Chabi Biswas was probably the greatest character artist Indian celluloid had ever produced. His superlative class of performance had been acknowledged by brilliant directors like Satyajit Ray, Hrithik Ghatak, Raj Kapoor, Tapan Sinha, but he had remained unsung, unhonoured, unlamented.
Ray had a very serious personality and hardly required any improvisation as his innovative scripts had almost everything embedded in them. But Chabi Biswas brought out his own dimensions in the role of Feudal Lord in the film Jalsaghar. He combined the aristocracy and the dignity of the feudal lord in the colonial period and at times astonished Ray himself with his dynamic performances.
He even sold his wife’s ornaments to organize a musical program in his banquet room to maintain his dominance as a feudal lord. Singers from renowned classical gharana came and performed in the show and the entire village was invited to witness it. With the loss in revenue and poverty during British regime, he committed suicide by dying on horseback.
He was sublime in the film Debi, where he visualized Goddess Kali in the human form in Sharmila Tagore, his daughter –in –law. The entire concept was related to his belief and his son Soumitra took exception about the thing but was helpless. Sharmila became sick as it was awkward on her part to see his father-in-law touching her feet as she was believed to be Debi, the human form of Goddess.
Chabi Biswas was majestic in his classic role in the film Kanchenjungha. Ray experimented with a remote subject where the greatness of the Himalayas freed the mental blockade of middle-class bengalies. Arun Mukherjee, one of the unemployed youth even did not accept the job offered by big industrialist played by Chabi Biswas. At the end of the film Chabi Biswas realized the greatness of the great mountain range and surrendered before it. The film could not be understood by mass audience as it dealt with the concept of realization although the colourful photography of Ray in Darjeeling was well appreciated. But critics had acclaimed Chabi Biswas and said that he was the last name for the depiction of aristocracy in any form. He died in a tragic accident in 1962 and Indian celluloid lost one of its greatest actors ever. His films should be preserved for projection of dynamism, class, dignity, aristocracy and majestic demeanour.
It is a pity that bengali films did not get recognition in the 50s and 60s, otherwise Chabi Biswas had the dimension of competing with hollywood actors for the choice of oscar awards. There is hardly actor in Indian celluloid who can replicate the performance of a handicapped person the way Chabi Biswas had done in the film Manik which was an adaptation of Oliver Twist written by Charles Dickens. His performance in Sabar Upore, Mayamrigo, Dadathakur shows his versatility and in respect of dignity and majestic personality he had remained unmatched and unparallel in Indian cinema.
ReplyDeleteSouvik Chatterji.
Another factor of Chabi Biswas not getting his dues is the lack of performing in bollywood films which had wider audience base. He was majestic in the role of a defective in the film Chupi Chupi Ase and Sonar Harin. The way he looked at his hands after being asked to stand in the witness box in the film Sabar Upare, he would got oscar for such performance had the film was publicised. He stared at them to show the misery he faced in prison for being prosecuted for murder on false charges. His life was ruined, his youth was lost, family got displaced due to the mockery of the court of law. Those who learn the art of acting for them Chabi Biswas is still a learning institution. Bengal give birth to a greater character ever in its history like Chabi Biswas.
ReplyDeleteSouvik Chatterji.