As the much-hyped season of literary festivals comes to an end, one witnesses a growing presence of film personalities at such events. The recently concluded Kolkata and Jaipur literary festivals saw the likes of Jaya Bachchan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi and Waheeda Rehman in attendance.
Do these cinema personalities really add substance to literary festivals? Jaya Bachchan has a simple answer. She says, “At the Kolkata Literary Festival, I mainly spoke about the achievements of my late father, Tarun Bhaduri. A prominent journalist, he wrote books such as Abhisapta Chambal , which is worth mentioning. It was filmed in Bengal and was a hit. I started my career in Manikkaku’s (Satyajit Ray) ‘Mahanagar’ which was a brilliant literary adaptation.”
Even Waheeda Rehman has stressed the growing importance of the literature-cinema connect. She explains, “I have worked in classics such as ‘Abhijan’, ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam’, ‘Guide’ and ‘Teesri Kasam’. All of them are based on the works of Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, R.K. Narayan and Phanishwar Nath Renu. Each of my characters in these films is so well etched.”
The enthusiasm among participants at literary festivals is infectious. However, it is more the aura and charisma of the film folk that attracts an audience. With the exception of acting in cinematic adaptations of literary works, most have very little or nothing much to contribute. And often, literature seems to take a back seat.Speaking about this, Satyajit Ray once said, “When a film maker decides to translate a work of literature on to celluloid, he owes it to the author’s creation. However brilliant the film may be, the film maker generally cannot supersede the author.” Speaking along similar lines, director-actor Vijay Anand said, “ 'Guide’ was more of an author’s triumph rather than a director’s.”
There are two common examples in world cinema where a film maker was considered on a par with the writers -- Victor Fleming’s ‘Gone With The Wind’ (from Margaret Mitchell’s novel) and Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ (based on Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay’s book)
Says director Goutam Ghose, “Film personalities are definitely welcome at literary festivals. However, the organisers should also invite writers and directors who create memorable cinema based on literary masterpieces. They are far better choices than glamorous personalities to speak and debate on literature and cinema.” His views are endorsed by Gulzar, Adoor Gopalakrishan and Govind Nihalani.
Of course, there are examples of film personalities who pen books. Dev Anand proved a darling among his listeners at the 2008 Jaipur Literary Festival.
The icon spoke about his autobiography, ‘Romancing With Life’. So also the sensitive Gulzar, who is seen at many such festivals. One wonders why stalwart like Mrinal Sen, who not only wrote books on his views on cinema but also on Sir Charles Chaplin, has not been seen at any literary festival prior to his falling ill.
Can popular film stars lend the much needed serious touch to a discussion on literature? Once when asked to speak about ‘Charulata’, Madhabi Mukherjee politely declined. She felt Satyajit Ray was the ideal person to do so.
Noted novelist and screenplay writer Nabendu Ghosh, who penned Bimal Ray’s ‘Devdas’, ‘Sujata’ and ‘Bandini’, always maintained that the connection between literature and cinema was unique only when there are no cinematic distortions.
Literature has its own language. So does cinema. Both have a unique connect. It should be highlighted by those who devote themselves in making the connect stronger. Not through the glamour quotient.
