The retrospectives of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and Mrinal Sen are main draws at the 15th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival that gets underway on February 29
The stage is set for the curtains to rise on the 15th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), which will be held from February 29 until March 7. A major attraction for cinema connoisseurs in the 15th edition of BIFFes is a retrospective of Mrinal Sen and Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. Bengali film/theatre director, scriptwriter/playwright, actor, and producer Sekhar Das will deliver a lecture on Mrinal Sen’s works and his contribution to Indian and world cinema as part of the centenary celebrations of the celebrated filmmaker.
“Sen’s films are satirical, and nuanced explorations of socio-political and human relationships. He is known for the Calcutta Trilogy, Ek Din Pratidin, Bhuvan Shome and Khandhar, among other films. His films also typically feature the coming of age of the city of Kolkata. Along with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen led the Indian New Wave of the 1960s. We are celebrating the birth centenary of Mrinal Sen by holding his retrospective,” said N Vidyashankar, Artistic Director, BIFFes.
Mrinal Sen sidelined at IFFI-2023
Cinephiles had expected a retrospective of Mrinal Sen at the 53rd edition of the International Film Festival (IFFI), organised by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. However, their expectations were dashed when the Directorate of IFFI chose to showcase Chorus (1974), a social drama, in the restored classics section instead. This decision sparked widespread inquiries into the rationale behind Mrinal Sen’s being sidelined at the festival, with many perceiving it as a political move due to Sen’s leftist ideology. Throughout his illustrious career, Sen directed a repertoire of anti-establishment films that garnered both national and international acclaim.
Asked about the choice of Mrinal Sen’s films, Vidyashankar said; “For BIFFes, political consideration is not a yardstick. Cinema, for Sen, was a great medium of art. Our idea is to offer a glimpse of his artistic expression to the film connoisseurs of the present generation.” Sen showed his control in every department of filmmaking. In Akash Kusum (Up in the Clouds, 1965), Sen’s camera becomes a storyteller, conveying the film’s message through exquisite montages and freeze frames. His Bhuvan Shome (1969) was a cult film in the sense that it started the trend of parallel cinema in Hindi. A true socialist, Sen depicted the decadence of an entrenched feudal system very well.
During a conversation with this writer, noted filmmaker Govind Nihalani described Mrinal Sen as ‘a pioneer of parallel cinema in India.’ He added: “Never did Mrinal compromise with the values he believed in throughout his film career.” Mrinal da, as he is fondly called by the film fraternity, left this mortal world in December 2018, leaving behind the ‘reels’ of his celluloid memories in his classics.
The Karnataka connection: Late director Nagesh Babu wanted Mrinal Sen to direct a film based on Niranjana’s ‘Chirasmarane,’ but the film got shelved because of financial constraints
Mrinal Sen’s Kannada connection
Today, young cinebuffs might not be aware that Sen had a Karnataka connection. “In 1977, Suchitra Film Society organised “Nostalgia”, which was essentially a festival of films from the golden time of Indian Cinema. The idea was to give the older generation another opportunity to enjoy movies of their time and expose the younger generation to classics. Stars were driven in vintage cars to Ravindra Kala Kshetra, the venue of the festival, on the inauguration day. Luminaries, including Mrinal Sen, Nargis and Devika Rani, graced the event,” recalled H N Narahari Rao, former artistic director of BIFFes.
In 1970, there was an attempt to bring Mrinal da to direct Chirasmarane, the magnum opus of renowned Kannada writer Niranjana, recalls renowned cinematographer B M Basavaraj, who was constantly in touch with Mrinal da till his last days. He told The Federal: “We spent a lot of time and discussed cinema during his visit to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) in 1977. I was bowled over by his simplicity.”
It was director Nagesh Babu, who tried his best to bring Mrinal Sen to Kannada. “But Chirasmarane could not be made because of the financial constraints. Had the film industry offered support, Chirasmarane would have been a reality in the ’70s itself,” Nagesh Babu had told this writer before he died in 2020. When he reminisced about the events that led to the preparation to shoot Chirasmarane in the 1970s, Nagesh Babu was 87 years old. But he had vivid memories of his meeting with Mrinal da.
Why Mrinal da? “Chirasmarane caught my imagination on the first reading. This literary work is based on the historic Kayyur uprising of 1941, when peasants rose against the landlords. As I had watched Akash Kusum and Neel Akasher Neechey (Under the Blue Sky, 1959), I thought none other than Mrinal da could do justice to Chirasmarane,” Nagesh Babu had recalled four years ago.
Correspondence between Nagesh Babu and Mrinal Sen
Lensman Praati Ashwathanarayana, brother of Nagesh Babu, told The Federal: “Babu wrote a letter to Mrinal Sen on July 23, 1970, expressing his desire to direct Chirasmarane for him. Anna (Nagesh Babu) thought of getting Chirasmarane directed by Mrinal Sen at a time when his Kannada film, Anireekshitha, had bombed at the box office. Mrinal da, in his letter to Nagesh Babu (dated July 26, 1970), wrote; “It is heartening to note that despite financial losses you have incurred, you are taking the risk of making a movie. But you have to check and double-check your finances.” But Mrinal da welcomed Anna’s idea and invited him to Bombay (now Mumbai) or to Calcutta (now Kolkata).”
Because of some pressing issues, Nagesh Babu could not meet Mrinal Sen then and wrote a letter to him, explaining his predicament on July 31, 1970. As directed by Mrinal da, Arun Kaul, who worked closely with him, wrote another letter to Nagesh Babu, seeking information about the film, including a detailed synopsis of the story, the writer and his position in Kannada literature, the approximate budget for the film till first printout, whether he needed funds, how he could arrange for funds, and filmmaking equipment available to shoot the film, among other things. Kaul also hinted to Nagesh Babu that Mrinal Sen would be available in late November or early December 1970 to take up the project.
“It was really unfortunate that Anna could not arrange one lakh rupees that was needed to produce Chirasmarane. Anna regretted his inability to get the finance for the project,” said Ashwathanarayana, tears rolling on his cheeks. Just a week after Mrinal Sen wrote a letter to Nagesh Babu, Bhuvan Shome won the National Award for the Best Feature Film.
