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, K.A. 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 Pt. 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. Pt. 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 critically 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 is all set to be screened this November at the Kolkata International Film Festival. In Chetan Anand’s centenary year, what better way to pay tribute to the maestro who put India on the map of international cinema!
