Such is Fame

A new book sheds light on Niranjan Pal,playwright and co-founder of Bombay Talkies,otherwise a forgotten figure.

Fame is fickle and public memory,short. Social historian Kusum Pant Joshi realised this when she discovered the cinematic genius of filmmaker Niranjan Pal (1889-1959). As a pioneering playwright of the early 20th century,he worked in the UK and India and co-founded Bombay Talkies. He did crossover cinema remarkably in the 1920s and 1930s. But,few people know about his work. Even his family did not preserve his writings, says Kusum.

Her discovery of Pal was incidental. While researching a project for the South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF),the UK-based Kusum came across a note on him on the website of the British Film Institute (BFI). Later,she found out about Pals memoir,Such is Life,and could get the email address of Joyoeet,his grandson. For her and Lalit Mohan Joshi,her husband,the director of SACF,this became the starting point of their film heritage project,Lifting the Curtain: Niranjan Pal and Indo-British Collaboration in Cinema in UK (1908-1929). Their year-long research culminated in a book,Niranjan Pal: A Forgotten Legend & Such is Life. It combines essays on Pal,his filmography and his memoir and was released in India last week. The SACF also made a 30-minute film on Pal.

As a teenager,Pal,the oldest son of nationalist leader Bipin Chandra Pal,was influenced by revolutionary ideologies. He was whisked away to London to avoid arrest when he snatched a revolver from a Scotsman in Calcutta. In London too,he got involved in similar activities upon meeting freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. But,his political career was truncated as he joined a medical college. He would then find his calling in writing and,by 1913,was working with Kent Film Company. In the 1920s,Pal created a niche for himself in Britain by writing and staging English plays and screenplays. His most successful international venture remains an Indo-German collaboration The Light of Asia (1925),followed by Shiraz and A Throw of Dice in 1929. Even the 1931-British film A Gentleman of Paris,directed by Sinclair Hill,was based on Pals crime novel His Honour the Judge.

After returning to India,Pal co-founded the Bombay Talkies,like a modern corporate,along with Himanshu Rai and German filmmaker Franz Osten. He wrote the screenplay for Achut Kanya (1936),produced by Bombay Talkies,which was based on his own story,The Level Crossing.The landmark film delicately handled the issue of untouchability. His other films as screenwriter were Jawani Ki Hawa (1935) and Jeevan Naiyya (1936). After a fallout with Rai and some unsuccessful films,he moved to documentary films. He also covered newsy national events such as Rabindranath Tagores funeral and Subhas Chandra Boses resignation from the Congress. Pal is credited with Indias first childrens film,Hathey Khori (1939).

In spite of his pioneering work,Niranjan is forgotten in India today, rues Lalit. The Joshis hope that the book will be instrumental in acquainting the present generation with Pals work.

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