Title: Rabindranath Tagore’s Works in Cinema: A Review of Selected Critical Works
Author(s): Dr. Shah Ahmed, Associate Professor, Department of English, Uttara University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Publication InformationTitle: Rabindranath Tagore’s Works in Cinema: A Review of Selected Critical Works
Author(s): Dr. Shah Ahmed, Associate Professor, Department of English, Uttara University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Journal Title: Palimpsest - East Delta University Journal of English Studies
Volume No: 03, Issue No: 01, Year: 2024, Pages: 24-35
Publisher: Department of English, East Delta University, Chattogram, Bangladesh
Type of Publication: Research Article
Received: 01 April 2023, Accepted: 26 July 2023, Published: 11 February 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46603/pedujes.v3i1.3
Abstract
Locating the platitude of perspectives and arguments in the existing critical works on Bengali film adaptations, this critical review article examines some of the significant academic writings on Rabindranath Tagore’s works on screen. Since the vast filmography based on Tagore’s works, commonly known as ‘Tagore films’, has not received adequate critical and theoretical attention in South Asian academia, let alone in the adaptation studies in global academia, the number of critical works on them is relatively small. The main significance of this essay lies in focusing on the commonality of assessment of Bengali film adaptations (based on Tagore’s works) from a moralistic position of fidelity criticism – not from the theoretical lens of diverse adaptation theories – and on addressing the difficulty in fitting the existing assessments in the critical spectrum of adaptation scholarship. It has become an academic dismay for aspiring researchers to find materials on the annals of the filmography, given that there are so few scholarly publications spread across the internet's vast ocean and the interstices of libraries. Considering this context and realising the dire necessity for review articles on Tagore films, this article bears immense academic and theoretical value. By examining selected critical works analytically from the premise of the auteur theory that underpins creative adaptations, this study has the potential to ease the extraordinary burden of academic enquiries in the growing body of writings on film adaptations. More importantly, the paper will unveil, in the existing critical works, some glaring lacunas that may be addressed by future critical endeavours.
Locating the platitude of perspectives and arguments in the existing critical works on Bengali film adaptations, this critical review article examines some of the significant academic writings on Rabindranath Tagore’s works on screen. Since the vast filmography based on Tagore’s works, commonly known as ‘Tagore films’, has not received adequate critical and theoretical attention in South Asian academia, let alone in the adaptation studies in global academia, the number of critical works on them is relatively small. The main significance of this essay lies in focusing on the commonality of assessment of Bengali film adaptations (based on Tagore’s works) from a moralistic position of fidelity criticism – not from the theoretical lens of diverse adaptation theories – and on addressing the difficulty in fitting the existing assessments in the critical spectrum of adaptation scholarship. It has become an academic dismay for aspiring researchers to find materials on the annals of the filmography, given that there are so few scholarly publications spread across the internet's vast ocean and the interstices of libraries. Considering this context and realising the dire necessity for review articles on Tagore films, this article bears immense academic and theoretical value. By examining selected critical works analytically from the premise of the auteur theory that underpins creative adaptations, this study has the potential to ease the extraordinary burden of academic enquiries in the growing body of writings on film adaptations. More importantly, the paper will unveil, in the existing critical works, some glaring lacunas that may be addressed by future critical endeavours.
Keywords
Tagore films, existing critical works, auteur theory, critical propositions, creative adaptation, directorial/artistic freedom
Tagore films, existing critical works, auteur theory, critical propositions, creative adaptation, directorial/artistic freedom
References
Ahmed, S. (2022). Rabindranath Tagore’s Views on Camera, Cinema, and Film Adaptation. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English
Language and Literature,16(1), 103–119. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/ajell/article/view/1866 Ahmed, S., Hasan, M. M., & Ramlan, W. N. M. (2020). Adaptation and Auteurism in South Asian Studies with Reference to Rabindranath
Tagore’s Works on Screen. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 14(1), 259–272. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/ajell/article/view/1866
Asaduddin, M. and Ghosh, A. (Eds.). (2012). Filming Fiction: Tagore, Premchand, and Ray. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Balazs, B. (1970). Theory of the Film (Trans. E. Bone, Trans.). London: Dennis Dobson Ltd.Biswas, M. (2003). Writing on the Screen: Satyajit Ray’s Adaptation of Tagore. Retrieved from http://www.ipv.pt/forumedia/5/9.htmBose, M. (2007). The Political Aesthetic of Nation and Gender in Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali. In Heidi, R. M. P (Ed.), Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting classics. New York: Routledge.Chakravarty, I. (2015). Tagore, Cinema and the Poetry of Movement. Lensight. Retrieved fromhttps://www.academia.edu/10315517/Tagore_Cinema_and_the_Poetry_of_Movement
Das, A. K. (2016). Tapan Sinha: Sarbik Chalochchitra Bikkha: A Collection of Essays. Howrah: Srihtishukh Prokashon.
Datta, S., et al. (2016). Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art. New York: Routledge.Devika, & Gupta, P. (2015). Studies in Aesthetic Delight (Parmananda) in Hindi Film Adaptations. The Nehru Journal, 13(1), 1–20.Ganguly, K. (2010a). Catastrophe and Utopia: Ghare Baire or the Household Goddess. Cinema, Emergence and the Films of Satyajit Ray. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Ganguly, K. (2010b). The (Un)moving Image: Visuality and the Modern in Charulata. Cinema, Emergence and the Films of Satyajit Ray. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Ghosh. S. (1999). The Films of Tapan Sinha. Boloji: Studies in Diversity. Retrieved From http://www.boloji.com/articles/1500/the-films-of-tapan-sinhaGhosh, S. (Ed.). (2012). Chalachchitre Rabindranath.Vol. 1–2. Kolkata: New Bengal.Ghosh, S. (2020). 11th Death Anniversary: Remembering Tapan Sinha, the Humane Storyteller. The Times of India. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/11th-death-anniversary-remembering-tapan-sinha-the-humane- storyteller/articleshow/73250379.cms Gupta, C. D. (1969). Indian Cinema Today. Film Quarterly. 22(4). 27–35. doi:10.2307/1210307Gupta, C. D. (1980). The Cinema of Satyajit Ray. Uttar Pradesh: Vikash Publishing House.Hemphill, L. (1998). Tagore's women: Satyajit Ray and Bollywood. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 21(1), 167–80. doi: 10.1080/00856409808723331Hutcheon, L. (2006). A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge.Joshi. L. M. (2009). Tapan Sinha: Award-winning Indian film-maker influenced by Capra and Wilder. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/12/tapan-sinha-obituary- indian-filmmakerMandal, S. (2015). Adapting, Interpreting and Transcreating Rabindranath Tagore’s Works on Screen. In S. K. Rai & A. Rai (Eds.),
Adaptations: Some Journeys from Words to Visuals. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Mitra, Z. (2011). Tagore’s Noukadubi and Rituparno’s Inspiration: Interrogating Marriage and Home. Silhouette. Retrieved from https://learningandcreativity.com/silhouette/tagores-noukadubi-rituparnos-inspiration-interrogating-marriage-home/Mukherjee, T. (2018). Configuring Parallel Worlds: Verbal to Visual: Children’s Films by Tapan Sinha. International Journal of Translation, 30(2), 25–48. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/38480358/Configuring_Parallel_Worlds_Verbal_to_Visual_Childrens Films_by_Tapan_Sinha_pdfRobinson, A. (2004). Satyajit Ray the Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker. London: I.B. Tauris.Roy, A. (1986). Rabindranath O Chalachitra. Kolkata: Chitralekha Prakashani.Sen, A. (2012). Modes of Storytelling: Tapan Sinha’s Kshudhita Pashan (1961). Silhouette Magazine: A Publication on Cinema & Allied Art Forms.
ISSN 2231 - 699X. Retrieved from https://learningandcreativity.com/silhouette/modes-of-storytelling-tapan-sinhas-kshudita-pashan-1961Sen, P. (2017). Origins, Fidelity, and the Auteur: The Bengali Films of Tapan Sinha. In C. Kennedy-Karpat and E. Sandberg (Eds.),
Adaptation, Awards Culture, and the Value of Prestige. Ankara: Palgrave Macmillan.Seton, M. (1971). Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray. New Delhi: Penguin Books India.Sikder. B. (2015). Sexual Myths and Self-body Consciousness: In Rituporno Ghosh’s Adaptation of Tagore’s Chitrangada. Pratidhwani the Echo,
4(1), 40–43. Retrieved from https://www.thecho.in/files/Barnali-Sikder_96047i1r.pdfSinthuphan, J. (2015). Tagore Through the Lens: Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray’s Cinematic Vision. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2022). Rabindranath Tagore’s Views on Camera, Cinema, and Film Adaptation. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English
Language and Literature,16(1), 103–119. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/ajell/article/view/1866 Ahmed, S., Hasan, M. M., & Ramlan, W. N. M. (2020). Adaptation and Auteurism in South Asian Studies with Reference to Rabindranath
Tagore’s Works on Screen. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 14(1), 259–272. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/ajell/article/view/1866
Asaduddin, M. and Ghosh, A. (Eds.). (2012). Filming Fiction: Tagore, Premchand, and Ray. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Balazs, B. (1970). Theory of the Film (Trans. E. Bone, Trans.). London: Dennis Dobson Ltd.Biswas, M. (2003). Writing on the Screen: Satyajit Ray’s Adaptation of Tagore. Retrieved from http://www.ipv.pt/forumedia/5/9.htmBose, M. (2007). The Political Aesthetic of Nation and Gender in Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali. In Heidi, R. M. P (Ed.), Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting classics. New York: Routledge.Chakravarty, I. (2015). Tagore, Cinema and the Poetry of Movement. Lensight. Retrieved fromhttps://www.academia.edu/10315517/Tagore_Cinema_and_the_Poetry_of_Movement
Das, A. K. (2016). Tapan Sinha: Sarbik Chalochchitra Bikkha: A Collection of Essays. Howrah: Srihtishukh Prokashon.
Datta, S., et al. (2016). Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art. New York: Routledge.Devika, & Gupta, P. (2015). Studies in Aesthetic Delight (Parmananda) in Hindi Film Adaptations. The Nehru Journal, 13(1), 1–20.Ganguly, K. (2010a). Catastrophe and Utopia: Ghare Baire or the Household Goddess. Cinema, Emergence and the Films of Satyajit Ray. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Ganguly, K. (2010b). The (Un)moving Image: Visuality and the Modern in Charulata. Cinema, Emergence and the Films of Satyajit Ray. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Ghosh. S. (1999). The Films of Tapan Sinha. Boloji: Studies in Diversity. Retrieved From http://www.boloji.com/articles/1500/the-films-of-tapan-sinhaGhosh, S. (Ed.). (2012). Chalachchitre Rabindranath.Vol. 1–2. Kolkata: New Bengal.Ghosh, S. (2020). 11th Death Anniversary: Remembering Tapan Sinha, the Humane Storyteller. The Times of India. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/11th-death-anniversary-remembering-tapan-sinha-the-humane- storyteller/articleshow/73250379.cms Gupta, C. D. (1969). Indian Cinema Today. Film Quarterly. 22(4). 27–35. doi:10.2307/1210307Gupta, C. D. (1980). The Cinema of Satyajit Ray. Uttar Pradesh: Vikash Publishing House.Hemphill, L. (1998). Tagore's women: Satyajit Ray and Bollywood. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 21(1), 167–80. doi: 10.1080/00856409808723331Hutcheon, L. (2006). A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge.Joshi. L. M. (2009). Tapan Sinha: Award-winning Indian film-maker influenced by Capra and Wilder. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/12/tapan-sinha-obituary- indian-filmmakerMandal, S. (2015). Adapting, Interpreting and Transcreating Rabindranath Tagore’s Works on Screen. In S. K. Rai & A. Rai (Eds.),
Adaptations: Some Journeys from Words to Visuals. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Mitra, Z. (2011). Tagore’s Noukadubi and Rituparno’s Inspiration: Interrogating Marriage and Home. Silhouette. Retrieved from https://learningandcreativity.com/silhouette/tagores-noukadubi-rituparnos-inspiration-interrogating-marriage-home/Mukherjee, T. (2018). Configuring Parallel Worlds: Verbal to Visual: Children’s Films by Tapan Sinha. International Journal of Translation, 30(2), 25–48. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/38480358/Configuring_Parallel_Worlds_Verbal_to_Visual_Childrens Films_by_Tapan_Sinha_pdfRobinson, A. (2004). Satyajit Ray the Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker. London: I.B. Tauris.Roy, A. (1986). Rabindranath O Chalachitra. Kolkata: Chitralekha Prakashani.Sen, A. (2012). Modes of Storytelling: Tapan Sinha’s Kshudhita Pashan (1961). Silhouette Magazine: A Publication on Cinema & Allied Art Forms.
ISSN 2231 - 699X. Retrieved from https://learningandcreativity.com/silhouette/modes-of-storytelling-tapan-sinhas-kshudita-pashan-1961Sen, P. (2017). Origins, Fidelity, and the Auteur: The Bengali Films of Tapan Sinha. In C. Kennedy-Karpat and E. Sandberg (Eds.),
Adaptation, Awards Culture, and the Value of Prestige. Ankara: Palgrave Macmillan.Seton, M. (1971). Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray. New Delhi: Penguin Books India.Sikder. B. (2015). Sexual Myths and Self-body Consciousness: In Rituporno Ghosh’s Adaptation of Tagore’s Chitrangada. Pratidhwani the Echo,
4(1), 40–43. Retrieved from https://www.thecho.in/files/Barnali-Sikder_96047i1r.pdfSinthuphan, J. (2015). Tagore Through the Lens: Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray’s Cinematic Vision. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Works in Cinema.pdf