THE MAKER OF SLICE OF LIFE FILMS BASU CHATTERJEE IS NO MORE

Jyothi Venkatesh

He was known for his ability to call a spade a spade in his heydays., known for his ‘common man’ sensibilities that were reflected in films like Rajnigandha, Baaton Baaton Mein, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla and Chitchor, died today morning at the age of 90. His last rites were performed today at Santacruz cremation at 2 pm.

Starting his career as an illustrator and cartoonist, the Ajmer-born Basu Chatterjee changed his career path after assisting Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam and made his debut with Sara Akash (1969) and earned the tag of a class director. Associated with what came to be called the middle-of-the-road cinema, Basuda -- as he was fondly called --celebrated the extraordinary in the ordinary. He focussed his lens on the middle class and largely urban settings.

Known for having helmed films like Rajnigandha, Chitchor, Chhoti Si Baat among more, the director had begun his career as an illustrator for the Mumbai-based now-defunct weekly tabloid Blitz. He made his directorial debut with the acclaimed movie Sara Akash in 1969. Apart from directing these well-known movies, Basu Chatterjee had also dabbled in Bengali cinema. Some of his more popular works in the language include Hothat Brishti, Hochcheta Ki and Hothat Shei Din. Besides his illustrious films, Basuda had also directed some TV shows, which included Rajani, Darpan, Kakaji Kahin. He also took charge as the director of two seasons of Doordarshan's popular TV show Byomkesh Bakshi .

I was a fan of his kind of small films way back in the 70’s when I had just passed out of my college. His heroes travelled to work in buses, romanced women they met at office canteens and local trains, and had everyday concerns. As young men, we used to identify with the character of the hero in his films, especially Amol Palekar. Whether it was Rajnigandha, Piya Ka Ghar, Choti Si Baat, Chitchor or Khatta Meetha or Shaukeen, his characters were steeped in reality. “I belonged to a middle class family. That’s the life I know. That’s why there was nothing larger-than-life about my films,” he had once said.

The two Basus along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee formed the Hindi cinema triumvirate whose ethos lay firmly in the middle class and its day-to-day struggles at a time when most of Bollywood was focused on larger-than-life stories of angst and tragedy led by Amitabh Bachchan. Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab were the stars that were favored by Chatterjee to tell inspiring stories of the middle class.His cinema was progressive for the times, unhurried and a slice of everyday life. He also directed a few episodes of TV shows Byomkesh Bakshi, and Rajani for Doordarshan. He was also influenced by films such as Bicycle Thief and Billy Wilder’s socio-romantic comedies.

Dada, as I used to call him, did not relish in chasing the so-called stars. If a particular star expressed his desire to be directed by him, he was game to direct a film with him, whether the actor was in demand or not. Among the films Basuda had directed was Chameli Ki Shaadi which starred Anil Kapoor and Amrita Singh who were big stars at that time but had requested Basuda to cast them in a film of his and he had obliged.

Anil Kapoor, who was directed by Basu Chatterjee in the 1986 film Chameli Ki Shaadi, alongside Amrita Singh, has tweeted: "A director who was always ahead of his time.. Basu Chatterjee will be truly missed. He was an effortless genius and an amazing human being. May he rest in peace."

Yet another film of his which was star studded was Manzil starring Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee. What was admirable about Basuda was the fact that whether he directed big stars or new comers, he never ever resorted to any kind of compromise in his films and made them the way he had conceived them. Amitabh Bachchan remembered the veteran, with whom he worked in the 1979 film Manzil in his tribute where he has made a reference to the evergreen soundtrack Rim Jhim Gire Saavan from the film and written: "Prayers and condolences on the passing of Basu Chatterjee. A quiet, soft spoken, gentle human, his films reflected the lives of middle India. Did Manzil with him...A sad loss”.

Shabana Azmi is yet another artiste who had worked with Basuda in films like Swami, Apne Paraye and Jeena Yahaan. In her tweet, Shabana quips, “Deeply saddened to hear about Basu Chatterjee’s passing away. A prolific filmmaker, he was the pioneer of what came to be regarded as middle of the road cinema. I was fortunate to have done three lovely films with him- Swami Apne Paraye and Jeena Yahan, all in lifelike characters.”

Dada was a ladies’ man and had a very soft corner for all his leading ladies man. Quite often when I used to land on his sets in Mumbai, Basuda used to tell me that he would give me his interview only if I were to interview his leading lady on the sets that particular day. Basuda was very fond of rum way back in the 80’s when he was staying at the middle class locality of Adarsh Nagar, Worli, as a neighbor of mine.

What made him stand apart from the others of his breed were his wry humor and his ability to fathom what exactly the masses wanted to see in films. He was adept at directing a film on a small budget in a specified number of days thus saving a lot for the producers with his speed and ability to cut costs. No wonder Basuda was known as the producer’s director.

I will miss Basuda long before he was bed ridden, when I had phoned him up five years ago when I wanted to feature the filmmaker in the column Life Time Achievers for the film trade weekly Blockbuster published by T.P. Aggarwal, President , IMPPA, I remember I was very disappointed when Basuda , who I used to consider a good friend among the filmmakers did not mince words and told me that he was ready to give me time for a one on one interview with him provided my publisher was ready to pay him, because he seemed very disillusioned with the ways of the film industry which had almost ceased to be in touch with the man. My condolences to not only Basuda’s two daughters Sonali Bhattacharya and Rupalio Guha, who is not only a film but also TV show producer but also his son in law and my dear friend Putul Guha, who is late director Dulal Guha’s son.