Lost Cause

It’s strange how,Bula di,who seems to have invaded the radio and most other spaces of communication with her corny ‘awareness’ drive seems to have had little sway over the silver screen. In our part of the country at least. Not that Bollywood has churned out gems in the way of films that spread awareness about HIV,it hasn’t remained shy of bringing up the topic at least. Phir Milenge,My Brother Nikhil and Dus Kahaniyan bear testimony to the fact. However,Bengali cinema,which is finally trying to come out of the cocoon of political correctness and classical or populous aesthetics,still seems unwilling to take on an issue like AIDS. Something that continues to baffle filmmaker Anjan Dutt,years after he made the hugely popular telefilm Bhalobashar Kotha. “It revolves around an Anglo Indian teacher who is tested positive for HIV and his travails in the city. It was quite popular and has been screened in the TV several times. It’s strange why people here steer clear of dealing with a topic which is very important to address through cinema at present,” says Dutt. The answer lies in the market,feel most industry insiders. “The audience for Bengali cinema has been maturing very slowly. It’s difficult to make money from a film made on a subject like that,” says producer-distributor Arijit Dutta who would think twice before investing on a similar project in the current scenario. A feeling echoed by filmmakers Arin Paul and Birsa Dasgupta. “Tollywood is still a small market. Producers might have apprehensions about funding an issue-based film,” says Paul. Dasgupta agrees that HIV is a topic that requires some degree of responsibility and sensitivity while filming. “I wouldn’t want to sensationalise it to make it the selling point of the film. And I doubt if the Bengali audience would accept a different treatment,” says Dasgupta.

A feeling also shared by director Sumon Mukhopadhyay,who is currently wrapping up work on his latest,Mahanagar@Kolkata. “The superstructures of most cultures are underlined with hypocrisy. I had done a play called Agunmukho which talked about incest. One can’t deny its existence in our society,but the play was not received well because the Bengali audience was not comfortable facing it,” says Mukhopadhyay.

So,its not surprising that sex sells,but issues about sexuality find few takers. And it’s the same inability to grow out of the ‘classical roots of Bengali culture’ that makes the Bengali audience queasy while watching films that take up ‘bold’ issues head-on.

Filmmaker Q,whose Bishh,ran to rave reviews thanks to it’s representation of female sexuality feels the Bengali film industry is yet to wake up to the ‘commercial potential of social issues’. “Also Indian filmmakers hardly have a grip on the representation of social realities like in the West. They either end up romanticizing or sensationalizing it. No wonder they stay away from an issue like AIDS,” says Q.

“It all depends on the individual filmmaker’s vision and sense of responsibility,” says Dutt. We hope he is heard.