A Second Select Bibliography on the Cinema of Mrinal Sen

Maharghya Chakraborty, Utsab Sen (The Media Lab, Jadavpur University, Kolkata)

This is the first set of materials assembled as a part of the Annotated Repository of the Art Cinemas of India project supported by the University of Chicago Delhi Centre. It includes key texts around the work of Mrinal Sen, and includes publicity materials around Sen's films, the reception of the films when they were first released, on the making of the films, and reviews.

1. Materials from the Films: Screenplay, Booklets and Publicity

(i) Neel Akasher Neechey
(ii) Baishey Shravan
(iii) Akash Kusum
(iv) Screenplay of Akash Kusum from Chitrabhash_25th Year_Issue 3/4, July-December 1990
(v) Interview (1970) Screenplay, Chitrabhash, 12th Year, Autumn Issue 2, 1977
(vi) Calcutta '71
(vii) Calcutta '71 Poster: 'A Directory of Bengali Cinema', ed. Parimal Ray and Kazi Anirban, The Colours of Art, June 2013
(viii) Padatik: Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 6, Issue11-12, August-September 1973, Monochrome poster, published with advertisements in the journal.
(ix) Chorus: FIlm booklet
(x) Chorus: Poster Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 8, Issue1 & 2, October-November,1974. Monochrome poster, published with advertisements in the journal.
(xi) Chorus: Poster
(xii) Parashuram: Brochure. Source: http://www.mrinalsen.org/images/parashuram11j.jpg. Original brochure of the film.
(xiii) Parashuram: Source: http://www.mrinalsen.org/images/parashuram_final_copy.jpgOriginal poster designed by Abhijit Gupta
(xix) Ek Din Pratidin: Source: http://www.mrinalsen.org/images/Ekdin_Pratidin_bengali_final.jpg Original Poster, designed by Abhijit Gupta
(xx) Ek Din Pratidin poster: Source: http://www.mrinalsen.org/images/Ekdin_Pratidin_english_final_copy.jpg English brochure, designed by Abhijit Gupta
(xxi) Ek Din Pratidin poster: Source: 'A Directory of Bengali Cinema', ed. Parimal Ray and Kazi Anirban, The Colours of Art, June 2013 (xxii) Ek Din Pratidin: booklet (xxiii) Akaler Sandhaney: Source: http://www.mrinalsen.org/akaler_shandhaney.htm. Original brochure for the film
(xxiv) Raat Bhore booklet
(xxv) Raat Bhore poster
(xxvi) Punashcha booklet
(xxvii) Pomashcha poster: Source: 'A Directory of Bengali Cinema', ed. Parimal Ray and Kazi Anirban, The Colours of Art, June 2013
(xxviii) Abasheshe: booklet
(xxix) Pratinidhi booklet

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2. Statements by Sen

(i) Neel Akasher Neechey: Excerpts from an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. On the politics and reception of ‘Nil Aksher Neeche’. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage –Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002)

(ii) Neel Akasher Neechey: Film Polemics, ed. Sakti Basu & Shuvendu Dasgupta, Cine Club of Calcutta, 1992 A collection of articles related to the ban on Neel Akasher Neechey; includes the announcement of the ban (4 February, 1966), Sen's letter to The Statesman regarding the ban (13 February, 1966), news of the repeal of the ban in The Statesman, and some readers' responses to the incident most of which are critical of the Government's sudden decision to ban the film.

(iii) Akash Kusum: Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004; ‘An Uncertain Journey’, edited version of a paper read at NIAS, Bangalore, 1994 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002) Mrinal Sen recounts the general reception to the film, with the first excerpt especially focusing on the debate between him, Ashish Burman and Satyajit Ray in ‘The Statesman’ that went on for about two months and drew in hundreds of correspondents.

(iv) Akash Kusum: Film Polemics, ed. Sakti Basu & Shuvendu Dasgupta, Cine Club of Calcutta, 1992 The Sen-Burman-Ray controversy was sparked by a review of Akash Kusum that Ray wrote in ‘The Statesman’ on 23 July, 1965. The review, though not negative, nonetheless criticized the film for its ‘trite’ and sentimental ending which it claimed spoiled the entire film. While the author and the director defended the ending in accordance with the contemporary story they were trying to tell, the argument irked Ray who remarked that the film had no specific topicality of its own, that its theme was an age-old moral tale, insinuating that the makers had presupposed a grand political message from their own film - Ray’s famous comment about the film was: ‘A crow-film is a crow-film is a crow-film’. The debate took on a massive form for two months with hundreds of other correspondents joining in besides the three.

(v) ' A Manifesto for New Cinema', Source: Chitrapat Sankalan, Issue 1 (1947-2007), Calcutta Film Society, 2007

(vi) Calcutta Trilogy: Joint Interview on Trilogy: Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 6, Issue 11-12, August-September 1973

(vii) Interview: Story of Interview (1970) as Sen gives it: ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977

(viii) Calcutta '71: On the politics of the film (1) Excerpts from, ‘Interview: 1971’, Interviewed by Udayan Gupta, originally appeared as ‘Introducing Mrinal Sen’ in Jump Cut, 1971, (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); (2) Excerpts from Mrinal Sen’s interview by Sumit Mitra, from ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977

(ix) Calcutta 71: On the reception of the film (1) Excerpts from an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); (2) Excerpts from, ‘Interview: 1972’, Interviewed by Pradyumna Bhattacharya (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002)

(x) Calcutta 71: Recollection on Calcutta 71: Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004

(xi) Calcutta 71: Synopsis by Sen, ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977

(xii) Padatik: Source: ‘Interview: 1971’, Interviewed by Udayan Gupta, originally appeared as ‘Introducing Mrinal Sen’ in Jump Cut, 1971, (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Mrinal Sen’s interview where he talks about the overt self-critique of ‘Padatik’, the need for introspection in the Left movement, the idea of producing a radical cultural climate even within the confines and aegis of the establishment, the inevitability of censorship in the country, and the counter-productive attitude that attempts to assert that political cinema is just another way of bypassing the materiality of direct political action.

(xiii) Padatik: 1) ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004; 2) Excerpts from an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Two excerpts of Mrinal Sen's recollections about the film. The first, from his memoirs, is about the film's thematic and political aspects. The second, from an interview conducted by Samik Bandyopadhyay, has Sen talking about specific instances from the film, especially the end, and the reactions and responses the film evoked.

(xiv) Padatik and its Time: Source: ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977. Mrinal Sen foregrounds the historical and socio-political milieu within which ‘Padatik’ is situated, drawing special emphasis on the notion of overpowering discontent. At the same time he asserts that this representation of discontent is something wherein one can find echoes of similar political moments in places as diverse as Africa and Latin America. At the same time, he also raises crucial questions about the split within Marxism in the 60s and its impacts, especially on the agrarian revolts and the rise of the Naxal ideology.

(xv) Chorus: Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 8, Issue1 & 2, October-November,1974. Mrinal Sen discusses the Calcutta trilogy and its impact in the context of ‘Chorus’. He mentions the latter as an expression of a collective wish of people, and a collective expression of dissent and revolution. He also talks about the theatrical nature of the film, and the influences of diverse theatrical movements from Brecht to Peter Weiss. He asserts that the film is a combination of fantasy and reality, unlike most of his previous films.

(xvi) Chorus: Source: ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Excerpts from Mrinal Sen’s memoirs where recollects what prompted him to make the film, the procession that he saw on the road that inspired the film’s iconic crowd scenes, playwright Mohit Chattopadhyay’s contributions to the screenplay, and the film’s reception and the awards it won both nationally and internationally. Sen also recollects British film-maker Lindsey Anderson’s praise of the film and how the latter had reminded Sen that ‘today’s fantasy would turn out to be tomorrow’s reality’, something which becomes topical when a countrywide Emergency was declared on June 26, 1975.

(xvii) Parashuram: Source: 1) ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004; 2) Excerpts from an interview by SamikBandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage – MrinalSen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Two excerpts of Mrinal Sen recollecting the making of the film, the visual element that foreground the theme of the lives of the pavement-dwellers, on the theme of continuing oppression and poverty, and the failure of the film.

(xviii) Parashuram and Ek Din Pratidin: Source: Chitrabhash, 16th Year, Issue 1&2, 1981. Op-ed. The op-ed praises both the film, the former for its harsh exploration of poverty and class-struggle in the urban context and the latter for its exploration of middle-class morality and insecurities. The article maintains that despite the presence of an overall narrative structure, both the films bypass conventional rules of plot to focus on the mise-en-scene.

(xix) Ek Din Pratidin: Source: ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Two excerpts from Sen's memoirs where he reveals anecdotes from the making of the film, his desire to expose the inner workings of a 'male-dominated conformist society', and the casting of Geeta Sen as the mother in the film (the role had originally been offered to theatre veteran Tripti Mitra).

(xx) Ek Din Pratidin: Source: 1) ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004; 2) ‘Interview: 1980’, Interviewed and translated from Bengali by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Originally appeared as ‘Mrinal Sen: Interviewed by Samik Bandyopadhyay’ in Cinewave 1, January 1982 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); 3) ‘Interview: 1982’, Interviewed and translated by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Originally appeared as ‘Dialogue: Mrinal Sen and Samik Bandyopadhyay’ in Cinewave 3, November 1982 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Mrinal Sen on the dominant thematic elements in the film. He recounts the first day of the film's release, the reactions of the audience who wanted to know where the girl had gone, and how the film continues his aesthetic concerns as basically non-narrative, a calculated mixture of the fictional and documentary, with actual coverage. He also foregrounds how he has been trying to build his scripts out of the apparent non-essentials, or to be more precise, or non-events, on the non-dramatic, on the mundane, everyday experience of life.

(xxi) Akaler Sandhaney: Source: ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Mrinal Sen recollects in his memoirs: the shooting of the film, the theme, the intricate job of managing a film-within-film format, the actors, anecdotes from shooting on location, and the influences of 'Baishe Shravan' in the film.

(xxii) Akaler Sandhaney: Source: 'An old letter', 'Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002. Letter written by Mrinal Sen to his wife during location shoot of the film. The letter was never posted and Sen chanced upon it many years later. Contains anecdotes about the location shooting, the feeling of loneliness that assailed Sen during this time, and the memories of 'Baishe Shravan' that helped him compose quite a few shots of this film.

(xxiii) Chaalchitra: Source: ‘Interview: 1982’, Interviewed and translated by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Originally appeared as ‘Dialogue: Mrinal Sen and Samik Bandyopadhyay’ in Cinewave 3, November 1982 (From, ‘Montage – MrinalSen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Mrinal Sen on the themes and symbolism of the film, in a conversation with Samik Bandyopadhyay. He asserts that the central theme is about how one changes oneself, and how 'Chaalchitra' was a film in search of a film. He mentions having conceived several situations trying to capture the humour, frivolity and frustrations of a city. As Sen puts it, "Chalchitra remains the search for a story. We do not find it at the end, but we arrive at certain conclusions, certain facts of life, and certain new experiences, though they are not necessarily very palatable ones."

(xxiv) Matira Manisha: Source: Views on Cinema, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977. Mrinal Sen's interview on the film in the monthly journal 'Xth Muse' in 1967, foregrounding the reason for making an Oriya film, the conception of the film, the influence of early Russian films, the Brechtian influence and the use of music and symbolism in the film.

(xxv) Oka Oorie Katha: Source: 1) ‘An Uncertain Journey’, edited version of a paper read at NIAS, Bangalore, 1994 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); 2) Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Two excerpts of Mrinal Sen recollecting the making of 'Oka Oorie Katha', with anecdotes about the location shoot in Telengana and about Vasudeva Rao.

(xxvi) Oka Oorie Katha: Source: ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977. Mrinal Sen on shooting the film on location in Telengana with anecdotes from the shoot.

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3. The Making of the Films

(i) Chitrabani, Jaistha 1364 (May-June, 1957) News article regarding the mahurat shot of the Neel Akasher Neechey. The shot was taken by Devaki Bose with Lata Mangeshkar providing the clapper. Interestingly the article reveals an entirely different cast for the film with Bhupen Hazarika slated to direct and Uttam Kumar originally slated to play the lead character.

(ii) Chitrabani, Baishak,1365 (April-May, 1958) The brief article is about the shooting of Neel Akasher Neechey at the second studio of New Theatres, with a new director and lead actor, about a year after the previous news item.

(iii) Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004 and from an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002) Sen on one of the most defining scenes from the film - the scene where the husband eats all the food after suffering through a stretch of famine. The scene, which involved Gyanesh Mukherjee hungrily licking his fingers, offended many and was deemed too inappropriate to showcase in front of the world. The film was consequently sent to the Venice Film Festival without a single backer and Sen sent the film to the London Film Festival directly.

(iv) Views on Cinema, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977 Sen's own account of the famine of 1943 and its impact on the conception of the film. In many interviews and recollections, Sen has repeatedly called 'Baishey Shravan' a cruel film and also a film he looks back at with a lot of fondness.

(v) Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004 and from an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Calcutta, 7 November 2001. Transcribed and translated from Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee. (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002) In the first excerpt, Mrinal Sen recounts experiences from the shooting of the film, the Film Finance Corporation, and the reception and multiple interpretations of the film. In the second excerpt, the interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay, he talks about the last sequence and the madness in the way it was shot, composed and edited, the contribution of the cast, the reaction of some of his contemporaries, and various other anecdotes from the film.

(vi) 'To say something new', ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002 [As told to Siladitya Sen. Originally appeared as 'Blank cheques from Bombay couldn't seduce me' in The Asian Age, 23 December, 1995] Mrinal Sen on the making of Bhuvan Shome, the influence of the short story, the technical innovations, the erotic subtext and shooting on-location.

(vii) "Me and My 'Double'", ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977 Sen talks about the sequence towards the end when Mr. Shome has returned to office, saying the madness of the scene was something inspired by Jacques Tati's idea of 'inspired nonsense'. In this context he recollects a memory from his early days as medical representative in Uttar Pradesh, when similar feelings of failure and loneliness had assailed him and made him behave similarly.

(viii) Interview (1970) On the politics of the film Excerpts from, ‘An Uncertain Journey’, edited version of a paper read at NIAS, Bangalore, 1994 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); 2) Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004

(ix) Interview (1970)_4. On the politics, making and reception Excerpts from ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004

(x) Padatik (1973)_2. On the making of the film. Source: 1) ‘Interview: 1980’, Interviewed and translated by Samik Bandyopadhyay, originally appeared as ‘Mrinal Sen: Interviewed by Samik Bandyopadhyay’ in Cinewave 1, January 1982 (From, ‘Montage – Mrinal Sen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); 2) ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Two excerpts – an interview by Samik Bandyopadhyay and some passages from Sen’s memoirs – where he talks about the theme of self-awareness and criticism in ‘Padatik’ and the real-life incident that inspired the confrontation and eventual understanding between the father and the son in the film.

(xi) Akaler Sandhaney: Source: 1) ‘Interview: 1981’, Interviewed by Udayan Gupta, originally appeared as ‘New Visions in Indian Cinema’ in Cineaste, 1981, (From, ‘Montage – MrinalSen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002); 2) ‘Interview: 1983’, Interviewed by Reinhard Hauff. Originally appeared as ‘Conversations’ in Hauff on Sen—Ten Days in Calcutta: A Portrait of MrinalSen(From, ‘Montage – MrinalSen: Life, Politics, Cinema’, Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002). Two excerpts about the shooting and themes of the film; the first has Sen talking about the ethical issues involved in filming the rural and how he attempted to come to terms with it and the second is an excerpt from an interview by Reinhard Hauff, containing anecdotes from the location shoot of the film.

(xii) Chaalchitra: Source: ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Mrinal Sen on the making of the film, and his wish that he could treat the film as a dress rehearsal and make it all over again.

(xiii) Matira Manisha: Source: ‘Always Being Born: Mrinal Sen, A Memoir’, Stellar Publishers Pvt Ltd., 2004. Mrinal Sen recalls in his memoirs the conception of the film, the struggles he encountered in making it, the politics and the reception of the film at the time of its release.

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4. Reviews/Responses on the films

(i) Chitrabani, Magh 1365 (January-February, 1958) A review of Neel Akasher Neechey that praises the politics, and the moral dimensions of the tale. The reviewer also praises the direction, the dialogues, the cinematography and the music. Some scenarios have been dubbed illogical but the the reviewer has asserted that the latter half of the film is especially powerful.

(ii) Chitrabani, Magh 1365 (January-February, 1958) Sabita Roy's articles were scathing reports on contemporary films and technicians - not reviews per se but lampoons. This article talks about both Neel Akasher Nichey and one of its competitors, Bikash Roy's 'Marutirtha Hinglaj'. The article makes scathing comments on Hemanta Mukherjee's turn as a producer, Mrinal Sen's directorial sensibilities, and the general conception of the film. Kali Banerjee's performance has been dubbed as a caricature.

(iii) Chitrapat Sankalan, Issue 1 (1947-2007), Calcutta Film Society, 2007 Three articles, the first being the Bengali version of the original review in ‘The Statesman’ by Satyajit Ray that had sparked off the Ray-Burman-Sen debate. Amalendu Bose’s article praises the film, its conception, its technical innovations and its direction, while simultaneously critiquing viewership profiles and contemporary practices of film criticism. The final article by Sen himself has him recounting his impulses and inspirations behind the film, the influences of the French New Wave, and the role of the city space and the life of the citizen in the film.

(iv) Chitrabhash,27th Year, Issue 3&4 & 28th Year,Issue 1&2, July 1992 – June 1993, Special Satyajit Issue The review, reproduced here, was first published in ‘Chitrapat’, 2nd Year, Issue 2, 1966. The review praises the use of humour and technical innovations in the film, but criticizes the sentimental end, claiming that it spoils the entire film. It also refers to the Ray-Burman-Sen debate and asserts that the end no way justifies the writer’s claim that the film is a serious portrait of the times.

(v) Interview (1970): Someswar Bhowmik on politics in Sen's films. Movie Montage, Issue 22-23, February 1979

(vi) Calcutta 71: Reader response: Chitrabikshan, Year 6, Issue 1-2, October-November 1972

(vii) Calcutta 71: Readers' responses on the film Chitrabikshan, Year 6, Issue 3, December 1972

(viii) Calcutta 71: Review, Chitrapat Sankalan, Issue 1 (1947-2007), Calcutta Film Society, 2007

(ix) Calcutta 71: Reviews from newspapers and journals, Chitrabikshan, Year 6, Issue 1-2, October-November 1972

(x) Calcutta 71: Critical Opinions (Samik Bandyopadhyay and others), Film Polemics, ed. Sakti Basu & Shuvendu Dasgupta, Cine Club of Calcutta, 1992

(xi) Calcutta 71: Letter from Basil Wright, ‘Views on Cinema’, Ishan Publications, Calcutta, 1977

(xii) Calcutta 71: Chitrabhash, 7th Year, Calcutta 71 Special Issue, 1972

(xiii) Samik Bandyopadhyay on Padatik: Source: 'Anger and After', Film Polemics, ed. Sakti Basu & Shuvendu Dasgupta, Cine Club of Calcutta, 1992. A series of articles published in the journal ‘Frontier’ at the time of release of the film. Includes readers’ responses to the film (all of these are extremely polarized reviews given the mixed reaction the film evoked at the time; the reviews range from a validation of the questions regarding the efficacy of the revolutionary struggle and the party structure of the CPI(ML) to stern criticism of what many perceived to be compromise and an attempt to pander to the sensibilities of the establishment). At the same time, the piece also contains two longer articles by Samik Bandyopadhyay (a positive review, praising the culmination of Sen’s political ideology across the Calcutta trilogy in this film towards the end) and Ashok Rudra (a staunch defense of the film, Sen’s political vision and the unequivocal political stand that Sen finally takes in the film).

(xiv) Conparison with Bileyt Ferat: Source: Chitrabhash, 8th Year, Issue 2, December 1973. Arun Chowdhury’s article, a comparative critique of ‘Padatik’ and another contemporary film, Chidananda Dasgupta’s ‘Bilet Pherot’ .Dasgupta had been a renowned film critic and essayist and this was his debut feature film featuring three distinct short stories woven around three characters who have each returned to the city from abroad. Their problems, quite petty and insignificant, and the preposterous ways of solving them form the backdrop of this comedy. Chowdhury’s compares the films both thematically and structurally (they both break the dominant linear narrative pattern) in the broader context of the socio-political milieu of the city and, according to him, the sectarian, hypocritical and self-serving politics of the Left ideology of the time.

(xv) Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 7, Issue 1-2, October-November 1973. Basab Dasgupta’s review, praising ‘Padatik’ and the Calcutta trilogy overall, for the virulently political statement it makes, especially in the repressive cultural environment of the city in the 1970s. He hails Sen’s aesthetics and his direct approach to cinema over what he perceives is the more allegorical nature of assumptions in Satyajit Ray’s work. He also responds to the various criticisms of the film in the journals and newspapers of the time, calling their resistance as a way of shying away from the politics of both the film and the time. He repeatedly compares Mrinal Sen with Satyajit Ray, in favour of the former, and asserts the need to break away from established aesthetic patterns in order to appreciate Sen’s politics and also the revolutionary Left ideology of the time.

(xvi) Source: Chitrabhash, 8th Year, Issue 2, December 1973. A very positive review claiming that ‘Padatik’ is a worthy successor to ‘Calcutta 71’; this is especially topical because of the unrelenting self-criticism and stock-taking that is a dominant motif in the film. The reviewer asserts that this self-criticism is not restricted to broader political concerns in the public sphere alone but is also articulated within the private space unlike the previous two films of the trilogy.

(xvii) Chorus (1974). Review. Source: Chitrabikshan, Year 8, Issue 3-5, December 1974 - February 1975. A mostly positive review, the reviewer praises Mrinal Sen’s wistful fantasy regarding the nature of collective dissent and revolution, referring to British director Lindsey Anderson’s comments regarding the nature of fantasy as an anticipation of soon-to-be reality. At the same time, the reviewer critiques the breaking of conventional narrative and cinematic techniques in the film, commenting that despite Sen’s use of such technical innovations it falls short of expectations in ‘Chorus’ because of the excessively convoluted nature of narrative.

(xviii) Chorus: a Soviet response: Chitrabikshan, Year 9, Issue 2 & 3, November-December 1975. Review by a Soviet critic, written after the screen of the film at the 9th Moscow Film Festival where it won the silver medal. The reviewer praises the film as a true and unabashed political document that reveals the social evils and injustices that beset Indian society. The reviewer also hails Sen as one of the few directors in India with a true sensibility for ‘political cinema’ and how the wistful element in ‘Chorus’ speaks of issues that are truly international.

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