‘Visva-Bharati wanted to stop Nobel Chor’

Reportedly,a UN grant that was supposed to be made to the university also made the authorities clamp up and prevent any ‘negative publicity’ around the institution. Ghosh had to recreate the interiors of Visva-Bharati for parts of the film and had to find alternative locations in Bolpur that resembled the areas around the university.

“Besides the logistical concerns,I was more worried about how the move of making a film on the theft would be perceived. I didn’t want people to think that I am commercializing a sad incident in the cultural history of India,” said Ghosh,a professor of Economics at the Florida Atlantic University.

The filmmaker says that the theft of the medallion made him think not primarily about the government and the university’s facilities but the relevance of Tagore in 21st century.

“If you remember,the theft was treated almost like an emergency. I particularly found Amartya Sen’s take on the incident very interesting. He said that,all said and done,we have to remember that what we have lost is a piece of metal. It is more important to be aware of what Tagore’s works mean to us and our culture at present,” he said.

So while Tagore continued to be exulted in an urban culture scape,the filmmaker tries to explore if the Bengali identity,which the poet is made to represent,is born out of the politics of exclusion.

“In the film,the protagonist is a poor farmer who stumbles upon the stolen medallion. He juxtaposes his approach to the medallion and the urban middle class Bengali’s to show the dichotomy,which Tagore had resented.

Nobel Chor,which releases this week,was passed by the Censor Board without cuts. “I was a little apprehensive at first. I have used footages of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee. However,the board didn’t have a problem with it,” he signed off.