July Blind Spot: Jalsaghar(The Music Room)

Couple of years ago when I was doing my Masters in US, one of my university friends was kind enough to lend me his copy of Apu trilogy. This was my first and so far only excursion into cinematic world of Satyajit Ray, probably the only Indian director with a worldwide fame and following. Considering how successful that experiment went, (it certainly was a success, so much so that Pather Panchali(1955) sits prettily in my personal ‘Top 100’) it is rather sad that I never saw any of his other films since. So I put one of his films on this year’s blind spot list, since that is what this list is for – to get rid of such blemishes.

Even though it is directed by Satyajit Ray, considering this is a Bengali film, this film also provides me a unique opportunity. Usually films I choose for this list are those which are supposed to have been seen my most people. So I try not to get into plot details and other usual suspects of review. But I would be very surprised if many of those who frequent this place would have seen this movie. So, for a change, I get to frame this post as a traditional review.

Jalsaghar(1958) or The Music Room, as it is known internationally, is a story of Biswambhar Roy, a last of his kind landlord which means he is basically a royalty in areas surrounding vast pieces of lands he owns. It also used to mean that everyone leaving in that area would depend on him for their livelihood but his estate is in dilapidated state. He has inherited lands that are being depleted by river nearby and there is not much he can do about it. So he has the title and even respect of the people that comes with it but no perquisites that usually follow.

But his status in the community means he has to live pompous life his ancestors did, even if it is only to put up a show for others and pinnacle of his ostentation is his music room. His music room is where he would invite some of the best artists - singers, dancers, musicians - to put up a show for him and would invite most important people around to accompany him. Even being a part of this group would mean your entry in landlord's innermost circle and indication of your elevated social status.

Only problem here, however, is Biswambhar Roy's estate is running on fumes and can not really afford all this extravagance. He even has to sell family jewels of Roy family that have been passed on for generations to pay for initiation ceremony of his son but even this doesn't deter him from his flamboyance. His wife tries to open his eyes but there is no other way he can live by and in the end, he succumbs to illusion of his grandeur, leaving his his last two remaining servants helpless witnesses of this event. His manager, who handles all his financial business and other things related to his lands, is solemn, worried where this might lead to while his man servant is almost giddy to see his master back to his old ways months after. [SPOILER]What he doesn't realize is this is candle burning brightest before extinguishing[SPOILER END].

Jalsaghar was Satyajit Ray's only third film; he made it between second and third installment of Apu trilogy. But, even though this was obvious right from Pather Panchali, sensibilities of this film are of a seasoned film maker. Premise of changing times and someone who once prospered in it failing to adapt to these times is not exactly novel. But what makes it work despite being the same old story is Satyajit Ray's handling with a knack of seasoned storyteller. He knows what he is going for, how he wants to get there and he does so right on the money.

He highlights hollowness of Roy's lifestyle from very first frame. His idiosyncratic behaviour to keep up with it and cling on to stupid notions of his false status only make him more miserable and Ray does not flinch from showing this. But he doesn't make him spineless which makes it much more interesting character; someone I genuinely cared for despite being rather vain. He is not without his values, however vain they might be and not without his qualities either, however crazy they might be especially under the given circumstances.

Chhabi Biswas, playing protagonist Biswambhar Roy, makes it even more impressive with great range he puts on display here - from someone who is lordly from head to toe, riding his beautiful horse Moti to a hollow shell of that man we see in the very first scene with no idea of time and date. His ease and command with which he slips into persona of Biswambhar Roy also played major role in making me sympathetic towards him, despite all his glaring faults.

While Roy is seeing the last days of his fading glory, Ray makes this story even more contrasting by adding character of Mohit Ganguly, son of userer leaving nearby, and making him a rising star. Roy constantly feels threatened by him as quite possibly he is looking to replace him. There are quite a few confrontational scenes between the two in film and almost every single one of them would find its place on highlight reel. Ganguly, being a self made man still not used to be a part of dignified society around him, is like a new kid on playing ground; always uncomfortable around Roy. And Roy, possibly because he himself not comfortable with his rise, constantly trying to cross him.

And finally, Indian classical music that is featured so richly in this film. I have to admit one thing though - however deplorable this guy might be, he certainly had a good taste in music. If you have any liking towards this kind of music, three concerts featured in this film alone are more than enough to make Jalsaghar worth a watch. Having artists from all over perform at your doorsteps like this, used to be a kingly habit of the class that Roy is last remnant. And Ray doesn't use them only to as a showcase of classical music but makes them very much integral parts of whole narrative. I feel really happy after getting back on Ray bandwagon with this film but this time I really hope my next stop won't be after another two years.

Announcing 2014 Blind Spot Entries

Around Christmas, I will post my entry for this month's Blind Spot and with that 2013 Blind Spot Series will come to a conclusion. Blind Spot series is designed to motivate us into scratching off the names from our to-watch lists. We do that with every film we watch but these are meant to be those big, glaring omissions that are certain to attract some stares if you admit not having seen them in public. At this time of the year last year, I was little skeptical about being a part of it because first of all, there are just too many of them and secondly if I did participate, I wanted to take it seriously and look at the finish line. I am happy that I am at least looking at it now but as usual, others are way ahead of me. Most others have already published next year's entries. I might be lagging but I ain't a quitter! This is what I intend to check off for this series in 2014.

Safety Last!(1923)

Dracula(1931)

How Green was My Valley(1941)

Brief Encounter(1945)

Diabolique(1955)

Jalsaghar(1958)

The Exterminating Angel(1962)

American Graffiti(1973)

The King of Comedy(1982)

Au Revoir Les Enfants(1987)

Ed Wood(1994)

L'enfant(2005)

Off course in compliance with my OCD, movies are spread almost evenly over the time period ranging from silent era to contemporaries. 2 silents, 1 Halloween special, 1 previous Best Picture winner, 4 foreign films and one Satyajit Ray as a bonus should hopefully give me a lot of variety. Majority of the movies I saw this year were for their directors. I ventured into Tarkovskiy territory for the very first time and will encounter Ozu in December, went deeper into Kubrick and Bergamn filmography. I see the trend continuing next year as well with likes of Scorsese, Coppola and Bunuel but there are few here I have included based on their own accord. Biggest change from this year, however, would be me abandoning the question-answer format I used this year for these posts. I think I am about ready to do straight up posts for them. We'll see how that goes!

This year was a great hit considering that I ended up loving almost all the movies I saw for this list. I really don't like writing negative reviews so I really hope next year will be the same. Huge thanks to Ryan McNeil for organizing this, compiling the links every month and championing it throughout the year. I hope to be at the finish line this time next year as well. 

Apu Trilogy

Satyajit Ray, probably the most well-known Indian director, won numerous awards nationally and internationally for his work in Apu Trilogy consisting of Pather Panchali(1955), Aparajito(1956) and Apur Sansar(1959) including 3 national awards and 7 awards from Cannes, Berlin and Venice film Festivals. Based on novels by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, it is a milestone in Indian cinema and is among the finest works of Parallel Cinema, Indian equivalent of Italian Neo-realism and French New Wave, it is also often considered as one of the greatest film trilogies ever made. I always considered not having seen such an important film as an anomaly in my cinematic life and I am happy that I finally got a chance to go through them and write about them as the 50th post on this blog because, seriously it hardly gets any better than this. This will give Lord of the Rings Trilogy run for his money as my favorite trilogy and might even score over it, just because of massive nostalgia factor that stuck with me like a leech for a longest time. There is hardly any pretense in them at all, they are heart-breakingly realistic and even after 50 years, much more relevant than many films made a year ago. Let me get into into them individually.

Pather Panchali(1955): First film of the trilogy is also a directorial debut of legendary Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray. Just like the family in the movie, Satyajit Ray had to find his way through heap of trouble before finally making this movie. He had to halt the production multiple times over 5 years until finally Government of West Bengal funded this film and everything materialized the way it should. In the first part of trilogy, we see childhood years of the protagonist Apu in his ancestral house in small village. His family is in very poor state, who usually struggle to make the ends meet. Their house is in dilapidated state but they don't have any money to mend it. What we see throughout the movie is their everyday struggle essentially to keep it going. As it becomes difficult for Apu's father to support his family, he eventually leaves to the nearby city in hope of finding a little steadier source of income. It takes a lot more time than anyone in the family anticipated for him to earn respectable money before he can come home. Apu's family goes from bad to worse during this period as even their mother who has been the pillar of the family starts to crumble under the loneliness and helplessness in absence of their father. 

For the reasons I am not entirely sure myself, this movie brought me on the verge of tears multiple times, maybe because even though I grew up in a city, I could easily relate to the every single character as if I know them personally. Even minor character like vendor of sweets brings back the memories of an Ice cream vendor who used to sit around the corner of my house. He used to sell it from a tin cylinder on tree leaves but I am yet to taste such sweetness from any Ben and Jerry's I have had over the years. Satyajit Ray makes his characters painfully real, I could easily see my own grandmother in old aunty Indir leaving in their house, I could see my brother and me fighting over who is getting the dinner table ready when Apu and Durga fight over the silver paper. Not only his characters but their interactions with each other and also the whole environment is created to perfection. Apu and Durga share an ideal relation two siblings can have where they care deeply for each other but just at the same time fight over trivial matters like any other kids of their age. Pather Panchali easily brings you to tears with harsh realities of life but it also portrays simple joys of life triumphantly like viewing pictures from bio-scope and playing outside in the rain(when I was little, it was almost a ritual to go out and play in the very first rain of the year). It should not come as any surprise that it won 'Most Human Document Award' in 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Rating(out of 5):

Aparajito(1956): Second part of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, Aparajito picks up the story where Pather Panchali, first part of the trilogy left and tells us the story of years of Apu's education. Even after being the middle segment of the trilogy, Aparajito stands firmly as a movie on its own. Having watched Pather Panchali before definitely helps you in getting a better feel of it but Aparajito does not rely on first installment - couple of references to Nischindipur, village where Apu was born is all it takes from it. Apu and his parents have moved to Varanasi in hopes of better livelihood. Varanasi being one of the most important holy cities of India and Apu's father being Priest as family occupation, he hopes to earn a decent livelihood. However, even though they have left their village, hardships in life haven't left their side just yet. (SPOILER)After passing of their father, they again move to a small village in West Bengal(SPOILER End) where he starts going back to school and turns out to be very bright student. He even gets a scholarship to continue his schooling in Kolkata but for his mother this unfortunately results to loneliness and deterioration of her health. We follow ups and downs in his life, see him move from Varanasi to small village in West Bengal and then to Kolkata. Aparajito among many others, received Golden Lion for Best Film as well as Critics award in 1957 Venice Film Festival. Even though personally I prefer Pather Panchali over Aparajito, a lot of critics consider this as an improvement over the first installment. In my case, I think Pather Panchali scores a tad more for sheer nostalgic value even though it isn't like Aparajito doesn't have its moments.

Rating(out of 5):

Apur Sansar(1959): In the last installment of Apu's trilogy, Apu is just out of college not because he is done but because he cannot afford it anymore. He is dreaming of becoming a writer one day. But for now, what he needs is a job to make the two ends meet for as he continues to dream of his life as a writer, he doesn't even have enough money to pay his meager rent. However, good jobs are hard to come by and what he can get are too low-profile in his own opinion for an intellect like himself. One fine day, when one of his college friends invites him to a country wedding of his cousin Aparna that might help him inspire something to write, he finds himself getting married to the bride as original bridegroom turns out to be a mental patient. Once bride and groom overcome the initial awkwardness, they share a beautiful relationship as husband and wife as Apu becomes a little more realistic with new responsibility of a family and Aparna, even though coming from a well-off family, adjusts perfectly in his impoverished life. (SPOILER) However, with her death is childbirth, heartbroken Apu almost gives up everything, so much that he does not even see the face of his child and takes up a vagabond lifestyle.(SPOILER End) It takes him a long time and a guilt trip to come back to normalcy. 

I am wondering if there is something special about Bengali Heroes and their response to the broken heart as Apu like another legendary Bengali hero Devdas takes an easy way out. It was also nice to finally see a familiar face in Sharmila Tagore, who later had quite a successful career in Hindi Film Industry as well. Just like Aparajito, one thing I appreciated the most about Apur Sansar is it stands firmly by itself as a movie. There is almost nothing you will not understand if you haven't seen the first two installments. Being a part of a trilogy, you can probably call it a drawback but as long as there is a definite link between all the movies I think it is fine and there is a definite link in all the above movies - Apu. Considering the fact that Satyajit Ray did not plan on making three films - According to IMDb, Ray did not plan to make third movie until Aparajito won big in Venice Film Festival - continuity in his film is even more remarkable. After 3 films and 30 something years in the life of our protagonist, I think it is a great compliment if you still want more by the end.

Rating(out of 5):