LOSING THE PLOT

Poor technical quality, inane insertion of song and dance, nonsensical dialogues and contrived plot lines have dealt a body blow to Bengali mainstream cinema

The 1950s saw the rise of the immortal quartet of filmmakers from Bengal— Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha—as well as the debut of Jatrik (a trio of directors), featuring the man with the Midas touch, Tarun Majumdar. But it was in the 1960s that these five directors really flowered.

In that decade and the next, significant work was being done in Bengal, so far as the mainstream was concerned. Films like Saptapadi (1961), Galpo Holeo Satti (1966), Kuheli (1971), Marjina Abdulla (1973), Jadu Bansha (1974), Amanush (1975) and Agnishwar (1975), among many others, set the box office on fire, even as innovation and philosophical probing in films like Galpo Holeo Satti, Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), Pratidwandi (1970), Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1973), Padatik (1973), Sansar Seemantey (1975), Jukti, Takko aar Gappo (1974), Jana Aranya (1975) and Ek Din Pratidin (1979) continued in right earnest.

Sadly, the situation has changed drastically today.