(review of a nearly lost Bengali film)
If you wonder how infinitely stable buildings and bridges were built in ancient ages without modern sciences' gift of electricity and computers, it is time to think why good cinema is not produced these days even with the advent of newest tricks in Physics and Chemistry. With markets flooded by ever increasing mega pixels of sophisticated cameras and high ended film institutes, there is no sight of rebirth of Ray, DeSica or Ghatak. It was by mere chance that I came across a compact disc from Angel Videos of SESH ANKA a black and white drama produced in 1963, which later turned out to be an eye opener to my rusty sense of fine arts.
'Sesh Anka' is a full length feature film in Bengali produced from one of the Tollygunge studios in Calcutta. The movie was a hit but never counted a milestone. Based on a rather common story of 'whodunnit' it is worth watching how sheer power of editing, crisp dialogues and a bit of good acting can turn a film spellbinding. There are two types of 'whodunnit'. In the first type the person responsible is disclosed by the director at the very beginning of the film and later the magic continues in describing how it happens. In the second type, the feature never tells you who the culprit is and the viewers are mesmerized as the magic unfolds. Though the first type is surely the difficult one to portray ('Psycho' from Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder's 'Double Indemnity'), the second type will only be remembered when its member will not lose its magic even on repeated viewing. 'Sesh Anka' is a member of the second type.
Directed by Haridas Bhattacharya, Uttam Kumar (all time hero of Bengali cinema) had the courage to act as an anti hero at the pinnacle of his acting career. Running through fourteen reels of celluloid, as it was measured in those days, Sharmila Tagore (Soma) as an actress recalls her charming innocence in Satyajit Ray's films in 1950's.
The film begins directly with title cards as was the style in those days, depicting innumerable names involved in the making of the film. But it delivered a unique haunting background music with it, which would later repeat itself in variations making it a string suspending the story. Uttam Kumar plays the role of Sudhangshu Dutta an affluent businessman who falls in love with Sharmila Tagore, daughter of a reputed (knighted by the British), wealthy lawyer of Calcutta. Sudhangshu had been married earlier to one named Kalpana. Kalpana died in a train accident. And it was then when Sudhangshu finally decided to marry Soma. Soma knew of Sudhangshu's earlier marriage but could not resist marrying him. There is nothing special about the camera work in this film which will make you restless but repeated jump cuts blending uniquely with excellent editing will attract your attention. The dialogues are down to earth relentlessly combining with the tempo of the film. The film never loses its tempo.
While the movie progresses it is worth to keep a watch on the background music. Soon after the first shot you will find a variation of the introductory theme when Sudhangshu hears Soma play a Tagore song on the piano. You will find repeated jump cuts and not fade outs hold the tempo of the film. But there is a unique transformation when the haunting introductory music (scene at the railway level crossing when Sudhangshu recalls Kalpana) dissolves into a song in Sudhangshu's lips (sung by Hemanta Mukerjee "ami to jani...."). Through jump cuts the film shuffles from one serene romantic moment to another hair raising drama of murder and moral decay. There is good music, fair amount of suspense (Salim Mia behind door) blending contagiously with persistent good acting. At one time viewers are bound to shift their attention from Uttam Kumar (the hero) to Bikash Roy (multiple identity). There are a complex set of dialogues describing dozens of little known places through which the plot has shifted. This is a style you often find in a detective book and you need to go back through pages to recapitulate them. But recapitulating in a motion picture is not possible. I would suggest viewers to be extra attentive in some shots where dialogues flow randomly (in the court scene and the last scene where Sudhangshu's brother- in- law comes in). Actor Kamal Mitra is one very man who will steal your attention once more while playing a lawyer's role and remind you of Edward.G.Robinson in 'Double Indemnity' as an insurance claim officer. Good actors are everywhere on this earth, you just need a pair of trained eyes to locate him.
The cinema holds the quality of a good detective novel where the latter grows complex to more complex as it reaches the finishing line. This movie is not a melodrama but it reaches a melodramatic suspense with the arrival of Debesh Sen but too loud back ground music at this juncture inhibits the film reaching Hitchcockian quality. The soundtrack of a train will remind a serious viewer of the importance of a background music in cinema. But the message "CRIME DOES NOT PAY" at the end of the film reflects the director's childish effort.
Credit goes to Haridas Bhattacharya, the director in visualising Raj Kumar Maitra's novel that the latter can be turned into a good cinema. Editor Santosh Ganguly will be remembered for his repeated jump cuts. Pavitra Chattrjee's music is mind blowing when taken into account the scond grade movies in those days. It is important in a thriller, how it unfolds. Based on this criteria 'Sesh Anka' deserves ten upon ten. But the irony lies somewhere else. If Kalpana (name of Sudhangshu's dead wife) is the soul character around whom the movie revolves, is it a sheer coincidence that the movie was produced by "Kalpana Movies"?
If you wonder how infinitely stable buildings and bridges were built in ancient ages without modern sciences' gift of electricity and computers, it is time to think why good cinema is not produced these days even with the advent of newest tricks in Physics and Chemistry. With markets flooded by ever increasing mega pixels of sophisticated cameras and high ended film institutes, there is no sight of rebirth of Ray, DeSica or Ghatak. It was by mere chance that I came across a compact disc from Angel Videos of SESH ANKA a black and white drama produced in 1963, which later turned out to be an eye opener to my rusty sense of fine arts.
'Sesh Anka' is a full length feature film in Bengali produced from one of the Tollygunge studios in Calcutta. The movie was a hit but never counted a milestone. Based on a rather common story of 'whodunnit' it is worth watching how sheer power of editing, crisp dialogues and a bit of good acting can turn a film spellbinding. There are two types of 'whodunnit'. In the first type the person responsible is disclosed by the director at the very beginning of the film and later the magic continues in describing how it happens. In the second type, the feature never tells you who the culprit is and the viewers are mesmerized as the magic unfolds. Though the first type is surely the difficult one to portray ('Psycho' from Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder's 'Double Indemnity'), the second type will only be remembered when its member will not lose its magic even on repeated viewing. 'Sesh Anka' is a member of the second type.
Directed by Haridas Bhattacharya, Uttam Kumar (all time hero of Bengali cinema) had the courage to act as an anti hero at the pinnacle of his acting career. Running through fourteen reels of celluloid, as it was measured in those days, Sharmila Tagore (Soma) as an actress recalls her charming innocence in Satyajit Ray's films in 1950's.
The film begins directly with title cards as was the style in those days, depicting innumerable names involved in the making of the film. But it delivered a unique haunting background music with it, which would later repeat itself in variations making it a string suspending the story. Uttam Kumar plays the role of Sudhangshu Dutta an affluent businessman who falls in love with Sharmila Tagore, daughter of a reputed (knighted by the British), wealthy lawyer of Calcutta. Sudhangshu had been married earlier to one named Kalpana. Kalpana died in a train accident. And it was then when Sudhangshu finally decided to marry Soma. Soma knew of Sudhangshu's earlier marriage but could not resist marrying him. There is nothing special about the camera work in this film which will make you restless but repeated jump cuts blending uniquely with excellent editing will attract your attention. The dialogues are down to earth relentlessly combining with the tempo of the film. The film never loses its tempo.
While the movie progresses it is worth to keep a watch on the background music. Soon after the first shot you will find a variation of the introductory theme when Sudhangshu hears Soma play a Tagore song on the piano. You will find repeated jump cuts and not fade outs hold the tempo of the film. But there is a unique transformation when the haunting introductory music (scene at the railway level crossing when Sudhangshu recalls Kalpana) dissolves into a song in Sudhangshu's lips (sung by Hemanta Mukerjee "ami to jani...."). Through jump cuts the film shuffles from one serene romantic moment to another hair raising drama of murder and moral decay. There is good music, fair amount of suspense (Salim Mia behind door) blending contagiously with persistent good acting. At one time viewers are bound to shift their attention from Uttam Kumar (the hero) to Bikash Roy (multiple identity). There are a complex set of dialogues describing dozens of little known places through which the plot has shifted. This is a style you often find in a detective book and you need to go back through pages to recapitulate them. But recapitulating in a motion picture is not possible. I would suggest viewers to be extra attentive in some shots where dialogues flow randomly (in the court scene and the last scene where Sudhangshu's brother- in- law comes in). Actor Kamal Mitra is one very man who will steal your attention once more while playing a lawyer's role and remind you of Edward.G.Robinson in 'Double Indemnity' as an insurance claim officer. Good actors are everywhere on this earth, you just need a pair of trained eyes to locate him.
The cinema holds the quality of a good detective novel where the latter grows complex to more complex as it reaches the finishing line. This movie is not a melodrama but it reaches a melodramatic suspense with the arrival of Debesh Sen but too loud back ground music at this juncture inhibits the film reaching Hitchcockian quality. The soundtrack of a train will remind a serious viewer of the importance of a background music in cinema. But the message "CRIME DOES NOT PAY" at the end of the film reflects the director's childish effort.
Credit goes to Haridas Bhattacharya, the director in visualising Raj Kumar Maitra's novel that the latter can be turned into a good cinema. Editor Santosh Ganguly will be remembered for his repeated jump cuts. Pavitra Chattrjee's music is mind blowing when taken into account the scond grade movies in those days. It is important in a thriller, how it unfolds. Based on this criteria 'Sesh Anka' deserves ten upon ten. But the irony lies somewhere else. If Kalpana (name of Sudhangshu's dead wife) is the soul character around whom the movie revolves, is it a sheer coincidence that the movie was produced by "Kalpana Movies"?
