Last year around August we came to know of a film called Asha Jaoar Majhe which broke the decade-long absence of Bengali cinema at the Venice International Film festival when it was chosen in the Venice Days section. It also went on to win an important award — the Best Debut Director. Subsequently its festival run continued at top acts such as Busan, London, Rotterdam.... The faces of new Indian cinema like Irrfan Khan, Vikramaditya Motwane, Abhay Deol, were all praise for this little big film from Bengal. It really felt very satisfying that a Bengali film was making such a mark in the international film scenario. Finally. I met the director of the film on Facebook. We exchanged some messages where he graciously thanked me for the support I lent to his film through my writings in t2. We decided to meet when I would be in Calcutta for the release of my film Kadambari in May.
THE BACKSTORY
Aditya came to my place soon after I arrived in Calcutta and I saw in him a person who was honest, sensitive and passionate. These are rare traits to encounter nowadays. Our adda went on for quite some time, ranging from script-writing styles to the films of Roy Andersson, Tsai Ming-liang and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. And, of course, about Calcutta.
It was then that I came to know of the filming process of Asha Jaoar Majhe, which fascinated me. The struggle that he and Jonaki (his wife and co-producer for the film) faced to make the film is amazing. They financed the film with their own savings. In the middle of their shoot, the cinematographer (Mahendra Shetty) had to leave and Aditya took over the reins of the camera department. We agreed on a day and time when I would watch the film.
CELEBRATION OF THE BANAL
Honestly, what I saw left me speechless. The sheer capacity of creating poetry out of nothing is mind-boggling. In fact, I would say that the film is a celebration of the mundane, the banal. It reminded me of the films of the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, the maker of such classics as Tokyo Story, Good Morning and An Autumn Afternoon. But again this was not a replication of the old cinematic styles of Ozu or (Robert) Bresson.
Asha Jaoar Majhe is very contemporary in its making and its treatment. One needs a very perceptive and delicate eye to capture such details cinematically. And through intelligent use of sound, visuals and a masterful edit, the film is like a free-flowing poem. It is pure cinema — completely unadulterated. In fact, the film is honest, sensitive and passionate — the three qualities I found in Aditya too.
PLAUDITS ON THE POSTER
Later when it was decided that I shall present the film and when we were discussing the poster design which Aditya himself has done, I was struck by a comment of his. Despite his film going to Venice, Busan, London and Rotterdam, he was telling me that he did not want to include the festival laurels on the poster. I had written in this column before that some Bengali filmmakers these days crowd their posters with absolutely inconsequential film festival laurels, none of which figure in the top 10 festivals of the world. And here was a person who was just the opposite. I insisted that those should figure prominently on the posters of Asha Jaoar Majhe.
BOX OFFICE AND BEYOND
Bengali cinema is going through a good phase now as far as box-office results are concerned. There are already four genuine hits this year. But amidst all this there are certain films which give an industry its identity. Those are beyond box-office figures. Most films of Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, and even many of Satyajit Ray’s films were box-office failures but still they are the ones who give us an identity. Similarly, I do not expect Asha Jaoar Majhe to bring in huge crowds in this age of smartphones. But if one can be patient with the film it is bound to give a certain exhilaration precisely in this age of smartphones. The philosophy of the film, its cadence, its lyricism is a reminder of the life we are leaving behind in this hustle and bustle of modern-day living.
One of the greatest living filmmakers, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, in his acceptance speech after winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year had said: “Everybody wants to live fast these days, but I prefer to go slower.” One should mention that his painfully slow Winter Sleep for which he won the top prize at Cannes is almost a meditative piece of art work. The same applies to Asha Jaoar Majhe.
It is releasing today in Calcutta. Please experience it.
