At 69, Basusree takes French route to bring back golden days

KOLKATA: The French consulate has collaborated with the 1947-born Basusree cinema to work towards reviving the heritage cinema hall, which was the culture hub of the city before Nandan came into being.
According to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between Basusree, the French consulate and Alliance Française du Bengale, the Hazra crossing landmark will host French films every alternate Sundays.A series of events (seminars by French film directors and workshops) have been planned by the French consulate “to create a French cinema space in Kolkata“. To begin with, Jean-Francois Laguioni-directed `Le Tableau' (The Painting) will be screened on October 1for city students.
“We are proud to partner with Basusree cinema, a historical theatre of Kolkata, for screening of French modern films and classics, twice a month on Sundays. We are also planning to organize a whole lot of events at Basusree next year, especially within our festival `Bonjour India' starting November 2017,“ French consul-general Damien Syed told TOI on Saturday .
Looking forward to a “growing French connection with Basusree cinema“, Syed added, “We particularly appreciate the enthusiasm and openness of the team of Basusree cinema to collabo rate with France. Personally , I love the timeless atmosphere and the great charm of the place that is a part of the city's heritage.“
Basusree's current owner Sourav Bose added, “Ours is one of the handful of single-screen halls that have withstood the onslaught of multiplexes. An international collaboration should ensure more life for the heritage hall.“
Film studies professor Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay finds a “queer“ jean Renoir Satyajit Ray-Basusree connection in the French collaboration. “Renoir became an inspiration and a mentor for Ray , and much of the Renoir hues were evident in the black-and-white `Pather Panchali', released in 1955.“ As part of the French initiative, Mukhopadhyay's translation of the script of French film-maker Truffaut's “400 blows“ was launched by director Gautam Ghose at Basusree on September 18.
Basusree had become an extended workshop for both Ray and Ravi Shankar when the latter composed the `Panchali' theme score. Ray had spent two nights at a stretch inside Basusree, giving final touches to the editing, ahead of its August 26, 1955, release.
Those days, when Bengal was agog with mainstream Bengali films and was on a staple diet of Uttam-Suchitra hits (also screened regularly at Basusree), the owners (mainly Montu Bose) were extremely sensitive to Ray's genre of parallel cinema. Basusree had organized special screenings for promoting `Pather Panchali'.
“This resurgence for Basusree is good sign because our theatre houses are increasingly becoming leisure-hour spaces,“ said Mukhopadhyay , adding, “The tie-up is extremely significant because cinema in Calcutta was first introduced in 1898 by a French distribution company called, Pathe, and later during 1949-50.“
According to Mukhopadhyay , Basusree occupies a unique palce in Bengali film-viewing culture. “Two iconographic signs, `Pather Panchali' (1955) and `Ajantrik' (1957) were released here. Stones's throw from Basusree was Paradise Café, where intellectuals like Salil Chowhury , Ritwik Ghatak, Tapas Sen, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Mrinal Sen would sit for prolonged addas. The adda would often be extended to the Basusree's coffee house,“ he said.