Dance Film Trilogy Highlights Tagore's Humanist Message

London, UK. Indian dancer/producer Kaberi Chatterjee is taking advantage of the digital revolution and a pioneering business model to bring the three classic, Bengali ”˜dance-dramas’ by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore to global audiences.

Shyama releases Bojroshen.

Kaberi's company has already made and released a 90-minute feature film version of Shyama , directed by Obhi Chatterjee. Now it is preparing to film Chitrangada and Chandalika , to complete the Tagore Dance Film Trilogy in time for Tagore's 150th birth anniversary in May 2011.

“The trilogy is a chance to preserve an important but changing part of Bengali culture for future generations and to share these authentic films with a global audience,” says Kaberi.

“In his lifetime, Tagore turned first to music and then to dance to allow his Bengali poetry to cross linguistic boundaries. Now, using the latest online distribution and promotion techniques and with the help of a global community of art lovers, we are able to realise his dream,” adds Obhi.

Tagore was one of the great humanists of the 20th century. He knew the power of drama to tell stories that capture a broad spectrum of human emotions and social dilemmas.

{youtube}Zr9GvdfJYiY{/youtube}

Shyama is the story of love, sacrifice and forgiveness which explores to what extremes people can go for love. Chitrangada is a princess warrior whose quest for love is a conflicting tale of feminism and femininity. Chandalika is about an outcast who overcomes social prejudice and learns to express herself.

All three are women who face universal and timeless challenges. Their stories are told through songs and the distinctive dance form created by Tagore in his final years.

Tagore created only three ”˜dance-dramas’. Their songs are so well-known among Bengalis that the audience was singing along with the film at Shyama ’s Asian premiere at the Kolkata Film Festival .

Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi in 1940.

The film was also presented by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to an enthusiastic audience in Stratford-on-Avon, UK. Shyama ’s Spanish version was premiered last month at the Ourense Film Festival in a special section dedicated to Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, which is being celebrated by UNESCO.Tagore was also an environmental pioneer, decades ahead of today’s worldwide environmental movement. To pay tribute to this, Kaberi staged Europe's first Brikkhoropon (Tagore-style tree-planting ceremony) in Ourense.

Announcing that they will be filming Chitrangada and Chandalika back-to-back in December and January in Tagore’s home town of Santiniketan, Kaberi said: “These films of Tagore’s other two ”˜dance-dramas’ will complete the Tagore dance film trilogy we started with Shyama.”

Kaberi has performed the title roles in major productions of all three of Tagore’s ”˜dance-dramas’ and is about to publish a book on Tagore dance. Chitrangada and Chandalika will be directed by Obhi.

The dance director will be Subhra Tagore, who has directed many productions of these works and is from the family of Rabindranath Tagore. The music director will be Bulbul Bose, who has also directed several productions of these works.

The principal aim of the films is to contribute to the growing global awareness of Tagore’s importance as someone whose ideas and philosophy are very relevant today. A proportion of the budget for the trilogy is intended to be set aside to create a fund ”˜arts in education’ projects as well as creative projects which illustrate this relevance.

The business model for the films has started to attract attention as a viable option for independent filmmakers..

1. Shyama gets fresh distribution spin - Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb 2010

2. Embracing the recognition economy - Digital Cinema Report, 1 Nov 2010

Tidbit - Rabindranath Tagore

Tweet