Anik Dutta dies at 66: The ‘Bangaliana’ director who by no means ‘compromised’

Some movies make you chortle. Many go away you in tears. Most are merely meant to entertain. However when Anik Dutta’s ‘Bhooter Bhabishyat’ launched in Bengal in 2012, it modified the best way Bengali cinema was perceived. Right here was a movie that oozed ‘Bangaliana’. It spoke of colonial hangovers, ideological clashes and the ethical, social and political decay round us, all wrapped in wit, intelligence and an unmistakably Bengali sensibility.

In most scenes, you laughed. However someplace deep inside, the movie made you assume. It compelled you to introspect. With out preaching, Dutta held up a mirror to society and politics. There was no manipulation, no overt messaging. Along with his debut movie, Dutta revealed not solely the sort of director he was, but in addition the sort of individual he was – uncompromising, witty, defiant and undoubtedly Bengali. And even in his final movie, ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei’, he remained deeply rooted in his tradition and identification.

On Wednesday, round 2 pm, the director handed away on the age of 66 after reportedly falling from the rooftop of his residence in Kolkata’s Hindustan Park space. His sudden demise has left the Bengali movie trade and cinephiles in deep shock.

The grandson of Narendra Chandra Dutta, founding father of United Financial institution of India and a relative of legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy, Dutta was an ardent admirer of Satyajit Ray. Lots of his movies, together with the blockbuster ‘Aparajito’ in 2022, which gained Nationwide Awards and his remaining outing ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei’, had been tributes to Ray.

Whereas making ‘Aparajito’, which chronicled the obstacles Ray confronted in the course of the making of the cult traditional ‘Pather Panchali’ and was launched on Ray’s a hundred and first beginning anniversary, Dutta had spoken about approaching Sandip Ray for permission. “I knew that I couldn’t go fallacious in something I do with the movie. Babu da (Sandip Ray, son of Satyajit Ray) took a number of days to determine. Later, he instructed me that if anybody might do the movie, it was me,” Dutta had mentioned in an interview.

The movie, that includes Jeetu Kamal in a putting resemblance to Ray, took the nation by storm. Dutta recreated a black-and-white cinematic world that maybe stands as one of many best tributes to Ray in current occasions. Legendary Bengali filmmaker Tarun Majumdar had visited a theatre in 2022 to look at ‘Aparajito’. “I sat in silence for a while after watching the movie. You don’t know what you will have accomplished. This contribution of yours to cinema will likely be remembered perpetually,” Majumdar had instructed Dutta then.

Dutta was by no means in a rush. He was identified for his quick mood. In a filmmaking profession spanning 14 years, he directed eight movies. But virtually all of them, from ‘Bhooter Bhabishyat’ and ‘Aschorjo Prodip’ to ‘Borunbabur Bondhu’ had been layered with uncomfortable truths, mind, humour and ‘Bangaliana’. At a time when gimmicks and spectacle usually dominated cinema, Dutta made unconventional storytelling and socially conscious narratives his best strengths.

“He spoke his thoughts, sharp and unsparing, with out filters, usually making these round him uncomfortable, however at all times saying what he really believed,” wrote Nationwide Award-winning filmmaker Atanu Ghosh.

At a time when artistes usually communicate of intimidation, Dutta by no means shied away from being unapologetically himself. A filmmaker with robust Left leanings, he made movies that made the Mamata Banerjee authorities uncomfortable. In 2019, Dutta directed the darkish political satire ‘Bhobishyoter Bhoot’, which took digs on the TMC regime and subsequently bumped into hassle with the federal government. His movies additionally not often discovered area at Nandan, the state-run theatre complicated, due to his political opinions, however Dutta by no means appeared to care. In 2018, he publicly criticised then CM Mamata Banerjee for the enormous portraits displayed throughout the Kolkata Worldwide Movie Pageant venue at Nandan, voicing his opinion throughout a panel dialogue there itself.

“However past the biting satire, I’ll at all times bear in mind his absolute reverence for the craft. No one understood, liked and cared for Satyajit Ray’s cinema fairly like he did,” wrote filmmaker Pratim D Gupta.

Through the launch of his final movie, ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei’, Dutta had spoken about how Kolkata now not fascinated him the best way it as soon as did. He had additionally mentioned that ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei’, impressed by Ray’s Feluda universe, could be his final movie as he wasn’t conserving nicely. Producer Firdausul Hasan mentioned he was planning one other movie with Dutta. However then, it would by no means be made. Farewell, grasp.