» Language: Bengali
» Writer-director: Kaushik Ganguly
» Cast: Paran Bandyopadhyay, Parambrata Chatterjee, Sohini Sarkar, Arun Guha Thakurta and Lama Halder
Many are they; films that celebrated the very art of filmmaking. While all of them, (shall we call them meta-films?) offered us compelling narratives of the complex process of canning the art of the 20th century, some others went a step ahead, or deep into the darkness of that magic place called a cinema which nourished fantasies of generations. Be it the Spanish classic 'Cinema Paradiso' or the recent Malayalam film 'Kanyaka Talkies', they all took us down the memory lane, paying tribute to the otherwise dark halls and the unknown souls behind the projector.
Koushik Ganguly's latest film 'Cinemawala' absolutely belong to that genre. Set in a village not far away from Kolkata, the film tells the tale of Pranabendu Das, an old man, and his relationship with the art and business called cinema and his son.
Pranab is a retired film exhibitor who runs his family business of wholesale of fish in the morning and spends the rest of the day at his theatre which has become nearly a thing of the past along with Hari, the projector operator who joined his master at the age of 23. Pranab is that old wise man who lives in the glory of the past and believes that morality is a must for the world to sustain whereas his son Prakash belongs to the present era where ethics in business is what he is least bothered about. Hence, he sells pirated films and even runs illegal screening of new films in public.
The film revolves around the conflict between the father and the son who live under the same roof like strangers with a third character, Prakash's wife, as a mute spectator. Oh, no it doesn't belong to the so-called festival movies that are marked by lengthy sessions of silence and lack of pace. 'Cinemawala' is fast, funny, emotional and thought-provoking enough.
The film is, in a sentence, a tribute to the nearly dead single-screen theatres of Kolkata. There are only some 200 of them in 2015 when 'Cinemawala' is made whereas the number was 700 a few years ago.
True, the film is emotional and it doesn't go deep into the reasons that led to the closure of the single-screen houses. And it would not be totally fair to blame the digital for all the changes that took place over years as it was inevitable.
Still, the film looks relevant to all those who value truth and honesty which alone can make life meaningful. Pranab believes cinema is more than art and business so anything that ruins it is actually ruining life. The sequence where he explains the historic relevance of the art form is an excellent one. He places the Bengali film in the context of history by bringing into our minds the famine and partition of the 1947. "The people wanted something different, something like an escape route and there came Uttam Kumar, the hero," he says in a loud admiring voice.
The sequences of selling the old film projector and Pranab and Hari's visit to the makeshift screening centre set up by Prakash also remain in the viewers' minds even after leaving the hall.
Soumik Halder has done a brilliant job with his camera, capturing the rustic beauty of Bengal and the dimly lit sequences inside the cinema. Paran Bandyopadhyay, the veteran, lives the character of Pranab on screen while the young Parambrata Chatterjee offers a convincing performance as the stubborn Prakash.
Sohini Sarkar, Arun Guha Thakurta and Lama Halder, all of them deserve applause for their performance. And a big round of applause for Indradeep Das Gupta who handled the music, a blend of the Bengali film.
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