Date/Time
Date(s) - 25/09/2015
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location
ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DU BENGALE
Categories
The Alliance française du Bengale, in association with Creative-kriya is pleased to screen the Bengali film JHUMURA-THE FOLKLORE, directed by Anindya Chatterjee, in original version with French Subtitles.
Friday 25 September at 6:30 pm at the Alliance française du Bengale.
The fondness in his eyes allures me,
I crave for the ballad of his flute,
They steal my heart in a flash…
This tune is the focal point of the lyrical saga called ‘Jhumura’. The folk art forms of rural Bengal hardly get significance in the so-called sophisticated crowd of metropolis, but once in a while those sublime crafts draw urban attention by their sheer magic. This is how the story of ‘Jhumura’ unfolds. Two young journos visit Purulia (in rural West Bengal). Their sole aim is to compile a research on ‘Jhumur’, the famous folk art form of Purulia. ‘Jhumur’ is a form of folk music, a speciality of Purulia. In most of the cases, the men perform Jhumur songs alongwith the dance of nautch girls. They are called ‘Nachni’. The singers are popularly termed as ‘Rasik’. The historical account of Jhumur has always witnessed a relationship between Rasiks and Nachnis which can’t be defined in words. The thread of the relationship is the divinity of music. So even if the Nachnis never get social recognition, but the heavenly tie-up between the Rasik-Nachni duo exists through ages. The performers of Jhumur are locally called ‘Jhumuira’. And the narrative of the film evolves from the fictitious village named ‘Jhumura’. The two young calcuttans Riwk and Sahana reach Purulia and there they come across an elderly couple. They are traditional Jhumur performers. On their account, Riwk and Sahana discover an unheard tale of love, hatred and compassion that commences with the tune of Jhumur and culminates in the serene locale of Purulia.
The narration of the elderly couple includes two village folks Kanchan and Kusum and their blooming romance. They are from two different stratas of society and so their love-story is threatned several times by many odds. How they meet, get separated and again re-united, that’s the essence of the film’s narrative. But the way in which the effortless narrative is treated in the film, that enthralls the most. There is an exquisite game of time and space throughout the film. A mystic time-traveller holds the chord between two eras.
About the Director: Anindya Chatterjee, the director of the film ‘Jhumura’, is an young independent film-maker. He started his career by assisting ace film-maker Budhhadeb Dasgupta. From the very commencement of his career, his everlasting passion for cinema never faltered and this ardor made him acquainted with the World Cinema. Previously, he had made a handful of short films, ad films, telefillms, corporate films and music videos. Many of his short films have been screened in National and International Film Festivals of Kolkata, Kerala and the USA. Two of his prominent telefilms have been telecasted in reputed channels like Tara Muzik and Sony 8. He is making an entrance into the orbit of feature films by ‘Jhumura’. Presently, he is making a multilingual feature film HOMELAND-LA PATRIE and a documentary EXTREMISM DENIED. Both of those have been shot in France.
