Probashi- Cover Story
Probashi- Cover Story
Interview with Goutam Ghose all part of what we called our selves the “ Joris Ivens Collective ” after the famous Dutch film maker , purchased a second hand 16mm camera and I shot the documentary Hungry Autumn in 1974 with it . Hungry autumn was based on Bengal food shortages in early seventies . The film was completed in 1976 and got itself into trouble with the Censor Board . It was the time of Emergency . The famous Indian documentary film maker and a great friend and mentor of mine , Sukhdev , suggested that the movie be sent for screening to the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in Germany . I won my first award there .
You mentioned about Sukhdev the celebrated documentary film maker as your mentor and guide . It is said that during filming of Nine Months to Freedom on Bangladesh freedom struggle , Sukhdev saw so much death and blood that he went into depression . You have also made documentaries on human suffering like the Hungry Autumn and Kalahandi . Do you get a similar feeling ?
Yes it does effect , but I always have hope that change will happen . My camera honestly films the ground reality and then seeks a way out of the present situation . It is this hope which prevents me from taking an entire negative view of things . Even my feature films end with a sense of hope . However regarding the solution I do not have the last word and rather leave it for the audience to ponder on the solution .
You were doing very well financially as an advertisement film maker in Bombay ? What made you give it all up and get into the risky business of feature film making ?
Saying half truths to sell cigarettes and shampoo never appealed me . I never wanted to be a product , I always wanted to use camera as a means to pen my thoughts . However I do acknowledge ad films taught me the technical nuances of film making . As for documentaries there is very limited viewership , and it is only through feature films that my message could reach a large audience . I have no illusions that ‘ Cinema can change the world ’, a statement made by the famous filmmaker DW Griffith . I feel cinema leaves a documentation of society of its times for the future generation to learn from and judge objectively .
How did your first film Maa Bhoomi happen ? A Telegu film by a Bengali first time film director without a clue of the language . Why would a producer risk such a venture ?
Mrinal Sen arranged for a special screening of his film Mrigaya in New Theatres , Calcutta . He slotted screening of my documentary
Hungry Autumn before start of Mrigaya . In the audience was G . Ravindranath who approached me after the screening was over , and enquired whether I would like to do a Telegu feature film . The film was to be based on Kishan Chandar ’ s Jaab Khet Jaagey on Telengana Peasant Movement . I could not believe my ears , obviously Hungry Autumn had impressed . I wrote the screen play in English for the film which underwent significant changes when I did recee of Telengana villages with Partho Banerjee , my script and dialogue collaborator , P Narsingh Rao and Pran Rao . I had the advantage of excellent interpreters which helped me overcome the language handicap . Most of the actors were amateurs and they acquitted themselves very well . We were like children painting on a large canvas with a limited budget . My wife Nilanjana who had accompanied me to Hyderabad was the costume Designer . Nilanjana is from a family of desiners from Shanti Niketan . She
Still from film Ma Bhoomi : A protest against injustice , a trademark of Goutam