Tracing the track of the comet
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka screened a documentary, Kazi Nazrul Islam: The Rebel Poet, by Anjan Das on August 23 at the Indian Cultural Centre in Gulshan. The documentary, which was recently released in India by Indian External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, is produced by the Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India.
Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty welcomed the audience that included eminent cultural personalities of Bangladesh. "There is not much to say about the poet, specially in Bangladesh and India as Nazrul is an integral part of our culture. On a personal note, he represents the finest and the most sublime expression of humanism to me, " he said.
The 40-minute documentary tries to trace the path of this blazing comet, a Dhumketu as Rabindranath Tagore called him, across the literary firmament of Bengal. Starting from the socio-political context of the time where Nazrul emerged as the Rebel Poet, the documentary explores the nature of Nazrul's rebellion.
With a humble background from a village named Churulia in Burdwan of West Bengal where a poverty-stricken life christened him with the name Dukhu Mia (the sorrowful one), Nazrul's life is as diverse as his works. Nazrul's literary rebellion was a clear departure from the dominant grandeur of Tagore's poetry and also from Gandhian Pacifism. His poems and works reflect his socialistic concerns, revolutionary thoughts as well as the passionate expression of love, parting, devotion and spiritualism. Another significant characteristic of Nazrul's writings is his strong flavour of equality--whether religious, gender or socio-economic; and secularism are also focused in the documentary.
The documentary also takes into account the poet's personal life, including his life in military service, receiving a jail term and a ban on many of his works, his inter-religious marriage with Prameela Sengupta, the death of his beloved son Arindam Khalid (Bulbul), achievements and the most tragic incident, his loss of the power of speech at the age of 43. Bengali Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, eminent Nazrul Sangeet exponent Deepali Nag, and Nazrul's daughter-in-law Kalyani Kazi, and granddaughter Kazi Anindita were interviewed on the poet. The documentary ended with an account of his death in Dhaka in 1976. An audio CD featuring Nazrul songs and poems by artistes like Feroza Begum, Suprava Sarker, Asha Bhonsle, Satinath Mukherjee, Anup Jalota, Mohammad Rafi, Kazi Sabyasachi, Kazi Aniruddha and Kazi Nazrul Islam himself was also provided with the documentary.
The documentary screening was complemented by the performance of eminent Nazrul sangeet artiste Khairul Anam Shakil. The artiste rendered several songs from different sub-genres including Nohe nohe priyo e noi ankhijal, Kano diley e kanta jodi go kushum diley, Boshia bijoney kano aka mone, Ma go chinmoyee rup dhorey aye and Aay maru parer hawoa.
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