Abhijan
Encyclopedia
Abhijan is a 1962 Bengali film
directed by the Indian
filmmaker Satyajit Ray
.
to write a script on a popular Bengali novel
of the same name by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
. Ray took up the job happily as he wrote scripts (or directed music) for various Bengali film for money. At the time his one of the most intriguing film Kanchenjungha
was being shot at Darjiling. After the heartbreaking box office failure (both in home and away ) Ray found himself "anxious to reach out to a wider audience." Even at this point it was for Bijoy Chatterjee the script was being written, Ray had no idea of making the film himself, much like the other notable film not wholeheartedly made by Ray, Chiriyakhana
.
Ray got involved into the film when they went to the famous hill-spot Dubrajpur
in Birbhum not much away from bolpur
shantiniketan. It was then that the looming (almost as a recurring motif ) Mama Bhagne
pahar was assimilated into the films backbone. As a result we see that the motif of human being with their baggage of sin and adultery will be symbolised into the stone pillar. When Ray further went into shooting the fist few sequences it was obvious that the script will be too much for the ability of Mr. Chatterjee, and as a consequence Ray was to direct his one of the most box office successful film in Bengal.
The protagonist Narasingh is an uprooted man, who with a long heritage and social dignity packed into his simple world view
, finds himself betrayed frequently in a faraway land. He will take up a journey with Rama and the beloved car. The set up immediately reminds us of the Ritwik Ghatak masterpiece Ajantrik
(1958), the much above the macine relationship of a cab driver with his car. His hero Soumitra Chatterjee
fails to impersonify a rowdy taxi driver who is very fond of his machine, much due to the fact the Ray himself had no experience of driving and mechanical instruments. Yet the film is very important for the Ray enthusiasts for reason innumerable like it is the first film in his career which comes out of the social class of old Bengali families. And his boldness to describe physical relations should also be noted. Gulabi of course sleeps with Narasingh even in the middle of an emotional crisis on both sides.
The film gives the famous Ray flavour in its composition, flow and dialogues, and use of symbols. The protagonist Narasingh (played by Soumitra Chatterjee) is seen as a prototype for the character of the cynical cab driver Travis Bickle
(played by Robert De Niro
) in Martin Scorsese
's Taxi Driver
(1976). Scorsese himself has credited Satyajit Ray as a major influence on his work.
plays Narsingh, a taxi driver. Narsingh is a proud and hot-tempered Rajput
with a passion for his car, a vintage 1930 Chrysler
and his Rajput
heritage. Being a descendent of the royal family of rajput his self esteem is reflected through his inability of accepting insult and defeat, as a result he even takes part into small race with his car. He does not want to be the one who falls behind and develops a strong hatred of women and mankind in general. As a result of reckless driving which was actually overtaking the same car which carried the district inspector, his licence was sacked. He was utterly destroyed by it, since the cab was his life after his wife had left him for good, deep into the gloom of the insult and a feeling of rootlessness he decided to go back to the land of rajput
where the true rajput blood will be respected. While on the way for an aimless journey, Narasingh was picked up by Sukharam who is a local Marwari
businessman with a record of smuggling and trafficking of village girls.
Sukhanram (Charuprakash Ghosh) offers him a handsome fee to transport some goods which is nothing other than opium. The realisation of the immoral trade puts Narshing into position of compromising his faith to proud Rajput
blood. But he decides to join hand with Sukhanram, after all no one he saw was truly following the law and morality not even his ideal and beloved Neeli (Ruma Guha Thakurta
).
Neeli runs away with the crippled lover of hers and the deep distrust in Narshings mind for women deepens. As a result even after knowing that Gulabi is a victim of Sukhanrams trafficking he forces her to sleep with him without any emotional involvement. At this point he is almost on the verge of becoming the one he used to hate, the lawless ones who are also coward to face the world.
Gulabi on the other hand is a melancholy, demonstrative and beautiful village widow, Gulabi (Waheeda Rehman
). Gulabi is instinctively drawn to Narsingh. Who even after losing so much of her dignity looks at the bright side of life and has trust that Narshing is not immoral. She right from the beginning is attracted to him and ready for a physical relationship, thoguh not as a prostitute which Sukhanram wanted to make her in time, but as a village girl.
After he decides to join the gang of smugglers consisting of a legal deal and selling his car he finds that all of his friends who still were there with him Rama, and Neeli's brother are no longer with him. He got the money and social status he wanted but became like Mama Bhagne
a symbol for human being carrying the baggage of its own sin on top of its head, ready to topple anytime and be reduced to mere pebbles with no dignity. He changes, and rescues Gulabi just in time she was to be sold to the same lawer who was a member of the smuggling racket he thought of joining.
The tension of the good and evil collapses and the old car makes another journey into nothingness but a definite halo of light ahead of it, the light of love.
Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh .The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first...
directed by the Indian
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
filmmaker Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
.
Introduction
The filming of Abhijan began by the first half of 1961 when Bijoy Chatterjee asked Satyajit RaySatyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
to write a script on a popular Bengali novel
Bengali novels
Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Though the first Bengali novel was "Karuna O Phulmonir Bibaran", the Bengali novel actually started its journey with Durgeshnondini written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865...
of the same name by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay was one of the leading Bengali novelists. He wrote 65 novels, 53 story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies and 2 travel stories...
. Ray took up the job happily as he wrote scripts (or directed music) for various Bengali film for money. At the time his one of the most intriguing film Kanchenjungha
Kanchenjungha
Kanchenjungha is a 1962 Bengali film by Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. It was Ray's first original screenplay and his first colour film....
was being shot at Darjiling. After the heartbreaking box office failure (both in home and away ) Ray found himself "anxious to reach out to a wider audience." Even at this point it was for Bijoy Chatterjee the script was being written, Ray had no idea of making the film himself, much like the other notable film not wholeheartedly made by Ray, Chiriyakhana
Chiriyakhana
Chiriakhana or Chiriyakhana is a 1967 Bengali film by Satyajit Ray. It is a whodunit suspense thriller, starring Uttam Kumar as Byomkesh Bakshi. The title means "The Zoo". The screenplay is by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.- Plot :...
.
Ray got involved into the film when they went to the famous hill-spot Dubrajpur
Dubrajpur
Dubrajpur is a town and a municipality in Suri Sadar subdivision of Birbhum District in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Geography:Dubrajpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 77 metres .-Demographics:...
in Birbhum not much away from bolpur
Bolpur
Bolpur-Santiniketan is a municipality in Birbhum District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is 145 km north of Kolkata and is best known for the proximity to Visva Bharati, the university set up by Rabindranath Tagore the Nobel laureate poet...
shantiniketan. It was then that the looming (almost as a recurring motif ) Mama Bhagne
Mama Bhagne
Mama Bhagne Paharh is a rock formation near Dubrajpur town of district Birbhum in the Indian state of West Bengal.-The area:It is a pair of almost spherical natural boulders of granite rock, one balancing on the top of other. The balancing of the rocks are so surprising that it is a famous...
pahar was assimilated into the films backbone. As a result we see that the motif of human being with their baggage of sin and adultery will be symbolised into the stone pillar. When Ray further went into shooting the fist few sequences it was obvious that the script will be too much for the ability of Mr. Chatterjee, and as a consequence Ray was to direct his one of the most box office successful film in Bengal.
The protagonist Narasingh is an uprooted man, who with a long heritage and social dignity packed into his simple world view
World view
A comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and...
, finds himself betrayed frequently in a faraway land. He will take up a journey with Rama and the beloved car. The set up immediately reminds us of the Ritwik Ghatak masterpiece Ajantrik
Ajantrik
Ajantrik is a 1958 Indian Bengali film written and directed by parallel filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak...
(1958), the much above the macine relationship of a cab driver with his car. His hero Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
fails to impersonify a rowdy taxi driver who is very fond of his machine, much due to the fact the Ray himself had no experience of driving and mechanical instruments. Yet the film is very important for the Ray enthusiasts for reason innumerable like it is the first film in his career which comes out of the social class of old Bengali families. And his boldness to describe physical relations should also be noted. Gulabi of course sleeps with Narasingh even in the middle of an emotional crisis on both sides.
The film gives the famous Ray flavour in its composition, flow and dialogues, and use of symbols. The protagonist Narasingh (played by Soumitra Chatterjee) is seen as a prototype for the character of the cynical cab driver Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle is a fictional character from the 1976 film Taxi Driver, played by Robert De Niro. He is widely considered one of the most iconic characters in film history, and De Niro earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of him....
(played by Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
) in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...
(1976). Scorsese himself has credited Satyajit Ray as a major influence on his work.
Plot
Soumitra ChatterjeeSoumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
plays Narsingh, a taxi driver. Narsingh is a proud and hot-tempered Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
with a passion for his car, a vintage 1930 Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
and his Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
heritage. Being a descendent of the royal family of rajput his self esteem is reflected through his inability of accepting insult and defeat, as a result he even takes part into small race with his car. He does not want to be the one who falls behind and develops a strong hatred of women and mankind in general. As a result of reckless driving which was actually overtaking the same car which carried the district inspector, his licence was sacked. He was utterly destroyed by it, since the cab was his life after his wife had left him for good, deep into the gloom of the insult and a feeling of rootlessness he decided to go back to the land of rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
where the true rajput blood will be respected. While on the way for an aimless journey, Narasingh was picked up by Sukharam who is a local Marwari
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
businessman with a record of smuggling and trafficking of village girls.
Sukhanram (Charuprakash Ghosh) offers him a handsome fee to transport some goods which is nothing other than opium. The realisation of the immoral trade puts Narshing into position of compromising his faith to proud Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
blood. But he decides to join hand with Sukhanram, after all no one he saw was truly following the law and morality not even his ideal and beloved Neeli (Ruma Guha Thakurta
Ruma Guha Thakurta
-Early life:She was born in 1934 as Ruma Ghosh. She hails from a Brahmo Bengali family. Her father was Satyen Ghosh and her mother was Sati Devi, a singer. Sati Devi's younger sister Bijoya married film director Satyajit Ray. Thakurta had her formal education in many places including Santiniketan...
).
Neeli runs away with the crippled lover of hers and the deep distrust in Narshings mind for women deepens. As a result even after knowing that Gulabi is a victim of Sukhanrams trafficking he forces her to sleep with him without any emotional involvement. At this point he is almost on the verge of becoming the one he used to hate, the lawless ones who are also coward to face the world.
Gulabi on the other hand is a melancholy, demonstrative and beautiful village widow, Gulabi (Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman , is an Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood movies and is known for many successful and critically acclaimed movies from 1950's, 60's and early 70's most notably C.I.D. and Guru Dutt classics such as Pyaasa , 12 O'Clock , Kaagaz Ke Phool , Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam...
). Gulabi is instinctively drawn to Narsingh. Who even after losing so much of her dignity looks at the bright side of life and has trust that Narshing is not immoral. She right from the beginning is attracted to him and ready for a physical relationship, thoguh not as a prostitute which Sukhanram wanted to make her in time, but as a village girl.
After he decides to join the gang of smugglers consisting of a legal deal and selling his car he finds that all of his friends who still were there with him Rama, and Neeli's brother are no longer with him. He got the money and social status he wanted but became like Mama Bhagne
Mama Bhagne
Mama Bhagne Paharh is a rock formation near Dubrajpur town of district Birbhum in the Indian state of West Bengal.-The area:It is a pair of almost spherical natural boulders of granite rock, one balancing on the top of other. The balancing of the rocks are so surprising that it is a famous...
a symbol for human being carrying the baggage of its own sin on top of its head, ready to topple anytime and be reduced to mere pebbles with no dignity. He changes, and rescues Gulabi just in time she was to be sold to the same lawer who was a member of the smuggling racket he thought of joining.
The tension of the good and evil collapses and the old car makes another journey into nothingness but a definite halo of light ahead of it, the light of love.