Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Kangal Malsat is perhaps one of those rare movies, the seeds of which were sown by Mrinal Sen in the ’70s, but never quite grew up to be an alternative legacy in Bengal. Much more bizarre, dark, brave and effective than The Chorus, Kangal Malsat can be referred to as a new beginning. As lurid, nightmarish and poetic as the original text by Nabarun Bhattacharya, the major attribute of this movie is that it does everything good, bad or ugly but does not subscribe to the prevalent middle-class mediocrity of our Bangla narrative cinema. Here is where I take my hat off to Suman (Mukhopadhyay).

The two-and-a-half-hour lurid nightmare, exquisitely shot by Avik Mukhopadhyay, becomes a political statement of all times. The anarchic fantasy of the underbelly revolting against a corrupt communist regime, becomes an allegory of any revolt against any totalitarian regime. A conspiracy is hatched by the underdogs Choktars with the Fyatarus led by their talking crow leader Dandabayush (Kabir Suman) against the corrupt leftist chief minister and his police commissioner…. They fight with knives, broken furniture and other flying gadgets… to win or lose…. The expletives, swearing and foul-mouthing come very handy in this dark, early Brechtian or rather Dario Fo-ish cinematic experience. I had a ball of a time laughing my guts out as I got to feel the bile of my times....

Brilliantly performed by Kaushik Ganguly, Kabir Suman, Joyraj Bhattacharya, perhaps the entire cast and rather sexily edited by Arghyakamal Mitra, this film gave me the opportunity to indulge in the joy of anarchy in this prevalent scenario of utter mediocrity, after a very long time….

But sadly enough, the hall was rather empty and now as I write this, the shows are perhaps petering out. The obvious question remains, why? Why am I so overjoyed by a film that does not run decently or is not given time to perform in our cinemas? I set out to write a review, but then decided to ask and answer certain very basic questions regarding the box-office success and failures of Bangla cinema that attempts at the alternative in Bengal today.

Because with just a gap of two weeks another visually stunning, mesmerising, very out-of-the-box film called Tasher Desh has released. Again a film that prevalent mediocrity and our pseudo-colonial movie industry is essentially afraid of or denies healthy exhibition is on the scene. Will it sadly meet the same fate?

Now we all know that it’s finally the choice of the audience that determines the commercial success or failure of any cinema. It’s finally what YOU will like. Now this “like” is being determined within a very small time frame, which we industry folk call, an “opening”. If the opening is not good, a film gets slotted to timings which are not prime and then finally dumped. This was never quite the phenomenon years ago. With the big films getting bigger and fatter in terms of budgets, the only safe method the industry has schemed up is to hype up the release and grab as many shows possible and recover the cost through initials. And bro, it works. Before you even get to discuss that a Chennai Express or Shatru is lousy, most have seen it and costs have been almost recovered.

So you can scratch your head till you’re silly, but in this big budget, big game hunting ground, with no alternative, parallel exhibition available, the fate of Kangal Malsat or Tasher Desh cannot be any brighter. Because the battle tactics of David as well as Goliath is essentially the same. There is no catapult involved anymore. It’s totally about muscle power and who can build better hype or boast bigger stars.

The only way Davids can sustain this game is if those of you who want a breath of fresh air pull up your pyjamas, pants, churidar, socks, whatever and rush to the first week’s screening no matter whether it’s being shown in Nandan or Nandigram. Now, you’ll obviously retort that it is not possible. You want to take your own time and relish your cinema. The answer is you are out of fashion, dated, and behind schedule. The fate of any movie is going to be judged by your footfalls in the first week, be it in Priya or Pennsylvania.

Now the question remains, how serious are you about breathing fresh air to make a difference to this Battle of the Beggars (Kangal Malsat) scenario? My understanding is that most of you out there are not desperately ready for the “fresh air”. In this 2013, most of you so-called culturally ahead Bengalis, due to certain very plausible socio-political stagnancy for years, have lost your hunger for the alternative. Your so-called intellectually alert, liberated, ahead-of-time legacy has lost its bite. I completely understand that you are finding it difficult to cope with the rat race and make the difference. But my question is, are you truly ready to sometimes disown the cinema of middle-class storytelling and embrace that which is different. Are you prepared to get swept away in the joy of being different?

Why is it that most of you scramble outside Nandan to catch a glimpse of Rituparno’s corpse and not crowd the halls to see his Chitrangada, where he is trying to be different, even at the cost of being politically incorrect? What is it that makes you count the days for a Satyanweshi, Feluda, Kakababu, Lalon, or even Milkha Singh, and not go for Ship Of Theseus? Is it just hype or do you want to play safe with your choices?

I personally will always be in love with the narrative form. I will never ever attempt a Kangal Malsat, Herbert or Gandu, but that does not rule out the fact that I still get inspired by work that is unconventional, be it Robert Rodriguez, Q or Suman. I would have loved to admit that my audience found Ganesh Talkies too trite a film from me and rejected it. But then Dutta Vs Dutta too did not run decently. So, what is it? The lack of hype, your new-found habit to watch a movie on DVD, satellite? Or the simple fact that you still like Sonar Kella more than Aparajito and prefer to play safe?

If that be the case then the prevalent notion that Bangla cinema has come of age and lots of fresh work is being appreciated is a load of bull. As things stand, your role as an audience is that of a silent onlooker and not someone who makes a difference. Either you are taking the world’s time for that much abused statement, “word of mouth”, or simply not ready to bunk your college or office to see a morning show which is desperately trying to make a difference. Now, before posting your opinion about my understanding to t2, make that difference. Go for Tasher Desh…. Make it somehow work.

I have not seen Bishh. The first 10 minutes of Gandu was like watching Bhuvan Shome for the first time but then the radicalism meandered off…. With Tasher Desh, Q manages to chain you to your seats for two hours of psychedelic reverie. One of Tagore’s best dance dramas becomes an erotic music video that to me was like revisiting Woodstock. The almost obstinate refusal to be conventionally narrative makes the experience one of the most radical in recent Bengali scenario, perhaps even Indian. The supposedly children’s musical becomes a very witty adult experience. The story of a bored, lonely prince and his friend searching for the new, set sail and reach a Tasher Desh that is hilariously fascist and liberate them with love, becomes one helluva trip into good old-fashioned nouvelle vague. A trip where Godard meets Andy Warhol.

Yes, admittedly wannabe at times, primarily because of the total absence of brutality and some of the actors speaking rather poor Bengali, Tasher Desh becomes a true, honest deconstruction that brings fresh energy into a text done to death. Like his narrator, absolutely brilliantly played by Joyraj Bhattacharya, Q having completely imbibed the original text, throws it off on the empty rail tracks and makes it his own version keeping the dialogue and songs intact. The songs however sweep over the plot and rise above everything else….

I repeat, request, even plead. Don’t go for your PCs to respond to my observations but first see the two movies, argue about why you hated or liked it. Make that difference at least for yourself.

What is your message for Anjan after reading this? Tell t2@abp.in