File photo of filmmaker Kumar Shahani. Photo courtesy: S. Anandan
The 30th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) screened unpublished works and excerpts from renowned Indian filmmaker Kumar Shahani, a key figure in the Indian parallel cinema movement, in a posthumous tribute to the director.
Shahani is a National Film Award and Filmfare Award winning multilingual director, famous for his work in the Indian parallel cinema movement. illusion mirror (1972) and wave (1984).
He was a student of master filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII, formerly the Film Institute) and was a contemporary of other leading Indian film personalities such as Mani Kaul. He also assisted iconoclastic French director Robert Bresson une femme douce (1969)
Shahani breathed his last on February 25, 2024 in Kolkata at the age of 83.
In an almost 3-hour tribute session to Shahani at the Kolkata Information Center Auditorium on Tuesday, film lovers experienced the screening of his rare works like the restored version of his diploma short film from FTII. Manmad Passengerand his documentary on the exhibition of Akbar Padamsee at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, as the crow flies,
An introduction to the riverShahani’s video essay on Jean Renoir’s 1951 French-Bengali film RiverScreening was also done during the session. Notably, Satyajit Ray was an important part of its production. River In his participation during its shooting in West Bengal.
Visitors during the 30th Kolkata International Film Festival at Nandan, Kolkata. Photo courtesy: PTI
“Kumar Shahani tried to pay tribute to this great nation by trying to find a national vocabulary for Indian cinema. He tried to create images and voices that Indian cinema could call its own,” film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay said at the tribute session. “He was also trying to figure out, along with his mentor Ritwik Ghatak, whether sound in cinema should be considered equal or secondary to the image.”
Mukhopadhyay said that Shahani is one of the few people in the Indian film industry about whom both the greats of cinema – Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak – have written. Mukhopadhyay said, “His compositions reflect the invaluable lessons given to him by Ghatak – especially to value musicality in cinema, even if only through noise.”
Sandeep Chatterjee, meanwhile, was Shahani’s chief assistant director for his 1997 film four chapters,Recalled his time working with the director.
“Kumar was really open-minded. He was not power-driven or controlling in his approach towards filmmaking,” said Chatterjee. “He trusted the people he was working with. Even without his intervention, his films would be exactly as he envisioned them.”
Rimli Bhattacharya, who is currently collecting Shahani’s work, read excerpts from published and unpublished articles by Shahani, including emails and quotes. “Kumar Shahani talked about the game of density in cinema, achieved not only with light or color but also with poetry, as we see four chapters” Bhattacharya said.
Speakers also discussed Shahani’s extensive creative collaboration with renowned Indian cinematographer KK Mahajan.
published – December 11, 2024 11:09 am IST
