ROMANCING THE CINEMA: NILENDU LOG-SHEETS

When Subhash Ghai came to the Subah Savere studio to promote ‘Taal’ – he had a preconceived notion that he might be meeting a bunch of arty-intellectuals who are neither aware not appreciative of his work. But Nilendu Sen, the producer of the show, soon convinced him that this was not the case.

The way he did that was a bit extraordinary.

Nilendu offered to open his shirt and show Subhash-ji the black stick marks he still carries from his early youth, when he tried to get a first-day, first-show ticket of a Subhash Ghai blockbuster – might be ‘Vidhaata’.

“Kya baat karte hain Subhashji, aapke film dekhne ke liye maine police ke dande khaaye hain…!!! Kholke dikhyoon kya…”

He also elaborated how his daughter, then two years old, often felt cranky – and the only sure-shot way to put her to sleep was playing the songs of ‘Karz’. I really don’t know whether Mr. Ghai took this as a compliment, but he sure was happy, since he spent almost two hours chatting with Nilendu, gave an excellent interview, and returned a friend.

That’s what often happens with Nilendu-da. People who meet him become his friends, mostly lifelong ones. I believe, his smooth wit, and the fact that he does have unusual ways to manifest himself – might have something to do with that.

It’s not something new for him.

With Nilendu, or Neel as his close friends call him, its usual to be unusual; and then, that wasn’t the first time he was offering to unbutton his shirt to get the job done !!!

“MY AUDITORIUM BECAME MY CLASSROOM”

The year was 1987; just because I had nothing better to do I did a year of post-graduation in Commerce, a subject in which I had absolutely no interest.

So right from the beginning in my college, I veered towards theater.

Once, while we were in one of our rehearsal sessions, I realized that I had missed the audition. I was ruing the fact, but then when I met the director and we started talking about things – I started thinking that this was where I belonged.

I was in Kirori Mal College, and the theater group was the iconic ‘Players’, under the tutelage of Keval Arora – who has turned a lot of garbage into people of substance, ruling the roost in media, cinema, and theater. He opens your third eye and sets you up on your way, whichever one you chose.

However, back to the story; since I had missed the audition, I said, fine, I will carry the props. They said, okay, carry props if you want to – you are in the first year and there’s no harm in carrying props – and that you should be thankful that we are allowing you to carry props.

So I was happily carrying props.

Then we were doing a play called ‘Natak Nahin’ in which they had a small 40 seconds part – the role of a beggar in a pavement. For that role they didn’t audition anyone. Suddenly there was this very prestigious competition coming up, and they had no one to do it immediately.

I raised my hand and said, ‘Why don’t you let me do it??”

They looked at me and said – well you didn’t even audition and you are not approved. So what I did was I stripped myself down to my shorts. I was wearing a banyan – I tore it down. I turned ‘phatehaal’ suddenly. They were looking at me and wondering, what is this guy doing? Then I took some ‘mitti’ from somewhere and dirtied my face.

I asked them, ‘This is it, now tell me, do I look like the part?”

They said, “Wow you do!!!”

I mean it was a 30 seconds role in a play where people had huge parts to play. So before I got on stage, I gathered all my life experiences into that small role – realizing that it was a make or break situation for me.

For that 30 seconds role in a play called ‘Natak Nahin’ – I got the award for Best Actor.

From there on, my auditorium became my classroom. It was there we sat and talked about writing; we sat and discussed Cinema and everything else.

*Nilendu, with members of his team, on the sets of Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of Sesame Street.*

In those days, if you weren’t an Engineer, or a Doctor or preparing for IAS, or gearing up to become a Chartered Accountant – there was not much else that qualified as a career. Nilendu wanted none of that.

So when college ended, by his own admission, he was staring at a black hole.

Some happy coincidences took him to Siddharth Basu, and he entered the TV bandwagon doing quiz shows – starting with Alpha Plus. He admits, Siddharth Basu was a fantastic teacher, and shared fairly common sensibilities with him – in cinema, theater, literature and other forms of culture and art. In fact he gave Nilendu culture and cinema as the subject to research – which made him completely veer in that direction.

Thereby, he got a chance to rekindle his romance with Cinema.

Genesis of that love story, however, was from much earlier.

“DON’T JUST LOOK AT THE ACTION!”

I remember, when I was just a little child, the television arrived at our home.

It was 1971. That was a time when there was no TV in entire India, apart from Delhi Doordarshan. It used to have just one session, of about three hours length, every evening. That was another big influence.

They showed films on Saturdays and Sundays.

On Saturday nights, they sometimes had a special telecast of award winning films from Eastern Europe and Russia. Those were the high-times of Cold War, so if and when Hollywood films arrived in India, they came after six or seven years of their release. So we didn’t get to see those films.

So what were the films we got to see?

We saw Hungarian films, Czechoslovakian films, also films from Russia and Poland. Also films came from iconic European Film Festivals – Berlin, from East Germany, Karlovy Vary, even Cannes – where Hollywood was not in much of a demand in those times. So we got to see the works of those film-makers.

Hindi films were shown on Sunday evenings; and Saturday evenings was reserved for regional films – mostly those that were financed by NFDC and the National Award winning films. Bengali films were less, since even Parallel Cinema used to find good theatre release in Bengal – so we got them intermittently. But films from other languages got a bare minimum release, and hence came to Doordarshan quickly.

Watching Satyajit Ray films was difficult because of their unavailability – ‘Pather Panchali’ being a notable exception since it was a government production. So when they had nothing else to run, they put on ‘Pather Panchali’ ; might have seen it at least 40 times back then.

But then, there’s something about that film.

Every time we saw it, my father used to point out at something new. I thought, come on, it’s just a film. But even now, when I watch it, I find new things. Back then, I always used to feel, why is the film so slow? Then my father used to say – watch the things that are happening around the main action; don’t just look at the action.

Then, I was perplexed; what does he mean by don’t see the action!!

Gradually I came to realize what was it that he was trying to point out; look at what Banshi Chandragupta has done; or focus on the work of Subrato Mitra. So whatever Ray has done he has done, but if you do not observe around him – the texture of water; the spread of the elongated shadows; the falling and the rolling of the tumbler – where it reaches and how; so if you are not observing these things then you are not ‘completely’ watching Satyajit Ray.

So why was the film slow? So that you can find time to see all of that, properly. That was his logic. He always used to ask – so what all did you see? Where else have you seen those things that you have seen in the film?

That’s how I started learning.

That’s true. Doordarshan opened up access to quality cinema like nothing else could do before it. It was nearly impossible watching those kind of films in cinema halls, anywhere in India, unless in a Film Festival, or rare Film Clubs.

All of this made Nilendu develop a voracious love for Cinema, which he took to work. His new job with Ramesh Sharma, globally acclaimed film maker and the owner of Moving Pictures who also did a show called ‘Portrait of the Director’, opened up even more opportunities to explore this passion for the big-screen.

So when Nilendu was assigned the responsibility of doing a travelogue called the ‘India Travel Show’ – he lapped up the opportunity.

But that was not just because he loved to travel.

“HE SAID, ‘YES, MANIKDA SAHAB!!”

Those were the times of liberalization, and India wanted lots of people to come here for tourism – and that prompted this program, to create a picture post-card impression of India across global populations.

So when I started work in this tourism show – wherever I went, say I am going to Kerala, I am searching and asking the crew that is working with me about Adoor. The crew is always with me, and I am asking them how Adoor or Arvindan got at a particular ‘angle’! Where was this shot?

Similarly, say within a week or so, I had to shoot in Rajasthan. In the process, I reach Jaisalmer. So once I am there I am rolling and framing my hands and trying to figure out how Ray managed to create a ‘Sonar Kella’ out of this wilderness. I had an excellent cameraman with me – Chokalingam, and he is laughing at me. He says, ‘Since you are a bangaali, you must be thinking how Ray shaab took the shot…”

Suddenly, while on that shoot, I found a guy in colorful ‘tie and die, bandhni’ paagdi and an impressive circular moustache talking to me in chaste ‘bangla’. He asks me, ‘Howdy dada, what’s the matter? You seem to be interested in the camera placements of Ray Sahab.”

Ray Saheb!! I was intrigued; and then he said, ‘Yes, Manikda sahab!!’

I thought, wtf? You know, while in shoots, we often meet people with tall-tales to get connected to the shoot and maybe make some money or mileage out of it; we call them the ‘chep’ – but this was not such a case.

I asked him, in Hindi, “How do you know where Ray placed his cameras?”

His explanation literally blew me off my feet.

It seems when Ray came to Jaisalmer to shoot Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen, he entered into some kind of agreement with a local sweet shop owner for the evening snacks of his crew. This gentleman, a young boy then, and the son of the sweet shop owner, was assigned the responsibility to provide water to the crew. So he was out there on the sets, everyday, with an assortment of pitchers and glasses, serving water and sherbet – as and when needed.

“And that’s why I know where he placed his cameras,” the gentleman says.

What could I say? I remember asking him to extend his feet, so that I could bless myself by touching them.

Story doesn’t end here.

By the time Ray returned to Jaisalmer to shoot ‘Sonar Kella’ – he was all grown up – and had developed this innate desire to work with Ray sahib. So he convinced his father to send him to one of their gaddis in Burrahbazar, Kolkata. While working there for about 10 minutes every day, he used to excuse himself and go straightaway to Ray’s home, and chatted with other technicians.

I told him, “Wow, you are a history by yourself…”

Anyways, coming back to the point, this is how I gathered inferences.

I found out from locals and technicians how the director planned his shots, and placed his cameras for a particular shot. And I knew those shots since I had references, which I picked up from Doordarshan very early in my life.

I haven’t seen a Bong who has gone to Jaisalmer and not tried to follow in the footsteps of Lalmohan Ganguly.
That’s me paying my respects to Ray ‘s iconic camel ride scene from Sonar Kella..
*The only one who might not have liked the experience was the camel.*

Very soon, this penchant of Nilendu to explore the ‘Cinema’ in everything he did started bearing fruits. He entered big time into film-based shows.

‘Biographies, Ek Kalakar Ki Kahani’ was one of his most popular programs. Those 26 episodes came off the stuff Moving Pictures had created earlier for DD, like ‘Portrait of the Director’ and ‘Showcase – The best of Indian Cinema’.

Shashant Shah, a well known film-maker today in Mumbai, was then a manager at Sony and he had seen those shows. He suggested to his boss Kacon Sethi, the head of Sony Max, to do something with Nilendu’s team.

“OM PURI HAD SAID YES”

I was called in and since both of us were keen, only the details had to be figured out.

The question was – who was going to anchor it?

Aah, I took out my mobile and without dropping a name, just called a number and spoke in Bengali with the man at the other end. Kacon, being a Bong herself was the only one who could understand and was beaming.

Om Puri had said yes.

Sony did not do too well at the awards circuit the year we finished the project. I recall that Biographies was the only ITA that Sony won that year.

It wasn’t collected by me but another Creative manager – who called me soon after receiving it – pretty overwhelmed.

It was Nachiket Pantvaidya, again a fairly big name in the circuit now.

With Om Puri, explaining the tenor of Biographies – Ek Kalakar Ki Kahani.
Nilendu in the extreme right.

The good-will that Biographies brought home started a long innings with Sony, which continued for over a decade. This was further substantiated with the makeover of a show called ‘Current Bollywood’. Bringing in Sweta Kawatra, the Choti Bahu of Kahani Ghar Ghar ki as an anchor – was a masterstroke that worked wonders. Her screen persona perfectly fit the tone that Team Nilendu wanted for the show.

Come ITA, and the show had won. Again, the Best Film based program.

My long chat with Nilendu was nearing an end.

Not because he was running out of stories – that never happens with him. It was just because I now wanted to come back to our ‘today’.

So I goaded the now dormant journalist inside me – to poke him about this programming overload we are facing today, where everybody out there is staking their claim as a creative artist. I asked Nilendu – is that at all possible?

“WHEN ART BECOMES EASY, ARTISTRY ENDS”

Let’s consider this for a while – where do we get our theories from?

Say for instance, the paintings of Rembrandt. How he used his light was the inspiration behind dramatic cinema lighting – our theories of source lighting came from there. Similarly, our use of filters – all filter ideas are derived from the works of master painters.

Thing is; now no-one needs to go to Louvre, or run after Rembrandt or read books and study about them. There’s no need for that. He just has to push a button to get the Rembrandt effect. So when that happens, when you can create images at the push of a button, and everyone can do it – after a while no one will frame those images and put them up on display.

So that’s it.

When art becomes so easy for everyone to achieve, that’s where artistry ends.

But yes, don’t take this as an all-encompassing generalization.

Lots of youngsters that are making good films today – they have studied Satyajit Ray and the other stalwarts very closely. They have put themselves through a very tough learning regimen, and then added to it; I think besides Hollywood, they have actually learnt a great deal from the Iranians and the Chinese – from film festivals.

So when I am talking about push-button creativity, I am not talking about them.

Quite a diplomatic answer, if I may say so.

Obviously he doesn’t want to rub people the wrong way, especially the younger generation of film-makers and show-producers. But even with all his positivity, he can’t help but admit that in mass-media, things are transforming at a rapid pace. The way content is being disseminated is also going through a phase of fast transformation. If you ask me, with a few notable exceptions swimming against the tide, things do seem a bit chaotic.

But then, I can always ask Nilendu, someone who has traversed across almost the entire journey of the Indian TV boom – where does he see himself now, under these changed circumstances?

“HUMAN INTELLIGENCE WILL DRIVE THE CONTENT”

Right now there is no playbook by which one can slot oneself – but one thing is certain. We are at the cusp of some massive change.

However, I am also certain that as we absorb this change, there will be the necessary change in us which will provide people like us the means to be in the game for a bit, and then this fantastic new generation of people that are waiting in the wings will assume the baton.

They already have for the most – but even younger people will use their minds to be more organically creative; that’s because a lot of the mechanics and technical aspects of content creation have become much simpler and much cheaper. We had to use a lot of our creative energies in sorting the stuff – which is now all available through templates and push button.

But yes, the differentiator still remains the human element.

I believe, in all times to come, its human intelligence that will drive the content, always – and not artificial intelligence.

Hope is a good thing to have; what else do we live for?

I have to mention here, that this is the concluding part of a two-part blog-post; for those of you that have not read the first post, you can just click on the link below. That was more about how Nilendu developed his musical sensibilities.

PORTRAIT OF THE (TV) PRODUCER.

Anyone who has spent time with Nilendu Sen would agree with me that it’s very easy to strike a conversation with him; the tough thing is to figure out how to end it.

For now, Nilendu helped me – he concluded this one with a quote.

“ At the end, all I can say is what Sahir Ludhiyanvi wrote, Khayyam sahab set to music and Mukesh sang – and Yash Chopra picturized on the great Mr. Bachchaan.”

“Kal aur aayege nagamo ki khilati kaliya chunne wale
Mujhse behatar kahne wale tumse behatar sunne wale
Kal koi mujhko yaad kare kyu koi mujhko yaad kare
Masaruf zamana mere liye kyu waqt apna barabad kare”

Forgive my audacity, but I attempted a translation of Sahir, for those of my readers who may not understand Hindi or might not have heard those lines. I don’t know of many who haven’t, and its unlikely that they might read my blog – but one can never say.

Do not troll me for the quality of translation. Nilendu-da would have done a way much better job. For now, make do with this.

“There will be others to harvest the blooming buds of melodies
Better orators than I am, better listeners than you are
Why would the tomorrow remember me, why should anyone?
Why should the busy world squander its time on me?”

Here’s a little something from Nilendu’s show Biographies that I keep returning to, on his you tube channel.
If you are from this industry and you have seen Kagaz ke Phool, you might understand why.

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17 Comments

nilendu sen

The picture is with the mupeters and the head of the team that were hired by Sesame to produce Galli Galli Sim Simk.. I was their Creative Director, once again trying to insert some Bollywood elements in the narrative.. trying to being the operative phrase..

# 1st July 2020 Reply
Papia

Greatly enjoyed reading the write-up. Nilendu Sen seems a fascinating personality.

# 1st July 2020 Reply
Anonymous

I know my Buddy Nilendu “Neel” from the last 38 years and believe me I am very proud of his achievements of his wonderful writing skills his depth of knowledge on World Cinema and understanding of the Indian Art and Culture.

Always love you “Neel”Dada from now onwards I will address you as Neel Dada.

# 1st July 2020 Reply
- nilendu sen
  
  Kindly identify yourself here superstar
  
  # 2nd July 2020 Reply
Rahul

Thank you, Anirban for bringing out in public what we always kept in our hears about Nilendu babu .The cradft and it’s master with such humility, is something I shall always admire. Such luck, such please to have known him.

# 1st July 2020 Reply
- ANIRBAN B
  
  Thanks for reading. Thought it was high time people beyond us should know how we feel.
  
  # 1st July 2020 Reply
Didibhai(Rajasree)

Touched

# 1st July 2020 Reply
Minoti Chatterjee

loved it!

# 2nd July 2020 Reply
Sreeraj Ghosh

The flame of melody touched the blue (‘Neel’ in Bengali) horizon to create the flavour of spring – thus goes a popular Tagore song in Bengali

# 2nd July 2020 Reply
nilendu sen

With influencers like Sreeraj Ghosh, Dadabhai, The Neel Diganto was sure to expand. A retired management consultant and engineer by profession, an amateur authority on Tagore and Bangla culture..

# 2nd July 2020 Reply
Hemant Chaturvedi

Just wonderful. I’ve been waiting for the second part since I read the first one. My deepest regards and with fascination for you and your life, I look forward to meeting you sometime and hearing these stories in person.

# 2nd July 2020 Reply
- ANIRBAN B
  
  That is a distinct possibility. Rope me in when you do that Hemant – UP borders are open now.
  
  # 2nd July 2020 Reply
- nilendu sen
  
  Me 2!
  
  # 5th July 2020 Reply
Mukesh Kumar

Thanks Anirban. I have known Nilendu for the last 22 years. We worked together for almost five years and also had several long sittings but many things I came to know through your blog only. Nilendu has got so many opportunities of working with big shots but he himself has amazing capacity and talent to produce master craft of TV and films which he had proved many a times. Sometimes, I feel that industry has not utilized his potential properly and he should get a chance to produce what he wants to produce Dil Se.

# 2nd July 2020 Reply
- ANIRBAN B
  
  I feel the same Mukeshji. Thanks for your kind words.
  
  # 2nd July 2020 Reply
Gautam Bhattacharya

Nilendu, I am Gautam Bhattacharya, Ex-Players / K, M and Keval’s classmate. I found this blog extremely interesting, would love to get in touch with you directly. My mobile no : 9810020744, do message me when convenient. Thanks

# 3rd July 2020 Reply
- nilendu sen
  
  Gautamda, the blog itself is extremely interesting. Anirban is a finne writer and has the knack to tap into the most interesting plot points in any story and declutter it for a very interesting read.. Share the blogspot please
  
  # 5th July 2020 Reply