THE PAST ABOUT BENGALI CINEMA NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
It fills us up with all sorts of emotions while writing
this. What we are about to write is so close to our hearts, that we are worried
if we will be able to do justice to this story. Keeping our emotions aside, let
us cut to the chase. In the late 1960s and 70s, when the Films Division of
India was producing landmark animation films of our nation, a state in our
country was doing equally good work in the field of animation. The name of the
state was West Bengal, and the animation work being done, was for the opening
title sequences for Bengali films. A majority of films produced at this time
was light hearted comedies, depicting the lives of the working class people,
and their everyday problems. The films are amazing in their own rights, but
what catches the eye are the opening title sequences of these films.
Beautifully animated, the sequences depicted the characters of the films, with
caricatures, and typography. Another fascinating fact about these sequences is,
all these are 2d, which means every line, every stroke, is hand drawn, with pen
on paper. The screenplay is broken down into parts, and the different moods of
the film is depicted through animation in the title sequence. Here are few
films that depict, how beautiful opening title sequences can be, with the
minimum of resources.
NAYAK
Released in
1966, the opening sequence is designed by the director himself, Satyajit Ray. Ray
had used his skills of a graphic designer to good use, doing most of the
graphic work of his films, posters, title sequences, logos, and even art
direction. The title sequence of this film is an intricate play of lines and typography.
It is almost magical how the title sequence is matched with the live action, at
the end of the sequence.
CHARMURTI
This movie
is based on the characters created by Narayan Gangopadhyay. Released in 1978,
the title sequence uses cartoon characters and typography to convey the
message. Designed by Partha Chatterjee, Anil Das, Chandi Lahiri, Tulsi Lahiri,
who were responsible for the cartoon characters and Samir Mondal, for title
typography, with art direction by Sanjib Sen and Bishwanath Chatterjee. The lead
characters of the film are represented through caricatures, with beautiful
visual transformation of the lyrics.
MOUCHAK
The title
sequence for this 1974 film shows the characters of the film as cartoons, and their
aspirations in life. Chandi Lahiri did the cartoons and Samir Mondal did the
title design. The rough pen on paper aesthetic works amazingly well, and the
calligraphy of the title design adds value to the entire sequence.
PERSONAL ASSISTANT
Made way
back in 1959, most of the artists responsible for landmark title sequence work
in Bengal, were not even working at the time. Debabrata Mukhopadhyay did the
titles, but unfortunately the cartoon artist is unknown. But upon looking at
the sequence, it is safe to say this title sequence was ahead of its time, done
on a black background, with paper cut effect used to perfection.
ASHITE ASHIONA
This 1967
film’s title sequence has more motion compared to other films. Done with the
signature cartoon style, the cartoons have better finishing, and are
accompanied by hand drawn backgrounds from the film. The title sequence shows different
scenes from the films, and gives a glimpse what is about to happen, exactly
what title sequences should do.
PAKA DEKHA
Chandi
Lahiri and Tulsi Lahiri are the ones responsible for this title sequence
design. It is made in 1980, and it is evident from the sequence, extensive use
of motion compared to earlier works. Another fascinating thing about the
sequence is the entire sequence can be viewed separately, as it tells a story
of its own, with beautiful use of transitions.
It is shameful
that none of us know about this side of Bengali cinema, let alone people
talking about it. Not only the title sequences but the films produced were way
ahead of its time, the films were made with utmost honesty and passion,
unfortunately what lacks in today’s time. The fact that these people were
producing such great work with the minimum of resources is inspiring, and that
none of them got their due respect is heartbreaking. We hope people get to know
about this ignored era of Bengali cinema, and the people associated get the
respect they truly deserve.
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