Swapan Saha
Encyclopedia
Swapan Saha (born 10 January 1930 in Ajmer
, Rajasthan
, India
) is a noted India
n film director.
Saha flanked by two actors on the sets of one of his 'cheap' Bangla films. Saha makes about a sixth of these cheap Tolly films each year, most for as little as Rs 10-15 lakh. To others the numbers add up to more. A basic expense in making films is the raw stock, which at Rs 11,000 per 1,000 ft for 35 mm film isn't cheap. The average film consumes around 40,000 ft. Add to this other costs. Remuneration for stars top the list (Bengal's top two, Prasenjit and Rituparna Sengupta, get Rs 2 lakh a film). Then there are wages for the cast and technicians; studio hiring charges at Rs 3,500 a shift; sets... add other expenses and the sum of Rs 10 lakh seems ridiculous. Says filmmaker/actor Sukhen Das, "The minimum you need is Rs 30 lakh."
But where there is a bill, there is also a way to reduce it. "The easiest option is to apply the scissors on quality," says producer and distributor Robin Agarwal. So Tollywood filmmakers are doing their best to overcome these limitations in ingenious ways. An actor, due for a take, once found he didn't have any lines. "What do I say?" he asked Saha. The director, ever alert, came up with the lines impromptu. This works primarily because these movies are copies of tacky Bangladeshi films. "Cassettes of films from Bangladesh have substituted the script," says Sukhen Das. A case of the VCP working as a teleprompter. Prasenjit, who has done upwards of 30 films (he can't remember the number, probably because most were unmemorable), admits Saha rehashes films. "But that doesn't mean he can't make his own films; he's just being practical." At a commercial level, success is marginal. But marginal is better than being in the red, say Saha backers. Competition is stiff and Tollywood has seen only three hits in the past two years. For a Bengali film to be a hit, it should play for six months in at least 10 cinemas and touch about 150 halls. There are 250 theatres in Bengal, and an average of 60 films are churned out yearly.
Most of Saha's films like Sujan Sakhi (Rs 11 lakh), Jhinukmala (Rs 12 lakh), Nag Nagin (Rs 15 lakh) and Shimulpalv (14 lakh) are folk tales or family dramas designed to appeal to jatra audiences which go for soppy sentimentality. But Saha scores as the rules of his game are different. To cover costs, he sells the 16mm version and video rights for Rs 3-4 lakh in North Bengal, where his films do well. Within weeks the money is recovered. "If one of my films does two months, it's a superhit" says Saha.
Saha's economics have forced directors to look to Mumbai for financing. It may be difficult to budget Rs 30-35 lakh in Tollywood but the amount is chickenfeed in Bollywood, where a single song costs as much. So director Ratan Adhikari's backers are the Mumbai-based financiers Monang Films Ltd. Local producers like Agarwal are turning away in disgust. "You can't give the audience this substandard stuff," he says, "so I have stopped financing Bengali films altogether."
There's an undeniable cascading effect on both audiences and the makers. At Tollywood's New Theatre Studio, Adhikari is shooting Apon Holo Por, starring Prasenjit. The film has a budget limit of Rs 30 lakh; this director hasn't yet got the hang of Saha's economics though he has adopted his methodology of impromptu takes.
The yearning for quick money has producers clamouring to make films at Saha's rates, putting other directors in a spot. A reason why people like Tarun Majumdar and Aurobindo Mukherjee aren't making films. As for the cost cutter par excellence, sipping tea at the Technicians' Studio, he reflects, "I know that none of my films will ever be rerun. This is the age of disposable goods, so why bother trying to make the effort?" Then his cell phone rings. It's a producer who wants to talk to him.
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, 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...
) is a noted 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...
n film director.
His speciality
With the air of somebody who has achieved the impossible Swapan Saha says, "I've just completed Sat Bhai (Stepbrother). It took 10 days, cost Rs 11 lakh and was shot within 100 hours." For Saha, this is about par. The highest number of shifts (each of eight and a half hours) he has ever taken for a film is 28. Usually, they get done within 20. An incredible record in Calcutta's movie world where the norm is around 40 shifts. "There's no secret," says Saha, "I'm just better organised. Actors in my films know what they have to do. I tell them the day before, 'you have this dramatic scene with your mother-in-law tomorrow', and they do their bit." Simple, what more does it take? Do it Saha's way, it takes nothing more-and a lot less money. Saha has changed the economics of Tollywood radically. In fact, he has changed filmmaking itself. Saha's biggest hit so far is a film called Baba Keno Chakor (Why is Dad the Servant?), which set new standards in melodrama and had the audience wiping tears with their tickets. The cliched formula worked. And for Saha it is likely to keep working if he sticks to themes like the idyllic village life and lower middle-class Bengali values. However crudely these are made—jerks at cuts, less than sharp images—they click. "These aren't films," says an actor who has worked with Saha, "just the product of somebody with a camera." All Bengali films now tend to get slotted in the Saha bracket. "People assume, without seeing the work of other directors, that if it is a Bengali film it must be rubbish," says Swapan Ghosh of film magazine Anandalok.Saha flanked by two actors on the sets of one of his 'cheap' Bangla films. Saha makes about a sixth of these cheap Tolly films each year, most for as little as Rs 10-15 lakh. To others the numbers add up to more. A basic expense in making films is the raw stock, which at Rs 11,000 per 1,000 ft for 35 mm film isn't cheap. The average film consumes around 40,000 ft. Add to this other costs. Remuneration for stars top the list (Bengal's top two, Prasenjit and Rituparna Sengupta, get Rs 2 lakh a film). Then there are wages for the cast and technicians; studio hiring charges at Rs 3,500 a shift; sets... add other expenses and the sum of Rs 10 lakh seems ridiculous. Says filmmaker/actor Sukhen Das, "The minimum you need is Rs 30 lakh."
But where there is a bill, there is also a way to reduce it. "The easiest option is to apply the scissors on quality," says producer and distributor Robin Agarwal. So Tollywood filmmakers are doing their best to overcome these limitations in ingenious ways. An actor, due for a take, once found he didn't have any lines. "What do I say?" he asked Saha. The director, ever alert, came up with the lines impromptu. This works primarily because these movies are copies of tacky Bangladeshi films. "Cassettes of films from Bangladesh have substituted the script," says Sukhen Das. A case of the VCP working as a teleprompter. Prasenjit, who has done upwards of 30 films (he can't remember the number, probably because most were unmemorable), admits Saha rehashes films. "But that doesn't mean he can't make his own films; he's just being practical." At a commercial level, success is marginal. But marginal is better than being in the red, say Saha backers. Competition is stiff and Tollywood has seen only three hits in the past two years. For a Bengali film to be a hit, it should play for six months in at least 10 cinemas and touch about 150 halls. There are 250 theatres in Bengal, and an average of 60 films are churned out yearly.
Most of Saha's films like Sujan Sakhi (Rs 11 lakh), Jhinukmala (Rs 12 lakh), Nag Nagin (Rs 15 lakh) and Shimulpalv (14 lakh) are folk tales or family dramas designed to appeal to jatra audiences which go for soppy sentimentality. But Saha scores as the rules of his game are different. To cover costs, he sells the 16mm version and video rights for Rs 3-4 lakh in North Bengal, where his films do well. Within weeks the money is recovered. "If one of my films does two months, it's a superhit" says Saha.
Saha's economics have forced directors to look to Mumbai for financing. It may be difficult to budget Rs 30-35 lakh in Tollywood but the amount is chickenfeed in Bollywood, where a single song costs as much. So director Ratan Adhikari's backers are the Mumbai-based financiers Monang Films Ltd. Local producers like Agarwal are turning away in disgust. "You can't give the audience this substandard stuff," he says, "so I have stopped financing Bengali films altogether."
There's an undeniable cascading effect on both audiences and the makers. At Tollywood's New Theatre Studio, Adhikari is shooting Apon Holo Por, starring Prasenjit. The film has a budget limit of Rs 30 lakh; this director hasn't yet got the hang of Saha's economics though he has adopted his methodology of impromptu takes.
The yearning for quick money has producers clamouring to make films at Saha's rates, putting other directors in a spot. A reason why people like Tarun Majumdar and Aurobindo Mukherjee aren't making films. As for the cost cutter par excellence, sipping tea at the Technicians' Studio, he reflects, "I know that none of my films will ever be rerun. This is the age of disposable goods, so why bother trying to make the effort?" Then his cell phone rings. It's a producer who wants to talk to him.
Filmography
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2008
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2008
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- Minister FatakeshtoMinister FatakeshtoMinister Fatakeshto is a Bengali film, in which Mithun Chakraborty and Koyel Mullick are in the lead role. It is the sequel of MLA Fatakeshto.-Plot:...
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- TigerTigerThe tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
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- AbhimanyuAbhimanyuAbhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...
2006
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- HangamaHangamaHangama is a popular singer from Afghanistan. She is born as Zohra in 1962 in Kabul. When she became a singer her mother chose the name Hangama for her. She currently lives an exile in Toronto, Canada where she continues her music career...
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2006
- Sakal Sandhya 2006
- Swarthopar 2006
- Debi 2005
- Raj Mahal 2005
- AgniAgniAgni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...
2004
- Anyay Atyachar 2004
- Cooli 2004
- Sajani 2004
- Tyag 2004
- Guru 2003
- Kartabya 2003
- Sabuj Sathi 2003
- Sneher Protidan 2003
- Sukh Dukkher Sansar 2003
- Kurukshetra 2002
- Shatrur Mokabila 2002
- Streer Maryada 2002
- Guru Shisya 2001
- Jabab Chai 2001
- Bhalobasi Tomake 2000
- Ei Ghar Ei Sansar 2000
- Gariber Sansar 2000
- Satbhai 2000
- Kanchanmala 1999
- Madhu Malati 1999
- Manush Kano Beiman 1999
- Santan Jakhan Satru 1999
- Satyam Shivam Sundaram 1999
- Swamir Ghar 1999
- Tomay Pabo Bole 1999
- Swamir Adesh 1998
- Shimul Parul 1998
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1998 - Baba Keno Chakar 1998
- Gharer Lakshmi 1998
- Nag Nagini 1998
- Nayaner Alo 1998
- Praner Cheye PriyoPraner Cheye PriyoPraner Cheye Priyo also is a Bangladeshi bengali language film. It was released on 1997.-Cast:* Riaz as Sajib/Rony* Raveena as Milly* Bulbul Ahmed as Modhu Chowdhury* Bobita as Rokeya* Wasimol Bari Rajib as Sampad Khan...
1998 - Matir Manush 1997
- Mayar Badhan 1997
- Sabar Upare Maa 1997
- Nishpap Asami 1997
- Pita Mata Santan 1997
- Tomake Chai 1997
- Mayer Dibyi 1997
- Bakul Priya 1997
- Kamalar Banabas 1997
- Adarer Bon 1997
- Abujh Mon 1996
- Sakhi Tumi Kar 1996
- Jhinukmala 1996
- Bhai Aamar Bhai 1996
- Naginkanya 1995
- Sujan Sakhi 1995
- Danga 1994
- Biswas Abiswas 1994
- Maan Samman 1993
- Bedenir Prem 1992
Producer
- Manush Kano Beiman 1999