Shadows of Time
Encyclopedia
Shadows of Time is a 2004 romantic Bengali language
German film, shot in Calcutta, India
. It is the first feature-length film of Academy Award winning director Florian Gallenberger
, and stars Prashant Narayanan
, Tannishtha Chatterjee
, Irrfan Khan and Soumitra Chatterjee
in pivotal roles.
) driving to an abandoned carpet factory in West Bengal
. As he explores the remains of the factory, he finds his bed and other memoirs. The story flashbacks to the early 1940s in pre-independent India
, with Ravi Gupta (Sikandar Agarwal) a child laborer in the factory, saving up his earnings so that he can leave the factory one day. Ravi befriends a girl of his own age, Masha (Tumpa Das), who's been sold to the factory by her father. When the obstinate factory manager (Biplab Dasgupta
) tries to sell Masha to a rich man, Ravi unsuccessfully tries to match the bid. He subsequently gives her the money to escape, and as they part Masha promises to wait for Ravi at every full moon at Calcutta's great Shiva temple.
Years later, the adult Ravi (Prashant Narayanan
) leaves the factory and sets out for Calcutta. He begins working for an old carpet seller and his granddaughter, Deepa (Tillotama Shome
). Masha (Tannishtha Chatterjee
) has become a professional courtesan in Calcutta, romanced by a customs officer, Yani Mishra (Irrfan Khan). Masha goes to the Shiva temple every full moon to possibly meet Ravi, who himself is trying to search for her. They almost meet one night, but are separated by the chance arrival of Deepa, who Masha thinks is Ravi's wife. Masha decides to marry Yani, and Ravi, thinking Masha has forgotten him, finally marries Deepa.
Ravi renovates the carpet shop and becomes an Exporter of carpets. A few years later, he meets Yani, who had once bought a carpet from him to impress Masha. Yani invites him and Deepa to a dinner party, where Ravi and Masha finally meet. Perplexed at first, their mutual attraction gradually turns into an extra-marital affair. When Yani announces that he has been transferred to Kerala
, Masha gets scared at the thought of losing Ravi again and asks him to take some action. Confused, Ravi arrives at the railway station but lets her down. The two leave, with Yani telling Ravi, just before boarding, that Masha is pregnant.
A few years later, Yani visits Ravi and tells him that Masha delivered a boy in Kerala, but he came to know that it wasn't his, and he threw them out of his house. Ravi goes to the brothels, where he finds Masha and their son, but she refuses to see him. Ravi departs, sliding a packet full of money into her room before leaving.
The film comes to the present time where elderly Ravi is at the factory. He hears a little girl and her grandmother in the courtyard. He starts talking to them and finds out that the grandmother is Masha, who is still waiting for Ravi to come; because this was the place where they first met. Ravi is astounded, but in the end he decides to walk away. The little girl asks her grandmother who he was, to which she replies, "It was Ravi".
, Roberto Rossellini
, Louis Malle
and Roland Joffe
to come and make a film in the city. But Gallenberger decided that unlike the others, he was going to make it in Bengali language
rather than in English
or his native German
. The film was partly funded by the German government and was produced by Helmut Dietl
and Norbert Preuss. Preuss, in an interview, stated though the story was written in German by Gallenberger, the Indian setting and Bengali language were chosen to maintain authenticity.
Noted Indian theatre actor Dilip Shankar who did casting in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding
and Pan Nalin's Samsara
, was appointed as the casting director for Shadows of Time. Aishwarya Rai
, Sir Ben Kingsley and Vivek Oberoi
were being considered for major roles in the film, but the roles of adult Ravi and adult Masha went to actors Prashant Narayanan
and Tannishtha Chatterjee
respectively. Gallenberger had spotted Narayanan in Chhal and was impressed by him. For the young Ravi and Masha, more than 7,000 schoolchildren were auditioned before they narrowed it down to Sikandar Agarwal and Tumpa Das. For portraying the old age of the characters, veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee
and actor Utpal Dutt
's widow Sova Sen were chosen.
Gallenberger hired a Bengali communicator for a crash course in the language for non-Bengali members of the 100-member crew, which include 10 Germans. The lead actor Prashant Narayanan too had to take lessons in the language as he is originally from South India and did not know Bengali. The shooting of the film began in March 2003 at locations in and around Calcutta, and was finished in 12 weeks.
.
on November 12, 2005. It was a nominee for the coveted Golden Star (Best Film), but lost to the Kirghiz film Saratan.
Won
Nominated
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
German film, shot in Calcutta, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is the first feature-length film of Academy Award winning director Florian Gallenberger
Florian Gallenberger
Florian Gallenberger is a German film director. His film Quiero ser was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2001.-Career:...
, and stars Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like Chhal, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Shadows of Time, Bombil and Beatrice, Via Darjeeling and Murder 2. Certainly his big break came in the Bhatt banner film Murder 2.-Early life:Born in Kerala, Narayanan grew up in Delhi...
, Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress.She is best known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane , the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name. She was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards as the best actress for Brick Lane...
, Irrfan Khan and 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...
in pivotal roles.
Plot
The film opens with the elderly Ravi (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...
) driving to an abandoned carpet factory in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
. As he explores the remains of the factory, he finds his bed and other memoirs. The story flashbacks to the early 1940s in pre-independent India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, with Ravi Gupta (Sikandar Agarwal) a child laborer in the factory, saving up his earnings so that he can leave the factory one day. Ravi befriends a girl of his own age, Masha (Tumpa Das), who's been sold to the factory by her father. When the obstinate factory manager (Biplab Dasgupta
Biplab Dasgupta
Dr. Biplab Dasgupta was a Marxist economist, former member of Rajya Sabha and the Bengal state committee of the CPI. He was the author of several books on the agrarian economy of India.-Biography:...
) tries to sell Masha to a rich man, Ravi unsuccessfully tries to match the bid. He subsequently gives her the money to escape, and as they part Masha promises to wait for Ravi at every full moon at Calcutta's great Shiva temple.
Years later, the adult Ravi (Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like Chhal, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Shadows of Time, Bombil and Beatrice, Via Darjeeling and Murder 2. Certainly his big break came in the Bhatt banner film Murder 2.-Early life:Born in Kerala, Narayanan grew up in Delhi...
) leaves the factory and sets out for Calcutta. He begins working for an old carpet seller and his granddaughter, Deepa (Tillotama Shome
Tillotama Shome
Tillotama Shome is a film actress. Born in India, she moved to New York in the Autumn of 2004 for a master’s programme in educational theatre at New York University, where she remained until visiting Mumbai on holiday in February 2008...
). Masha (Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress.She is best known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane , the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name. She was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards as the best actress for Brick Lane...
) has become a professional courtesan in Calcutta, romanced by a customs officer, Yani Mishra (Irrfan Khan). Masha goes to the Shiva temple every full moon to possibly meet Ravi, who himself is trying to search for her. They almost meet one night, but are separated by the chance arrival of Deepa, who Masha thinks is Ravi's wife. Masha decides to marry Yani, and Ravi, thinking Masha has forgotten him, finally marries Deepa.
Ravi renovates the carpet shop and becomes an Exporter of carpets. A few years later, he meets Yani, who had once bought a carpet from him to impress Masha. Yani invites him and Deepa to a dinner party, where Ravi and Masha finally meet. Perplexed at first, their mutual attraction gradually turns into an extra-marital affair. When Yani announces that he has been transferred to Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, Masha gets scared at the thought of losing Ravi again and asks him to take some action. Confused, Ravi arrives at the railway station but lets her down. The two leave, with Yani telling Ravi, just before boarding, that Masha is pregnant.
A few years later, Yani visits Ravi and tells him that Masha delivered a boy in Kerala, but he came to know that it wasn't his, and he threw them out of his house. Ravi goes to the brothels, where he finds Masha and their son, but she refuses to see him. Ravi departs, sliding a packet full of money into her room before leaving.
The film comes to the present time where elderly Ravi is at the factory. He hears a little girl and her grandmother in the courtyard. He starts talking to them and finds out that the grandmother is Masha, who is still waiting for Ravi to come; because this was the place where they first met. Ravi is astounded, but in the end he decides to walk away. The little girl asks her grandmother who he was, to which she replies, "It was Ravi".
Cast
- Prashant NarayananPrashant NarayananPrashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like Chhal, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Shadows of Time, Bombil and Beatrice, Via Darjeeling and Murder 2. Certainly his big break came in the Bhatt banner film Murder 2.-Early life:Born in Kerala, Narayanan grew up in Delhi...
as Ravi Gupta - Tannishtha ChatterjeeTannishtha ChatterjeeTannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress.She is best known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane , the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name. She was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards as the best actress for Brick Lane...
as Masha - Tillotama ShomeTillotama ShomeTillotama Shome is a film actress. Born in India, she moved to New York in the Autumn of 2004 for a master’s programme in educational theatre at New York University, where she remained until visiting Mumbai on holiday in February 2008...
as Deepa - Irrfan Khan as Yani Mishra
- Sikandar Agarwal as Young Ravi
- Tumpa Das as Young Masha
- Soumitra ChatterjeeSoumitra ChatterjeeSoumitra 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...
as Old Ravi - Sova Sen as Old Masha
- Biplab DasguptaBiplab DasguptaDr. Biplab Dasgupta was a Marxist economist, former member of Rajya Sabha and the Bengal state committee of the CPI. He was the author of several books on the agrarian economy of India.-Biography:...
as the Factory Manager - Satya Bandopadhyaya as Deepa's Grandfather
Production
Gallenberger first came to India in April 2001 for research and spent around a year and a half researching and understanding life. He was moved by a radio interview he had earlier heard, of a little girl working as a laborer in an Indian carpet factory which prompted him to leave for India and research a story. He set his story in Calcutta, which had earlier attracted renowned filmmakers from all over the world like Jean RenoirJean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
, Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:Born in Rome, Roberto Rossellini lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had...
, Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
and Roland Joffe
Roland Joffé
Roland Joffé is an English-French film director who is known for his Oscar nominated movies, The Killing Fields and The Mission. He began his career in television. His early television credits included episodes of Coronation Street and an adaptation of The Stars Look Down for Granada...
to come and make a film in the city. But Gallenberger decided that unlike the others, he was going to make it in Bengali language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
rather than in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
or his native German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. The film was partly funded by the German government and was produced by Helmut Dietl
Helmut Dietl
Helmut Dietl is a German film director and author from Bad Wiessee.- Work :After completion of grammar school in 1958, Dietl studied theatre science and the history of art. Afterwards, he became head of photography and later assistant director to the Munich Kammerspiele theatre...
and Norbert Preuss. Preuss, in an interview, stated though the story was written in German by Gallenberger, the Indian setting and Bengali language were chosen to maintain authenticity.
Noted Indian theatre actor Dilip Shankar who did casting in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding
* Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer * Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 -Awards:The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival...
and Pan Nalin's Samsara
Samsara (2001 film)
Samsara is a 2001 independent Indian/Italian/French/German film which tells the story of a Buddhist monk's quest to find Enlightenment. The film stars Shawn Ku as the monk Tashi, and Christy Chung as Pema...
, was appointed as the casting director for Shadows of Time. Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
, Sir Ben Kingsley and Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Suresh Oberoi and Yashodhara Oberoi.- Early life :Vivek attended Mayo college in Ajmer. At an actors' workshop in London he was spotted by the director of New York University who took Vivek off to New York, where he completed his...
were being considered for major roles in the film, but the roles of adult Ravi and adult Masha went to actors Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan
Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like Chhal, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Shadows of Time, Bombil and Beatrice, Via Darjeeling and Murder 2. Certainly his big break came in the Bhatt banner film Murder 2.-Early life:Born in Kerala, Narayanan grew up in Delhi...
and Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress.She is best known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane , the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name. She was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards as the best actress for Brick Lane...
respectively. Gallenberger had spotted Narayanan in Chhal and was impressed by him. For the young Ravi and Masha, more than 7,000 schoolchildren were auditioned before they narrowed it down to Sikandar Agarwal and Tumpa Das. For portraying the old age of the characters, veteran Bengali actor 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...
and actor Utpal Dutt
Utpal Dutt
Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali Theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the 'Little Theater Group' in 1947, which enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period...
's widow Sova Sen were chosen.
Gallenberger hired a Bengali communicator for a crash course in the language for non-Bengali members of the 100-member crew, which include 10 Germans. The lead actor Prashant Narayanan too had to take lessons in the language as he is originally from South India and did not know Bengali. The shooting of the film began in March 2003 at locations in and around Calcutta, and was finished in 12 weeks.
Soundtrack
The music in the film was composed by Gert Wilden Jr., who had earlier composed music in Gallenberger's Academy Award winning 2000 short film Quiero ser (I want to be ...)Quiero ser (I want to be ...)
Quiero ser is a 2000 short drama film directed by Florian Gallenberger. It won an Academy Award in 2001 for Best Short Subject.-Cast:* Emilio Perez - Juan, as a boy* Fernando Pena Cuevas - Jorge, as a boy...
.
- "Prologue - Factory Memories" - 5:13
- "City Lights" - 01:10
- "Masha's Song" - 2:38
- "Clandestine Exercises" - 1:26
- "Farewell" - 3:31
- "Full Moon at the Temple" - 3:52
- "Bansuri Phantasy" - 1:44
- "Shining Shoes" - 1:11
- "Missing" - 2:51
- "White Shoes" - 0:54
- "The Letter" - 1:06
- "Carlton" - 1:10
- "In Search of Masha" - 2:19
- "Ticket Booth" - 1:18
- "Communication Breakdown" - 1:59
- "Thinking of Masha" - 0:56
- "Masha's Escape" - 0:57
- "Another Farewell" - 1:11
- "Behind The Door" - 3:02
- "Dandy's Lover" - 1:21
- "The Kiss" - 1:52
- "Epilogue" - 4:39
Awards
The film was screened at the 5th International Film Festival of MarrakechInternational Film Festival of Marrakech
The International Film Festival of Marrakech is an international film festival held annually in Marrakech, Morocco.-Overview:Since its inaugural year in 2000, the FIFM has been one of the biggest events devoted to Moroccan cinema...
on November 12, 2005. It was a nominee for the coveted Golden Star (Best Film), but lost to the Kirghiz film Saratan.
Won
- Bavarian Film Award for Best New Director (Florian Gallenberger)
- Bavarian Film Award for Best Cinematography (Jürgen Jürges)
- Best European Film at the Mons International Festival of Love Films
Nominated
- German Film Award for Best Cinematography (Jürgen Jürges)
- German Film Award for Best Costume Design (Lisy Christl)
- Best Film (Golden Star) at the International Film Festival of MarrakechInternational Film Festival of MarrakechThe International Film Festival of Marrakech is an international film festival held annually in Marrakech, Morocco.-Overview:Since its inaugural year in 2000, the FIFM has been one of the biggest events devoted to Moroccan cinema...