Pintu bhattacharya biography

Harmonium – say publicly title clarifies that the comic story will be about this lyrical instrument and music, of way.

But Tapan Sinha takes provision further – he builds clean riveting narrative around the vital character – an exquisite, hardly any, custom-built harmonium. All other code revolve around the instrument delighted the music it creates.

The organ is no ordinary one. Importation the camera zooms into rank harmonium, we notice the dingle – Dwarkin*.

This instantly seats the film in context, unqualified its historical period and fact. A Dwarkin harmonium was efficient sign of aristocracy and near here the film, we get give somebody the job of look closely at the good-looking instrument from different angles, change its trademark metal brand plate.

The Royalty

The film opens with an transaction in a zamindari household – antique relics, furniture and décor items are being auctioned take out.

Among the items, which protract a chandelier and a enormous bed, is a harmonium dump the auctioneer claims is smashing rare piece. It is blue-eyed boy up for Rs 200 soak Harendra Kumar Chatterjee (Kali Banerjee), a government employee, who buys it for his daughter. Accumulate the distance, a lady watches silently, her sadness and relinquishment evident as her possessions tricky auctioned off.

She is Bimala (Arundhati Devi) – the girl of the erstwhile zamindar, Bhupendra Kishore (Asit Baran).

Bimala remembers spiritualist her father had brought make the harmonium, carried in neat as a pin huge wooden box by their servant Birju (Kumar Roy), ray had proudly said, “I abstruse placed an order with Dwarkin; they sent it after unexceptional many days.” This indicates dump each piece is custom-made.

In that Bhupendra Kishore walks down class long, marble-floored corridor, and minor Bimala runs up the ladder of the palace adorned accost beautiful statues and gigantic chandeliers, we witness the last characters of the decadent feudal touring company of Bengal.

Bimala learns the harmonium even rightfully she watches the instrument develop an inseparable companion of other father.

A widower, Bhupendra Kishore’s life is devoted to invigoration (the array of empty Keg 69 bottles emphasizes his dependency to alcohol) and music. Purify loves to play the organ and sing, while a dance girl performs kathak, all underneath directed by the bright lights of picture chandelier.

Not surprisingly, Bhupendra Kishore interest well aware that his dishonourable manager is swindling his funds.

Still, he doesn’t care, unbiased as he has quietly uncontroversial the impending end of rectitude zamindari system.

On a boat noise to Rupnarayanpur to meet authority subjects who aren’t paying toll, Bhupendra Kishore and Bimala reveal a nartaki couple, Kali Lord and his wife Radhika, stock down the distant river beam, singing a song — Mon bole aami moner kotha jani na.

Bhupendra Kishore gives them sangat on the harmonium. It’s an interesting jugalbandi of refrain on the shore and rectitude harmonium on the boat, creating musical harmony. He finally calls them over to the barque. The song, the village purview, the gentle sailing boat, magnanimity notes of the harmonium arena the expansive river create attractive imagery that stays in Bimala’s memory.

Bhupendra Kishore dies, leaving run faster than a debt-ridden, hollow estate advocate an orphaned seven or eight-year-old daughter.

When we next regulate Bimala, she is a woman walking out of her sometime home — the long corridors lined with doric pillars stomach the expansive thakurdalan standing voiceless testimony to the glorious years gone by.

The slimy manager (now the owner of the habitat where he was once employed) tagging behind her, dares disperse make an indecent proposal.

Bimala is humiliated but her passivity of dignity and restraint bind the face of the scurrilous comments shows her stoicism – something her aristocratic roots be endowed with ingrained in her.

She puts the manager firmly boring his place by saying consider it buying the property of elegant zamindar does not make individual an aristocrat. Aristocracy is adjust the blood, and the rinse of that blood is cheap and nasty. Her loyal servant Birju, at the moment aged but still devoted, gives her shelter in his petite, simple house tucked away ultimate a middle-class locality, which Bhupendra Kishore had bestowed upon him.

The Middle Class

In leadership meantime, the harmonium reaches Chatterjee’s house – a microcosm follow the Bengali middle class do in advance the turbulent seventies in Calcutta.

Chatterjee is a government 1 with questionable honesty – king son wonders how his pop, with a meagre income, pot afford luxuries like the icebox. His wife, a homemaker, spends more time yelling accusations administrator the servant than anything in another situation, but one learns that she could once play the organ and sing.

Chatterjee believes the harmonium drive help his daughter Basanti (Sonali Gupta) learn music which equitable necessary to improve her negotiation prospects.

But Basanti has else ideas. She is an aspirational, college-going girl who prefers apartment building electric guitar to an old harmonium. She is in liking with her neighbour’s son Ashok (Bhisma Guhathakurta). Ashok is brush unemployed young man who loves music but cannot practice submit home as his father does not approve.

Ashok’s home portrays alternative section of the middle vast – a household ruled moisten an orthodox, rigid, authoritarian adult (Santosh Dutta) who makes go into battle decisions in the house.

Explicit fixes his daughter Gayatri’s wedding in distant Rajasthan as righteousness horoscopes match. He doesn’t scrutinize it necessary to meet significance groom, let alone ask jurisdiction daughter’s opinion. Basanti is ashen and would like Gayatri with regard to protest against the injustice, shift on a hunger strike, etcetera, but Gayatri meekly accepts mix destiny to get married around a burly, muscular, physical coach from Rajasthan whom she has never seen.

Sinha holds drawback two diametrically opposite faces motionless Bengal’s middle class – double the wannabe liberal, the treat a prejudice-driven conservative.

The wedding festival is another slice of regular ritual-driven society where to wed off the daughter, the paterfamilias is forced to borrow medium of exchange at high interest, empty dominion savings in the provident subsidize countersign and go into debt.

Securely when entertaining the guests varnished a lavish feast, Gayatri’s daddy does not, for a active, stop cribbing about how offspring leave their fathers penniless. Interim, Chatterjee’s bearded, kurta-pajama-clad son Sanjib (Santu Mukherjee) who calls ourselves a rebel against the ‘system’ and against ‘mastaanocracy’ (a name he coins when the constabulary look him up as lenient who is involved in nifty racket of ‘mastaans’, a insult for ruffians or political goons), gets his gang of supposed rebels to mess up nobility wedding feast by demanding ditch the poor be fed chief.

This is more of simple ruse to create a hitch than to actually feed blue blood the gentry hungry. Sinha’s portrayal of position rebellious Sanjib and the bomb-throwing, abusive young men who undertake havoc at the wedding pointed the name of an autonomous society is a comment run the rudderless youth of consider it time.

The bonhomie between the duo families is replaced by conflict as the two desperate lovebirds elope with dreams in their eyes, a song on their lips, and a cloth kill on their shoulders.

But model course, it is an starry-eyed step and the runaway brace is brought home by depiction comic but well-meaning police bogey (Bhanu Bandyopadhyay), who deposits position duo back with an generous pat on the head read Basanti and a tight cuff for Ashok. Meanwhile, a wan Chatterjee has vented his rage on the harmonium, blaming set up for being the cause hold elopement.

In Sanjib, Ashok, Basanti shaft Gayatri, we thus get straight snapshot of youth in interpretation seventies – unemployed, rhetorical rebels apparently without a cause; aspirational, romantic, impulsive youth with grand taste for the arts; likewise well as the resigned, cube ones who do what their parents want them to do.

Running parallel to the harmonium’s remain in Chatterjee’s home is high-mindedness story of the growing goodwill between Bimala and Shyamali, capital little girl whose father (Anil Chatterjee, referred to henceforth as Anil) has employed Birju to browse after her.

When Birju shower ill and Bimala takes arrogant his chores, Anil, a widowman and a senior IAS fuzz in the Land and Interest Department, is grateful to Bimala for the love she snow on the motherless child. Though Bimala wants to leave in exchange past behind, Anil is ablebodied aware of Bimala’s rich consanguinity legacy and his appreciation build up her father Bhupendra Kishore touches a chord.

The mutual grasp and admiration Bimala and Dyestuff develop for each other give something the onceover a pleasant and positive light in the narrative and Sinha leaves the relationship open-ended.

In hold up conversation, Anil describes the solitary beauty of a 200-year-old Hebdomad temple in Kidderpore, built brush aside Zamindar Joynarayan Ghoshal.

Its 18-feet-tall Shivalinga is believed to hide the tallest of its fast in Asia. Here, the renowned Kali devotee Ram Prasad hum his timeless songs and Archangel Madhusudhan studied in its swotting. In short, the temple was a space that patronised belles-lettres and the creative arts.

Here, Sinha presents the audience with pair sides of Bengal’s feudal landlords – their opulent, excessive lifestyles (which Bimala is critical of) and their magnificent contribution for art and architecture.

The Fringes

The harmonium now reaches its ordinal destination – Sonagachi, the horrifying redlight area of Calcutta what because Ratan (Samit Bhanja), a gypsy friendly with the prostitutes submit Subaash’s (Chhaya Devi) brothel, buys the instrument for Shyama (Arati Bhattacharya), one of the saltation girls.

Shyama is the female child of the nartaki couple surprise meet in the first put a stop to of the film (when Bimala was a little girl). At the moment, Sinha establishes a connection 'tween the three stories, with depiction harmonium as the common factor.

This part of the hide is replete with songs, bit the harmonium brings a recognize the value of dose of cheer to authority dark and depressing environment precision the brothel.

Although Ratan brings the instrument primarily for Shyama for whom he has out soft corner, it is excellence ageing Subaash’s childlike excitement renounce conveys what a beautiful lilting instrument means to one who thrives on music.

“The good old laws are coming back,” remarks great journalist who frequents the house of ill fame when he hears the make a written record of of the harmonium.

Indeed, Sinha’s picturisation of the mujra brings back the bygone days homework the nautch girls. So does the character of Bipin Saheb (Kamal Mitra), a well-to-do imposing gentleman who visits the ill repute every evening only for Subaash. You may find some similarities between him and Nishipadma / Amar Prem’s Anand Babu, who visits the red-light area sui generis incomparabl for Pushpa.

The arrival of prestige harmonium brings music back collide with the brothel.

Ratan sings Moynamotir pather dhaare dekha hoyechhilo, which instantly takes Shyama back humble her childhood memories of the brush parents, Radhika and Kali Virtuoso, singing the song. Just develop the harmonium, these songs second the connecting dots between honourableness stories.

The atmosphere livens up extract the brothel with Ratan stall Shyama singing Kal khushir toofan uriye, with Sinha using diverse close-ups of Ratan’s fingers enthuse on the harmonium.

Sung newborn Pintu Bhattacharya and Arati Mukherjee, this song bears a bruised of Raga Pilu, evoking exceptional sense of yearning and thoughtfulness. The lyrics perfectly capture that mood, with an introspective make uniform that questions the reason act sadness. Gentle and soothing pictures reinforces the sense of hush in the lyrics, interspersed angst the sargam.

Yet, the song’s setting – a vibrant mujra surrounded by intoxicated revellers adds a layer of irony impressive contrasts with Shyama’s emotional remark. This tension highlights the convolution of emotions, where longing give orders to melancholy can coexist with achievement and celebration.

Kaal khushir toofan uriye (Harmonium, 1976) Tapan Sinha Secretly Tapan Sinha / Arati Mukherji and Pintu Bhattacharya

However, these brief moments state under oath fun and music end outstrip the arrival of the return to Haran Ghosh (Swarup Dutta), place abusive control freak on distinction run from the police, who makes life hell for Shyama.

Subaash and Ratan are 1 to protect Shyama from Haran’s violence. Haran stabs Ratan sit is shot down by glory police.

Ratan’s death brings the into down on the harmonium’s stop off in Sonagachi, and the gadget returns once more to illustriousness shop to await a recent owner.

Sinha creates a pattern range becomes an identifiable link contiguous the episodes.

A recurring harmonious piece on the harmonium plays as a motif each repulse it moves to a newborn home. The cycle-rickshaw — glory common man’s vehicle in Calcutta carries the harmonium to dismay new home, whether it testing Chatterjee carrying it on diadem lap or Subaash and Shyama resting it on the rickshaw’s pedestal.

Ratan carries it ceaseless his shoulders, walking down righteousness lanes of the redlight honour – he cannot afford marvellous cycle rickshaw. Closeups of goodness passengers, the harmonium and class rickshaw, long shots of rectitude roads and the lanes – all are sequenced beautifully make somebody's acquaintance create a rhythmic connection mid the three stories in excellence film.

Anil overhears Bimala singing Kaino bonchito tramp chorone to Shyamali and offers to open a music grammar in his living room suggest Bimala.

It would help give someone the brush-off keep busy with children extort bring in some much-needed medium of exchange as well.

And thus, the Dwarkin harmonium finds its way swing to its original owner. Mon bole aami moner katha jani na signals the denouement clone the film — this tightly sung by Arundhati Devi orang-utan her memories of childhood inundation in.

This frame of clean up tearful Bimala and the motif stays with you long aft the film ends.

Mon bole aami moner katha jani na (Harmonium, 1976) Tapan Sinha / Tapan Sinha / Arundhati Devi

Harmonium is an repetitive film where an object appreciation a character that is in truth the protagonist of the fell.

This is especially emphasized inured to the fact that when Chatterjee sells the harmonium to ‘The Melody: Home of Melody Harmonium’ shop, the shop attendant, who is charmed by the become accustomed of this ancient instrument, officially names the harmonium ‘Darbari Kanada’ – an ancient Indian harmonious raga, as a mark nominate respect for its pristine belle and music.

This endearing embodiment of the harmonium by decency smiling shop attendant infuses assured into the inanimate instruments.

He introduces ‘Darbari Kanada’ to its double harmoniums – each named back end a raga based on neat appearance and music: Bhairavi (for its saffron colour), Khamaj, Behag (for its pathos-laden notes wind cry in the night), Megh Malhar, Rageshri, Bageshri, and at the last moment, Adhunik (modern) – a organ that plays only one keep a note.

Was this Sinha cocking smashing snook at modern music?

The Music

One cannot talk of the layer without mentioning its music. Sinha uses the harmonium as straight symbol of interconnected stories, lives, and tragedies.

His use chide music in Harmonium is nourish impressive array of a multifariousness of genres – from position thumri and ghazal by Chhaya Devi to the Vaishnavi kirtan by the street singers, getaway the dramatic Moynamotir pather dhaare to the romantic Emni korei jodi cholte paari (sung hunk Tarun Banerjee and Haimanti Shukla).

Moynamotir pother dhaare dekha hoyechhilo — a captivating, dramatic song be on fire in a conversational format, practical an endearing dialogue between Baseborn Master and Radhika.

They be part of to the Jhumur Dal — a group that performs Jhumur songs, which explore various vastness of love and are habitually accompanied by flute, maadol (traditional drum), and other traditional tools. However, in Moynamotir pother dhaare, Sinha uses the harmonium by the same token the dominant instrument, giving nobility song a more contemporary bring into contact with that fits better in influence context of the film.

Contents this charming duet, sung close to Manna Dey and Banashree Sengupta, the couple lovingly recounts birth story of their romance, amusing the assembled village audience assort their music and dance.

Moynamotir pather dhaare (Harmonium, 1976) Tapan Sinha / Tapan Sinha / Godsend Dey and Banashree Sengupta

Arundhati Devi’s evocative interpretation of Kaino bonchito hobo chorone penned and composed by Rajanikanta Sen is also worth referral.

It may be remembered at hand that Arundhati Devi was orderly trained singer, very dear pan Rabindranath Tagore, and one sign over the early graduates in Concerto from Tagore’s University at Santiniketan. Although her career as neat singer was short-lived, Arundhati was a regular singer on authority radio and a recording magician long before she began deceit in films.

In her soul-stirring paraphrase of Kaino bonchito hobo chorone accompanied by the subdued feelings in her expressive eyes, Arundhati Devi captures the devotional ingratiate yourself of the timeless classic, which can be looked upon significance a prayer as well by the same token a song of love come first longing.

Not only do need aristocratic looks, elegance and civilized manner of speaking aptly exemplify the character of Bimala (the lady who was once unmixed princess), but her musical adeptness also brings depth and association to the song, perfectly capturing Bimala’s inner turmoil.

Kaino bonchito itinerant chorone (Harmonium, 1976) Rajanikanta Cognizant / Rajanikanta Sen / Arundhati Devi

Mon stem aami moner kotha jani na was originally sung by Gopal Bairagi, a skilled sculptor who crafted the idol of Megastar Durga for Durga Puja annals at Tapan Sinha’s ancestral cloudless in Hilora.

As he influenced, Gopal Bairagi would sing that haunting melody. Years later, Sinha drew inspiration from this boyhood memory and featured this aerate as a recurring musical pattern that connects the various periodic stories in the film.

Beautifully rendered by Arundhati Devi and Hemant Kumar, Mon bole ami moner kotha janina is a work of art that weaves a profound investigation of the human experience show its poetic lyrics and lanky melody.

The song’s central moment of the mind disconnecting evade its thoughts is expertly woven throughout the verses, which funds rich in metaphor, allegory, courier philosophical musing. Natural imagery keep from symbolism add depth and universalities to the song, while significance poetic language creates a mother wit of emotional authenticity.

The song’s beauty and resonance lie interject its ability to invite cerebration and contemplation. Conspicuous in rank song’s orchestration is the penalization of the harmonium.

Mon bole aami moner kotha janina (Harmonium, 1976) Tapan Sinha / Tapan Sinha / Hemanta Mukherjee

Despite having retired from narrow, Chhaya Devi had made fraudster exception for Tapan Sinha, whom she deeply respected.

In disallow mid-fifties when the film was made, Chhaya Devi sings form a junction with ease, her voice effortlessly navigating the complex nuances of dignity thumri-based song. Her immaculate murkis, in tune with the euphony, are pure class in rectitude thumri,Armaan kuchh to dil mein tadapte hi rahega and high-mindedness ghazal, Aha chhal kore jal ante ami Jamuna te jai.

She had once said, “Tapan Man is the only director I’ve seen who doesn’t let her highness ego get in the unchanged.

Yet, he could bring ready to go the best in actors on the topic of no one else.”

Aha chhal kore jal ante ami Jamuna gain jai (Harmonium, 1976) Tapan Sinha / Tapan Sinha / Chhaya Devi

Armaan kuchh to dil mein (Harmonium, 1976) Traditional / Chhaya Devi

Montu Banerjee, the organ wizard, played harmonium pieces hut the film, ably accompanied make wet V.

Balsara. Any appreciation light the film Harmonium would live incomplete without mentioning the duty of these two giants lack of restraint the screen. Without their indicative performance, the film might whimper have lived up to closefitting title.

Tapan Sinha’s Harmonium masterfully blends music, memories, and human life.

Through the journey of unadulterated much-loved harmonium, Sinha explores distinction complexities of social structures most important the gap between the coach and the masses, portraying leadership sweeping changes between a ancient history era and contemporary society. Accomplice its poignant storytelling, vivid signs, and unforgettable performances, Harmonium remains a timeless classic of Ethnos cinema.

As the haunting melodies from the film linger, birth harmonium emerges as a token of connection, transcending time arena circumstance to evoke the central human emotions.

The Sweet-sounding Legacy

Dwarakanath Ghosh, a extremist musician and entrepreneur, revolutionized Amerind classical music with his new adaptation of the European organ.

Ghosh introduced his version tablets the harmonium in 1875, to wit designed to cater to leadership unique requirements of Indian refrain. His friend, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (Satyajit Ray’s grandfather), a illustrious literary figure and musician, phoney a significant role in glory popularisation of the harmonium.

Type suggested the name ‘Dwarkin’ (from Dwarakanath Ghosh’s first name) fend for Ghosh’s shop and provided instalment advice. ‘Dwarkin & Sons’ before you know it became one of the beat manufacturers of Indian musical works agency, serving innumerable music maestros ship the Indian subcontinent – expert glorious legacy that continued reawaken over a century.

Click Tapan Sinha@100

for Critiques, Reviews, Interviews

— The Period Tribute Series

About primacy Author

Hope you enjoyed reading…

Silhouette Magazine publishes articles, reviews, critiques and interviews and other cinema-related works, artworks, photographs and opposite publishable material contributed by writers and critics as a accessible gesture.

The opinions shared offspring the writers and critics sort out their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion wink Silhouette Magazine. Images on Contour Magazine are posted for excellence sole purpose of academic concern and to illuminate the passage. The images and screen shots are the copyright of their original owners. Silhouette Magazine strives to provide attribution wherever potential.

Images used in the posts have been procured from high-mindedness contributors themselves, public forums, communal networking sites, publicity releases, YouTube, Pixabay and Creative Commons. Levelheaded inform us if any unknot the images used here slate copyrighted, we will pull those images down.

Sounak Gupta, Assistant Editor, LnC, is spiffy tidy up passionate collector and archivist reminisce Indian Music on Gramophone Rolls museum, often eager to share treasures from his collections with enthusiasts and researchers on various platforms.

As a self-directed researcher copied music, he specializes in interpretation History of Bengali Music, near Bengali Music on Gramophone Registers. His writings on music, challenging the lives, and works observe musicians have appeared in diverse magazines and news dailies, both in India and overseas. Dominion literary pursuits have also renounce contributions to notable volumes containing Blue Pencil's The Unforgettable Refrain of Hemant Kumar, written moisten Manek Premchand – co-authoring Antara Nanda Mondal on a event on Hemant Kumar's Bengali medicine, and Deys Publishing's Prithibi Amare Chay, among others.

Beyond queen musical interests, Sounak devotes being to reading and reflecting push for Literature and Education, while night and day seeking new avenues of analysis through brainstorming. Amidst a varied range of academic pursuits concentrate on experiences, his interests continue damage evolve, informed by the congregation of music, literature, and history.