A River Called Titas
A film by Ritwik Ghatak
Bangladesh/ 1973/ 158
minutes, in Bengali with English subtitles, black and white.
Based on a novel by
by Advaita Malla Burman.
Restored in 2010 by
the World Cinema Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna.
Screening on 23rd March ;
5.45pm
Perks Mini Theater
Ritwik Ghatak adapts Advaita Malla Barman sweeping novel
detailing the downfall of a once-thriving fishing village situated along the
River Titas. The tale is set among the Malo fishermen who toil on the waters of
the Titas. The community includes both Hindu and Muslim families, though Hindu
characters dominate the narrative. The central figures are Basanti, a young
girl: Kishore, a fisherman: Rajar Khi, Kishore’s bride; and Ananta, Rajar’s
son.
We first see Basanti as a young girl in the village. Kishore and his
brother Subol go on a fishing trip. It is on this trip that Kishore meets
Rajar, whom he rescues in a village conflict. He then marries her and takes her
back to his village. However, river bandits abduct her and this drives Kishore
crazy. Basanti, who envisaged marrying Kishore, marries Subol instead, but he
is drowned on the day of the wedding. There is an ellipsis of ten years.
Rajar with her son Ananta arrives in the village seeking
shelter. Neither she nor Kishore recognise each other. The situation creates
conflicts over traditional values regarding marriage and child rearing. Kishore
is attacked and dies, and Rajar drowns alongside him. Basanti now takes care of
Ananta; a situation objected to by Basanti’s parents. More village and domestic
feuding lead to Ananta leaving to live with another family. At the end the
river dries up [partly due to a scheme engineered by the landowners]. The village falls apart.
The film seems full of Bengali and Indian cultural
references. There is a lot more complexity in the plot and characters of the
film.. There is also a rich palette in the film’s visual and aural style.
Ghatak has a great command of camera and mise en scène. There are numerous fine
sequences. In particular late in the film there is a boat race on the river,
which is enthralling in its presentation. This is a film which one should
encourage local exhibitors to book and screen. (Excerpts from an article in http://itpworld.wordpress.com
)
RITWIK GHATAK
1925 – 1976
Ritwik Ghatak was born in Dhaka in East Bengal (now
Bangladesh). He belonged to an illustrious family. His father Suresh Chandra
Ghatak was a district magistrate and also a poet and playwright, mother's name
was Indubala Devi. He and his family moved to Kolkata just before millions of
other refugees from East Bengal began to flood into the city, fleeing the
catastrophic 1943 famine and the Partition of India in 1947. Identification
with this tide of refugees was to define his practice, providing an overriding
metaphor for cultural dismemberment and exile that unified his subsequent
creative work.
In 1948, Ghatak wrote his first play Kalo sayar (The Dark
Lake), and participated in a revival of the landmark play Nabanna. In 1951,
Ghatak joined the Indian People's Theatre Association ( IPTA ). He wrote,
directed and acted in plays and translated Bertolt Brecht and Gogol into
Bengali. In 1957, he wrote and directed his last play Jwala (The Burning).
Ghatak entered film industry with Nemai Ghosh's Chinnamul
(1950) as actor and assistant director. Chinnamul was followed two years later
by Ghatak's first completed film Nagarik (1952), both major break-throughs for
the Indian cinema. Ritwik Ghatak directed eight full-length films. Ghatak moved
briefly to Pune in 1966, where he taught at the Film and Television Institute
of India (FTII) and John Abraham, Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul were among his students .
Ritwik Ghatak Filmography:
• Nagarik (The Citizen-1952)
• Ajantrik (Pathetic Fallacy-1958)
• Bari Theke Paliye (Runaway-1959)
• Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star-1961)
• Komal Gandhar (1961)
• Subarnarekha (The Golden Line-1962)• Titas Ekti Nadir Naam
(A River Named Titas-1973)
• Jukti Takko aar gappo (Arguments and a Story-1974)
