More than a decade ago I played a bit part in a short movie (based on a short story by Premendra Mitra) directed by one of my old boys. It went on to win a prize at some sort of competition. You can look it up on YouTube, here. It has just been rediscovered by my current class 10 batch :)
The director told me 'Sir, you don't have to act, just behave as you always do in your classroom'. One point of pride is that I was the only actor who needed a single take, though I had had no professional experience before that.
Given more expert editing, the whole thing would have looked better, I'm sure, but I encouraged the team because they were so young, so excited and dedicated to the project.
Watch, enjoy and comment.
2 comments:
Dear Sir,
I watched the movie "Niruddesh". Incidentally, I had not read the story by Premendra Mitra and watching the movie gave me the opportunity of reading it. According to me, the short story eminently fulfills the criterion of a short story described by Rabindranath:
ছোট প্রাণ, ছোট ব্যথা, ছোট ছোট দুঃখ কথা
নিতান্তই সহজ সরল;
সহস্র বিস্মৃতিরাশি প্রত্যহ যেতেছে ভাসি
তারি দুচারিটি অশ্রুজল।
নাহি বর্ণনার ছটা, ঘটনার ঘনঘটা,
নাহি তত্ত্ব নাহি উপদেশ।
অন্তরে অতৃপ্তি র’বে সাঙ্গ করি’ মনে হবে
শেষ হয়ে হইল না শেষ।
I liked the way the story was ‘adapted’ by the director: Shovon’s passion for music, especially baul songs and his confrontation with his father regarding his career (not present in the story) has evidently been introduced in the film to give it a contemporary feel. It is sure to have struck a chord with today’s generation, burdened as they are always with parental expectations. The character of Shovon reminded me a bit of the young boy Tarapada in Rabindranath’s story, "Otithi" (Guest). When the narrator says, “he did not leave home under the spell of his ego. Leaving the home itself was an easy task whatever the reason might have been…Among the many inconveniences, he savoured his freedom”, I was reminded of Tarapada, who would not accept any “ties” and, driven by wanderlust, would steal away from his home time and again. As you said, there is a certain amount of rawness about the whole thing, but I guess that is inevitable with anyone who is venturing out into a new field.
About your acting, I would say that you played the part of ‘our Suvro Sir’ to the Tee.;) The movie gave me a sense of déjà vu—I could see you explaining to us painstakingly the difference between the funeral speeches of Brutus and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, talking about Nazi Germany and anti-Semitism in our history class (something which sparked my interest in the Jews and eventually led to my writing my PhD thesis on the representation of Jews in English Renaissance drama) and commenting on the hypocrisy of Bengali parents who seem to profess great reverence for patriots like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, garlanding his photograph dutifully on his birthday while snidely telling their children not to follow in his footsteps (Tui kintu orokom hosh ni baba—those were your very words). Even after some thirty-odd years, I can see all these clearly in my mind’s eye, Sir!
Regards
Ramit
Dear Suvro-da,
I did miss a few very important blogs and this is one of them. Sometimes its good to get surprised and truly this short film has made me feel that finer things in life never go in vain. Music is one such aspect and a path towards freedom. I also agree with what Ramit (my batchmate) wrote above.
with best regards
Debasish Das.
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