All eyes are on West Bengal, and Kolkata now, as election fever reaches its pointy end. One can imagine even longer adda sessions at every street corner to discuss the outcome of this hotly-fought contest. Also high on the public discussion list of late was a tribute to a celluloid icon. Fans of polymath and legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray observed his 34th death anniversary on April 23, with exhibitions, discussions, and walkabouts along 1/1, Bishop Lefroy Road.
The last time I visited Kolkata, a chance encounter with a few members of the esteemed Ray Society [a society committed to the preservation of Ray’s body of work] led me to this address. It’s where Ray lived from 1970 until his death in 1992. The charming colonial structure has been officially designated a Grade I heritage building. His son, the respected filmmaker Sandip Roy, lives in the same residence. It’s impossible to miss the landmark from a distance as it boasts of an open-air art gallery where the entire stretch replicates artworks from Satyajit Ray’s film posters and magazines. On a sweltering morning, viewing these masterpieces along this road made for an immersive walkthrough unlike anything I’ve experienced in the art ecosystem. The Victorian-style street lamps, benches [that need a serious clean-up], and the aura of the locality’s legacy are all-encompassing, while offering a glimpse of his massive contribution to world cinema.
It’s a fun exercise for non-Bengalis to recognise iconic films like Pather Panchali, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Devi, and Sonar Kella since these artworks are in Bengali script. Some passers-by study these closely, occasionally drawing out their phones to take selfies. The more leisurely visitor prefers to rest on benches, gazing at these posters; perhaps to recall the last time they last watched a Ray classic! Later, while being seated inside the hallowed residence, I learnt from some of the members that this transformation was a combined effort, helmed by the city’s well-wishers, including heritage activist Mudar Patherya, anonymous donors, a councillor, artists, painters, printers, and illumination experts. Sandip Ray also played a critical role in putting this public art tribute together. Apart from this space, I discovered that the residence sports the commemorative Blue Plaque [to publicly honour heritage sites in Kolkata] — along with his other residences in the city. The walk made for a great lesson in people-watching, but importantly, a realisation that tributes can be developed in any shape and form, and ought to be accessible, for increased awareness.
It’s when I got thinking — Has Mumbai missed an opportunity to honour its greats? Absolutely. From Raj Kapoor to PuLa Deshpande, Zubin Mehta, Nissim Ezekiel, Anant Pai and Ustad Zakir Hussain, the city has been home to an illustrious list of creative geniuses across the arts. And yet, somehow, for reasons that we’ll never know, Mumbai hasn’t done justice to these legends and their body of work when it comes to PDA [In case you’re wondering, I have taken the liberty of rephrasing the full form of the abbreviation from its popular version, to Public Display of the Arts]. We’ve sadly been unable to gauge the importance of publicly acknowledging these greats, and countless others from the performing, literary and visual arts.
Chances have also been missed: Take, for example, RK Studios, or. for that matter, most of the big-ticket film studios that could have been transformed into mini museums given the city’s historic ties with Indian cinema’s origins. Homes where some of the above-mentioned greats and others have resided, or have had a long association with, have vanished from public domain. While one-off photo exhibitions, retrospectives, annual discussions and memorial concerts do their bit to remind us about these greats’ contribution to society, it’s simply not enough and too fleeting for public impact. Permanent spaces and exhibits are the need of the hour in our rapidly-transforming city, where C is largely representative of change, and has less to do with culture.
Have we Bombaywallahs lost our grip collectively as a culturally conscious society? Your guess is as good as mine.
mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones…wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.