Journalism of Courage
Paoli Dam is getting her head around Bollywood. Or so says her wispy laughter cleverly drawn over blanks,her crisply-worded answers with little room for slips and smiles,and her conversational interventions free of any emotion stronger than mild amusement. Whats happening in West Bengal is out there for all of us to see. Yes,I wont say it doesnt bother me at all,given Kolkata is where it all began for me. But who am I to comment on old,limping laws? is all Dam is willing to say in response to the state censor board demanding the posters of her film,Hate Story,directed by Vikram Bhatt be painted over to cover her bare skin. Dam is no stranger to being in the eye of a storm for her uninhibited sexuality in films. However,she had garnered critical appreciation for her roles in Goutam Ghoses Kaalbela a film based on the Naxalite uprising in Bengal,Moner Manush,Mainak Bhaumiks Bedroom in which she played a sassy photographer or her comic turn in Parambrata Chattopadhyays Jiyo Kaka! The distributors of Hate Story had appealed to the High Court seeking a stay order on the censor boards ban on Dams bare-back posters,only to be snubbed a day before the film hit the theatres.
Its not the same Paoli Dam who refused to swallow her irritation when a racy sex scene from Vimukthi Jayasundara s Chhatrak was leaked on YouTube. Then she was also quoted as calling the outraged Bengali film-goer nyaka the closest translation in English of which would be pretentious. The word bold is used rather hastily in our industry. I dont associate bold with clothes or the lack of them. In my next film Elar Char Adhyay,which is based on Tagores novel,Char Adhyay,I am playing a Bengali woman in the 30s. Someone who rebels against social fetters during a period referred to as the Bengali renaissance. I call that bold, says Dam.
Criticism,is something that Dam is ruggedly coming to terms with. When you do something which is not run-off-the-mill,people sit up and take notice. Some people appreciate it,some dont. It at least initiates a dialogue. I know I live in a multi-cultural country where there are people from a variety of upbringing and thought processes. I know better than challenging all of them to prove a point, she adds,with a dry laugh.
So is the Bengali uncle-next-door as much her target audience as the smitten yuppy and the aspiring filmmaker? The audience is a difficult lot. When I do a commercial film like this,theyll ask why couldnt I just do art house Bengali films. When I dont do something like this,I am snooty. Its sort of challenging,but fun, says Dam. Hate Story is a mass film. Every film has its niche and I want to touch all of them. But yes,before slapping a tag on someone,I think one must consider several things the budget on which a film is made,its premise,the actors history in films and intentions. Thats all I ask for. Patience,Dam would say,is also an art to be mastered.
