Nazrul is like a prism

MAJOR DOCUMENTARY ON REBEL POET SET FOR RELEASE

Kazi Nazrul Islam, arguably one of the greatest artistic polymaths in the world, had a life as diverse and happening as his works were. From being the muezzin at a mosque to a soldier to a masterful writer-editor-composer-political voice and in his last decades spent in dreadful physical and mental conditions, the course of his life and works is utterly fascinating to say the least. Which makes it appalling that a complete picture of his life in documented audiovisual medium has not yet been done, even 40 years after his death. But one meticulous documentary filmmaker, Kolkata-based Mujibar Rahman, is set to change all that. The brilliant life of Bangladesh's National Poet has been brought together in an elaborate, two-hour documentary that is expected to launch this August, marking his death anniversary (August 29).

Mujibar, who has previously made the much-acclaimed documentary on Rabindranath “Rabindranath Tagore: Jibon O Somoy” and a number of other documentaries on Bangalee luminaries, spoke to The Daily Star about his venture in a recent conversation. Excerpts:

“My interest in Kazi Nazrul grew while working on the Tagore documentary, when I found how highly Tagore regarded him. And after I started reading and researching on him, I found that Nazrul is something else. And the general people probably know 15% of his life. One of the most striking finding was that in Bangladesh and India, the perception of Nazrul was quite different. In West Bengal, he is considered an 'almost Hindu' poet, thus alienating him from the Muslim community there, while in Bangladesh, he has been portrayed as many different things over the years. I felt that Nazrul is a prism who has many dimensions, and some of those dimensions were explored individually. So I decided to explore Nazrul in his multidimensional forms, even if that makes my film a bit lengthy.

“Through the work, I came to the conclusion that Nazrul was the only poet, and the only Bangalee after Raja Rammohan Roy, who understood Bangalee's mixed culture and diversity, and he could express it. This mixed culture is greater India's heritage, and it came about in his works –with Hindu mythology on one side of it and Muslim philosophies on the other. Nazrul was also a close witness of many cultural initiations of the Indian subcontinent. He wrote the first Ishtihar of the Shramik-Proja Party, which is termed the nucleus of the Communist Party of India. Then you see, until Rabindranath, Bangla poetry was for the upper class of society; Nazrul was the first to reach the mass people, in his poetry as in his journalism. He was a brave man; he was the only poet who served jail time for eleven months for writing poetry, and went on a 39-day hunger strike. Five of his books were seized. There are also things that many people don't know, and I have put them in my documentary: Nazrul had written a poetic translation of the Quran, and wrote our Prophet's (PBUH) biography in poetic form, in “Moru Bhashkor”.

“For the research, I read pretty much all the books available on Nazrul. I got a lot of support from eminent Bangladeshi Nazrul researcher Emeritus Professor Rafiqul Islam, who guided me greatly in the work, and is an advisor on this documentary. I also found resources at various libraries in Kolkata, and here in Dhaka, as well as the Nazrul Institute. I am also grateful to his family, Khilkhil Kazi, for her support.

“I found out a lot more than I had sought out looking on Nazrul, but I couldn't apply it all within the limitations of a documentary's framework. For example, his musical side is vast, and it mesmerized. He created 19 Indian classical Ragas, and 11 taals. His musical world is so vast that you can make a five-hour documentary on that alone. I have shown some of it, but it was beyond the scope of the film to explore it at depth. He was involved greatly in film and theatre; I put synopses of these in the film, but I could not bring it all together. His involvement in radio is another great chapter. He was involved with Akashbani since its inception till the end of his active days, and there is nothing he didn't do! It's impossible to encapsulate all of Nazrul in a film.

“How people will watch the film is a big question. It is more important now than ever to have Nazrul's non-communal, humanistic philosophies spread among people. I got in touch with Bangladesh's Cultural Affairs Ministry, and with their help I plan to showcase the film to the Bangladeshi audience. Nazrul Institute is also working with it. Simultaneously, in West Bengal we are trying to reach the people through the state institutes,” Mujibar concludes.