Bollywood's reel love for Durga

Kolkata: From Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" through Aparna Sen's "Parama" to Rituparna Ghosh's "Hirer Angti" - Durga Pujas have been central to Bengali cinema. Yet, when it comes to contemporary Bengali movies, especially post the Rituparno Ghosh era, the urge to revisit the goddess on screen has seen a decline. Bollywood, however, is slowly picking up.Almost all the recent Hindi movies shot in Kolkata invariably have a Durga Puja scene.
Any mention of Durga Puja in Bengali movies is bound to throw up familiar images of the sindoor-smeared face of Rituparna Sengupta from 'Utsab', Abhishek Bachchan's image of sculpting a protima in 'Antarmahal' and Dev-Subhoshree dancing to 'dhaaker taale' from 'Poran Jay Joliye Re'. Then, of course, there is Raja Sen's 'Debipaksha', Prabhat Roy's 'Tumi Ele Tai' and 'Sharater Shuili'. The dhaak competitions, the sindoor khela, the dhunuchi dance - Bengali cinema celebrated the Pujas with all of this and more.
Ray, of course, had a pivotal role in using the Pujas as a backdrop in his cinema. Durga Puja, in 'Pather Panchali', is Ray's springboard to explore the joys of anticipation, the crisis of the poor, the power-play of the rich and all things that evaporate like ether in between the worlds of dreams and reality.
A still from Kahani.
In the 1960-film 'Debi', Sharmila Tagore, who is egged on by her Chhabi Biswas's implicit faith, begins to believe that she is truly a reincarnation of Kali (a form of Devi Durga). In 'Nayak' (1966), Uttam Kumar's mentor Shankarda suffers a heart attack on the day of immersion.
In 'Joi Baba Felunath' (1979), the goddess' idol holds the key to the mystery that puzzles Feluda. Many can't forget the scene where Ruku, the six-year-old son of the Ghoshals, listens to the story of Durga and Mahishasur and asks: "Is this all true?" The old potter-artist-storyteller Shashi Pal answers him with a counter-question: "The sages have written it. How can it be untrue?" Ruku then says: "Everything is true. Mahishasur, Hanuman, Captain Spark, Tarzan, Aranyadev, Hijibijbij...."
Once Pradeep Sarkar entered Kolkata with his Bollywood cast and crew from 'Parineeta', familiar images of Durga Puja became a staple of any Hindi movie with a Kolkata connection. Sanjay Dutt's dhunuchi dance in 'Parineeta' paved the way for Bollywood cashing in on Puja rituals. Post-'Parineeta', when Vidya Balan again returned to the city to shoot, the first look of 'Kahaani' was a photograph of the heavily-pregnant actress walking down Kumartuli.
Film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay believes that reference to the goddess was common in earlier Bengali films because of their connection with religion or ideological issues. "Durga Puja is so important in 'Pather Panchali'. Ray's 'Devi' had focussed on the religious issues. Even 'Anusandhan' with Amitabh Bachchan had the popular Puja song called 'Phete gelo, pheshe gelo Kaliramer dhol '," he said. In an interview Ghatak had mentioned that the great mother image in its duality exists in every aspects of our being, and he incorporated this image into films like "Meghe Dhaka Tara" and "Jukti Takko Aar Gappo".
Director Srijit Mukherji admits that his Puja releases since 2010 have never had a Durga Puja sequence. This year's "Zulfiqar" is an exception. "In 'Zulfiqar', we see a Durga Puja but that too very marginally and having no bearing upon the main events. Since the Khidderpore region has a sizeable community of Hindus and even some Christians, we see churches, Durga Puja along with Eid celebrations and mosque. In fact the legendary Ides of March is interpreted as Eid, the day which Zulfiqar is assassinated by the conspirators."
A still from Parineeta.
Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri believes that contemporary Tollywood directors aren't thinking hard enough about interpreting this event. "Pujas are not only about religion. There are many ways to interpret them. Ray didn't use Durga Puja only for religious reasons in his films. Sadly, the standards of directors and films have fallen. Hence, they don't want to invest time on other interpretations," Bhaduri reasoned. Contemporary Bengali cinema, according to Mukhopadhyay, is so "delinked from society" that it doesn't feel the need to have Puja references.
Many believe that the abundance of Puja scenes in Hindi movies made by Bengali directors from Mumbai is because they have a more tourist kind of an approach. "In their eyes, Kolkata is still defined by the Howrah Bridge and the Durga Puja. For them, use of rituals associated with Durga is more important as a spectacle. Even advertisements today cash in the sindoor-khela images," Mukhopadhyay added.
Besides, familiarity breeds contempt. "Those who live close to the Ganga don't take a dip in the river. It's the same thing about Tollywood and Durga Pujas now," analysed Bhaduri.
Birsa Dasgupta's "033" has a subtle reference but his recent Puja releases, including 'Gangster' this year, has no Puja scene. "For someone who hails from this part of the world, Durga Puja is part of living. Hence, I didn't feel like using this reference," Dasgupta said, adding he has a script which is based on the four Puja days.
His brother, Ribhu Dasgupta, who directed "Te3n" with Amitabh Bachchan in Kolkata, has used the immersion metaphor. His yet-unreleased 'Michael' that was shot in Kolkata with Naseeruddin Shah doesn't have any Puja scene though. "It's a matter of personal choice," he said, insisting that his use of Durga Puja in 'Te3n' is different from Sujoy Ghosh's use in 'Kahaani'. "In Sujoy's film, the protagonist is an outsider. But in my film, the protagonist is from Kolkata. I drew a metaphorical parallel between what the protagonist was going through and the symbolism of an immersion. Irrespective of whether it is for the interest in spectacle or metaphor, I appreciate celebrating Durga Puja on screen," he said.
Even a recent film like "MS DHoni: The Untold Story" has a Durga Puja scene. Many Bollywood directors are also queuing up in Kolkata to take stock shots of the Pujas for their forthcoming Hindi films.
Perhaps, Tollywood, which is thankfully staying away from an overkill of clichés, will soon come forward with interesting takes on the myths and metaphors surrounding the deity.