The lost reels of Tagore the helmer

Rabindranath Tagore was born in an era where moving pictures were a mere fantasy. By the time the technology of motion pictures came to the subcontinent, (the first film to be screened in the subcontinent was at Mumbai's Watson Hotel in 1896) Tagore was in his 30s. But the creative genius that he was, Tagore was amazed by the prospect of this new storytelling format. In his book “Poshchim Jatri'r Diary”), he wrote about his experiences with films, while traveling to the West.

The first film to be directed based on Tagore literature was Nareshchandra Mitra's “Manbhanjan” (1923), in which Tagore also appeared in the opening sequence. A few other films were made in subsequent years, like Shishir Kumar Bhaduri's “Bicharak” (1929), Madhu Basu's “Giribala” (1929) and “Dalia” (1930), and “Nitin Basu's “Dena Paona” (1931). In 1929, Dhirendranath Gangopadhyay began filming “Tapati” in Shantiniketan, where Tagore himself was cast in the lead role, but the film could not be completed due to his travels abroad.

The dance-drama “Nati'r Puja” was a period piece based on Tagore's poem “Pujarini”, in which students of Shantiniketan acted. The story is set in a time when anti-religion fanatics are destroying Buddhist temples, with support from King Debdutta. A brave Nati (dancer) Bhaktimati Shrimati prepares to perform her puja (prayer) in the face of imminent death, and she is stabbed to death as she completes her prayer.

Rabindranath, in a tight financial spot for the Visva-Bharati at the time (late 1920s), bought the play to Kolkata to do some fund-raising stagings of the play. Sensing the discomfort among Kolkata's conservative mindset to see women performing songs and dance on stage, Tagore added a major male character, Dimu Upali, and himself took the stage in the role. In 1931 when Tagore was in Kolkata to stage the play, owner and chief on New Theatres BN Sarkar requested Tagore to direct it into a film and offered to donate a part of the ticket sales for Tagore's Shriniketan project.

New Theatres made all efforts to ensure smooth operations of the filming. The filming was going on in the summer, and the fans on the shooting floor could only operate between shots. The Kolkata summer heat proved difficult for the 70-year old Tagore, who would often have to go outside to catch a breath before coming back. Knowing this, BN Sarkar ordered for a thatched roof 'gol-ghar' rest-house to be built outside the shooting spot by a pond, where Tagore could rest. Tagore was so impressed by the studio and the rest-house he termed it his 'second Shantiniketan'.

A 25-member unit of New Theatre shot the film in five days, as Tagore was in a tight schedule; he was scheduled to take the play to Europe for staging to get additional funds for the Shriniketan project. Nitin Basu was on camera for the film, while Mukul Basu did the sound design, Dinendranath Tagore directed music and Subodh Mitra was the editor. The film was shot entirely as it was staged, with Lalita Sen playing the lead role of Nati Shrimati, Sumita Chakrabarty playing Queen Lokeshwari, the role of Utpala was played by Leela Majumdar and Tagore himself as Upali.

The film released on September 22, 1932 at the Chitra Cinema Hall, with press reviews praising the film's format of portraying it as a stage play, saying it “broke the rule of conventional cinema”. The film was screened again on December 4 the same year at the Shri Rupa Cinema Hall.

Despite the positive reviews and Rabindranath's iconic stature, the film did not do a great deal of business. BN Sarkar attributed it to the short duration of filming. Ironically, Tagore did not have to go abroad with the play at the time (for which he had to rush the film); Mahatma Gandhi sent donations to Tagore for Shriniketan, so he did not have to travel to Europe at the old age and frail health to raise funds.

Sadly, there is no copy in existence of “Nati'r Puja” any more, as almost the entire 10,577 feet of film reel were burned down in a fire at New Theatres in 1940. Only a small piece of 16mm film is kept in the collection of Rabindra Bhavan.