He has a loving mother, who cares for him. Gyanesh gets married to a beautiful girl ( Madhabi Mukherjee ). Gyanesh was happy with his marriage, inspite of financial shortages, and considered himself lucky to get an understanding wife and mother. But not for long. Soon tragedy struck. One day he takes his wife to the mela, and while they were enjoying there, a whirlwind encycles everything,and destroyes many things at the Mela. When Gyanesh returns home, he was in for a shock. His mother's hut was uprooted in the storm, and she has died as a consequence of that. His mother's death deeply affected Gyanesh. He lost all interest in work, and began neglecting his job. His employer also grew dissatified with him. Although he starts re-working again, he no longer is able to do the same amount of business as before. Moreover, competition has grown manifold with the entry of new young youths in his business. While the young people can move from one compartment to another in speeding train, the aged Gyanesh while trying to emulate them, in one such occasion, falls from the train and fractures his leg. Now reduced to a handicapped person, his character undergoes a transformation. When his wife caress the small child of their relative (who now stay in their house to provide company to Madhabi after the death of Gyanesh's mother), he gets enraged. He develops a feeling that he is being neglected, as because he is incapable of doing any work and unable to support the family. Famine, too, was indeed making Gyanesh Mukherjee a very selfish person. His outbrusts towards his wife became a regular feature, and the invectives from her husband made Madhabi's life miserable. The crack in their warm relationship was soon evident. Gyanesh returns home one day, and finds that no one is answering his call or opening the door for him. After quite a few attempts, he breaks open the door and finds that his wife has committed suicide. That is the denouement of the film and a tragic end of the wedding of the once happy couple. BAISEY SHRAVAN remains one of the most harshest film of Mrinal Sen. It presented a grim picture of the post-independence plight of the lower middle class. The film won accolades at the London Film Festival in 1961. ( The subsequent works of Mrinal Sen are dealt with in the next article)