Buddhadeb Dasgupta (1944-2021): The poet and the writer

I have known Buddhadeb Dasgupta for more than three decades. We occupied two different sides of the fence; he was an internationally renowned filmmaker and yours truly just an ordinary, struggling, freelance Indian film critic. But this barrier did not create problems except the one time that I made him angry when I wrote a couple of negative lines on his film Uttara. But the film went on to bag several awards and helped Tapas Pal go beyond his commercial image to turn into a performer of significance.

The most outstanding feature of Dasgupta was that he constantly reinvented himself, moving from literature to poetry to films. He had several books on verse to his credit. Among these are Govir Araley, Coffin Kimba Suitcase, Himjog, Chhaata Kahini, Roboter Gaan, Sreshtha Kabita, and Bhomboler Ascharya Kahini O Ananya Kabita.

Some of his works have been translated into other languages such as The Story of an Umbrella and Other Poems translated by Lila Roy, Other Forms of Death: the Poems of Buddhadeb Dasgupta.

Novels penned by him are – Nikhiler BencheyThaka, America America, Rahasyamay and Yasiner Ascharya Kahini. There is also a compilation of essays called Swapna, Samay O Cinema.

He was a celebrated poet. Therefore, quite naturally, his films were filled with poetic metaphors, and sometimes, the audience found it tough grappling with the many allegorical and poetic references. But that did not seem to deter Dasgupta. He made films on his own terms. Though he once expressed disappointment that his home audience had not seen his later films, he did not change his style of filmmaking in any way. The loss was entirely of the Bengali audience that missed out on his latest masterpieces like Swapner Din, Kaal Purush, Janala, Aami Yaasin O Amar Madhubala and Uro Jahaj.

He had moved away from his earlier films that had a clear Leftist, political slant such as Neem Annapurna (1979), Sheet Grishmer Smriti (Season’s Memoirs) (1982), Phera (The Return) 1986, Tahader Katha (Their Story), 1992, and Charachar (1993). He veered away to start capturing the loneliness in individuals who dreamt of living in an alternate, surreal world.

Dooratwa, Grihajuddha and Andhi Gali form a loose trilogy because the common thread that links the three films is that of disillusionment with idealism and political commitment and the spilling over of this discontent and restiveness into the personal lives of the individuals. Each film has an independent story sourced from an original literary piece, re-scripted to suit the needs and interpretations of the director and his medium of cinema. Each film makes its own statement and has its own plot and theme. Each film is complete unto itself.

Dasgupta’s father had worked in the railways in West Bengal, in Purulia and Birbhum and his films frequently featured these arid and dry zones as the backdrop. His home had an organ and he learnt to play it from his mother who sang well but like most mothers of the time, preferred to remain a homemaker.

Little-known facets of Dasgupta such as his love for and talent in painting, the deep influence of poetry on his life and on his films, his deep admiration for music in all its myriad forms emerge at different points in Portrait, a 21-minute documentary by filmmaker Sankho Ghosh. The film was made in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Dasgupta as a filmmaker so in terms of his creativity, it might appear a bit dated today but it does bear evidence of his involvement in various fields of art.

The film is essentially intended to offer an insight into the self-imposed loneliness of a creative artist who glides over his poetry as smoothly and effortlessly as he does through his films. The film clips from the archives of Dasgupta’s works form a collage of visuals that stand independently on their own and viewed together offer a capsule of Dasgupta’s oeuvre that made him not just one of the most significant Indian filmmakers but a leading light of world cinema.