Love Bards

In a first, the relationship between Rabindranath Tagore and Victoria Ocampo will be portrayed in a film.

- Rabi Banerjee

It was just before sunset. The crew of Thinking Of Him were preparing for a shoot on a platform under a mango tree in Santiniketan. The scene was the farewell gathering of Felix, an Argentine who had taught at Visva Bharati. Renowned Argentine stage and film actor Hector Bordoni was playing Felix. Director Pablo Cesar, also from Argentina, wanted an emotional parting between Felix and his student Kamali (actor Raima Sen).

But, the shoot was stalled. The university told producer Suraj Kumar that the red-cemented podium was sacred ground. It was where Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi had sat together to discuss national issues. After much coaxing, Sisir Sahana, principal of Kala Bhavana (Visva Bharati’s art school), came to supervise the scene. By then dusk had set in, and Cesar called it a day.

He then held a rehearsal of the unfinished take, under a banyan tree close by. The scene had Felix meeting his students one by one, and shaking hands with them. When it came to Kamali, Felix hugged her, prodding Cesar to shout, “Cut!”

“No, the hug is not in the script and you cannot do that,” Cesar told Bordoni, who looked perplexed. But, the director was adamant. He later said he was being cautious, as the subject of the film was delicate. A smiling Sen clarified, “Bengalis are very sensitive when it comes to Tagore. Indians are very touchy about their legends.” It is amidst such restrictions that the shooting of Thinking Of Him has been going on in Santiniketan, Tagore’s workplace.

The film deals with a rare subject—the relationship between Tagore and Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo. Cesar has taken up a controversial issue that Bengalis avoid discussing in public. A joint venture between Johnsons-Suraj Films International and the government of Argentina, the film will look at the platonic love and mutual admiration shared by two intellectuals from different continents.