Bollywood Masala Mix
“Chetan, I saw Haqeeqat. Strong visuals, excellent music but no story,” Satyajit Ray had reportedly said to Chetan Anand at the Oberoi Grand lobby in October, 1964.
Both were to receive the coveted BFJA awards for Charulata and Haqeeqat. Chetan smiled and replied, “Haqeeqat is not a film. It’s a mosaic.”
Ray confessed a number of times that he was inspired to work with maestros Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan after listening to the music of Neecha Nagar and Aandhiyan. However, it was Chetan Anand, who introduced Ravi Shankar (Neecha Nagar) and Ali Akbar Khan (Aandhiyan) as composers in films. Chetan Anand, along with his brothers Dev and Vijay, was a leading light of the golden age of Hindi cinema.
Born and raised in Lahore, Chetan worked at BBC, and then Doon School, Dehradun before moving to Bombay to become an actor. His political beliefs, thanks to his association with the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), made him realize the reach of cinema as a mass media tool. He decided to become a director, slowly and steadily, carving his own niche like his siblings.
Chetan Anand was a recluse by nature, but versatile as a filmmaker and actor. Winning the Grand prize at Cannes for Neecha Nagar (1946), along with David Lean (Brief Encounter), is a proud testimony to his filmmaking skills. In his 50-year career, Chetan directed 18 films and a tele-serial Param Veer Chakra. Though a majority of his directorial ventures were flops, he has carved a niche in the annals of Indian cinema.
We take a look at Chetan Anand's award-winning first film Neecha Nagar (1946).
At a screening of Neecha Nagar at Kolkata in 1948, Mrinal Sen was overwhelmed by the use of dialectical montages. The 20 minute-sequence prior to the climax had the influence of a script Sergei Eisenstein had asked his students to write based on Alexander Pushkin’s ‘The Bronze Horseman.’ One student succeeded in writing the script as desired by Eisenstein, in the format of a chess play. Mrinal Sen asked cinematographer Vidyapati Ghosh as to how he had shot the stunning sequence. The country’s first cameraman to be trained in Germany said he just carried out the instructions of director Chetan Anand.
A strong IPTA connection brought talented persons such as Chetan Anand, KA Abbas, Hayatullah Ansari and Ravi Shankar on one platform to create Neecha Nagar, India’s first anti-imperialist film with socialist leanings.
Inspired by Maxim Gorky’s Lower Depths, Neecha Nagar starred Anwar, Kamini Kaushal, Uma Anand and Ruma Guha Thakurta. It was produced by Rafiq Anwar who later migrated to Lahore. The film not only marked Chetan Anand’s debut as director, but was also the maiden film of Pandit Ravi Shankar as composer.
The story is centered on a village and its autocratic mayor. When the village’s river water gets contaminated, an epidemic spreads. The mayor pays no attention. A Florence Nightingale-like nurse (Kamini Kaushal) treats the patients at a relief camp. But she gets infected and dies. It is at this juncture that a progressive lady (Uma Anand) rebels to oust the mayor. The will and strength of the masses succeed and the mayor is removed.
Though an eminent writer himself, Chetan Anand chose K.A. Abbas and Hayatullah Ansari to pen Neecha Nagar. During his stay in London while appearing for his TCS examination, Chetan Anand took a keen interest in the works of Eisenstein, Pudovkin and other Russian maestros. Their influence was reflected in all his earlier films, especially Neecha Nagar.
The performances in the film were natural, sans theatrics. Pandit Ravi Shankar used the sitar, flute, tabla and Indian drums effectively for the background score. The choreography by Zohra Sehgal was noteworthy but Chetan Anand deleted the songs and dances for the international version. The unique climax, with a plethora of marshals, shot in natural light and shade, created a magical impact.
Neecha Nagar was India’s first film to win the Grand prize at Cannes in 1946 jointly with David Lean’s ‘Brief Encounters’. It flopped miserably in India but found critical acclaim all over the world.
Deeply influenced by Neecha Nagar, Satyajit Ray wrote to Chetan Anand to address the august gathering of the film society at Kolkata in 1949 comprising Kamal Kumar Majumdar and Chidananda Das Gupta and Ray himself. The shy and introverted Chetan Anand politely refused stating that he did not consider himself competent enough. He also refrained from being a jury member of Cannes in 1950.
Sadly, the print of Neecha Nagar went missing around the 1950s. It was in the mid-1960s that ace cinematographer Subrata Mitra discovered the print at a grocer’s shop in Kolkata! He handed it over to the National Film Archive of India.
The archive has restored the print which was set to be screened last November at the Kolkata International Film Festival.
The announcement was made on Tuesday of last week by India's Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar in a tweet stating, "The legend Amitabh Bachchan, who entertained and inspired for two generations, has been selected unanimously for Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The entire country and international community is happy. My heartiest congratulations to him."
The award is named after Dadasaheb Phalke who directed India's first film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1913.
"There is a paucity of words searching a response...for the generosity of words that pour in...I am but deeply grateful and most humbled...my sincerest gratitude," Bachchan tweeted as social media erupted with congratulatory messages for the star.
Bachchan, 76, marks his 50th year in cinema this year, following his 1969 debut in Saat Hindustani. His filmography spans over 200 films and in the '70s and '80s Bachchan was at his peak, portraying the "angry young man" in some of Indian cinema's biggest hits such as Zanjeer, Deewar and Sholay, among others. His dominance over the Indian box office at the time led French director Francois Truffaut to hail Bachchan as a "one man industry."
In 2000 Bachchan made television history when he hosted the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which set ratings records. He still continues to host the show in its 11th season which airs on Sony Entertainment Television.
Bachchan also made his Hollywood debut in 2013 in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Bachchan recently starred in the Bollywood thriller Badla, an official remake of Spanish film The Invisible Guest.
Among his numerous honors, Bachchan also received France's highest civilian honor, the Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2007.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be presented to Bachchan in the capital New Delhi as part of the National Film Awards, which will be given by India's President Ram Nath Kovind. A date is yet to be announced.
The Digital Music Study 2019 was conducted across nine geographical locations in India to examine the ways in which music consumers aged 16–64 engage with recorded music in the country. IMI is the apex body that represents the interest of the music companies or record labels on a pan-India basis.
97% of those surveyed used smartphones to listen to music, while 62% used social media sites or apps to listen to music or watch music videos. 75% heard music while relaxing at home, 62% in the car and 45% at social events like restaurants or pubs.
Streaming revenue showed a 30.9% growth over the year and accounted for 70% of overall music industry revenues, while other digital sales in the form of digital downloads accounted for 8% of revenues. Subscription streaming revenues grew by 33.3% from 73.2 crore rupees to 292.8 crore rupees and ad-supported audio streaming income – the free tier of services – rose by 43.6% to 78 crore rupees to 257 crore rupees.
Engagement with audio streaming in India is strong, with 90% of all respondents accessing a music streaming service in the past month – up by about 7% over 2018. The highest rate of growth for engagement is in the 16–24-year-old age group, with 97% of that group accessing a music streaming service in the past month (+10% on 2018).
In fact, audio streaming comprises 39.4% of all time spent listening to music, radio is responsible for 21.7% of music listening time across streaming and radio while video streaming represents 38.9% of music listening time.
80% of surveyed internet users identified themselves as “music fanatics" or “music lovers", higher than the corresponding global average of 54%. Compared to their global counterparts, the surveyed respondents in India showcased a greater preference to visually engage with music - with the time spent on video streaming services accounting for 28% of the average user's total listening time in India, i.e., 5.3 hrs per week, compared to the global average of 19.6% or 3.5 hrs per week.
Unsurprisingly, film music (Bollywood in particular) make up a large chunk of the most preferred musical genres. New Bollywood music (released over the last 12-18 months) was listened to by 60% of survey respondents while 53% listened to vintage Bollywood songs. Asked to pick a single favourite genre, new Bollywood catalogue was chosen by 19% respondents with classic Bollywood songs chosen as a favourite by 16%. The study also revealed burgeoning consumption in the form of regional “oldies", i.e. older catalogues of music in languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, etc, collectively ranking 7th in the list of top genres preferred by the average user in the survey.
However, the music ecosystem in India continues to be subject to piracy levels which are still sky high (67%) – more than global average of 27%. With the growth of smartphone penetration and internet usage in India, the locus of music piracy has shifted from physical piracy to cyberspace.
“Thanks to cheap data and smartphone penetration, music consumption in India is growing regionally. The growth rate will be higher in the regional segment due to a low smartphone base. The increase in consumption of catalogues of music in languages also serves as a reminder of the diversity of India and reaffirms our belief that regional music is the new champion of India’s soft power," Aditya Gupta, director, Aditya Music, said in a statement.