Chetan Anand’s directorial debut is the only Indian film to win the Palme d’Or
low town (Hindi, 1946)
Direction: Chetan Anand
Mould: Rafi Peer, Rafiq Anwar, Uma Anand, Kamini Kaushal, SP Bhatia, Hamid Butt, Mohan Sehgal, Zohra Sehgal
music: Ravi Shankar
Chetan Anand’s iconic debut film, low townBased on Maxim Gorky’s most famous play, bottom depth (1902), belongs to a trilogy of films released in 1946. with KA Abbas earth’s red and V Shantaram The immortal story of Dr. Kotnis, it can be retrospectively celebrated as the pioneer of the parallel cinema movement in India.
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a clear picture in social realism, it is worth noting that low town Gained international fame almost a decade ago Pather Panchali (1955), often described as India’s first cinematic triumph in the West. Today, when only being selected to showcase at Cannes is big news, few people know or remember low town The only Indian film to win the Palme d’Or in 1946. however, while Pather Panchali and many internationally nominated films and filmmakers continue to be honored in India and abroad, low town It also did not receive a wide commercial release.
Set in the last years of the Raj (1945–46), the film provides valuable insight into the mood of the nation at that time, especially for its restless and revolutionary youth, ready for any level of personal sacrifice for freedom. Were.
It is worth considering how its protagonists – Gandhi-cap-clad Balraj (Rafiq Anwar) and his charkha-spinning sister Roopa (Kamini Kaushal) managed to evade British censors. Apart from these visual reminders, Balraj’s ‘non-cooperative’ campaign against ‘modern’ rulers, wearing western attire and driven by a tyrannical capitalist mindset, closely echoed the Mahatma’s methods of protest. he roars – “You want to buy our faith, our land, our tandoori, everything with money… But now the era of silence is over!” (You want to buy our land, honour, health, everything, but the time for silence has passed.)
Documentation Revolution
Sarkar (Rafi Pir), a powerful industrialist who lives in an upscale, palatial estate, plots to redirect his sewage line so that it flows into the lower ‘Neecha Nagar’, where the poor live. Obviously, they rise in protest. But the government broke their unity by using time-tested methods cost, price, penalty, difference (petition, bribe, threat, divided).
With the toxic waste now flowing into the village, the epidemic spreads and the helpless villagers are forced to go to the new hospital built by the government. Balraj leads a campaign and asks people to boycott the hospital, even if it means losing their loved ones, which thwarts the government’s plan. After the death of his sister, the villagers are inspired to join Balraj’s fight. Their struggle picks up pace when Sarkar’s conscientious daughter Maya (Uma Anand) agrees to present evidence against her father.
Chetan Anand and Neecha Nagar poster.
The film argues that socialism is the only solution to the problems and struggles of the common man. Chetan Anand and his group of actors and technicians were influenced by the Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA), a leading left-wing cultural organization, which supported the creative. low town and produced Abbas earth’s red.
Another interesting aspect of the film is that it appeals to the innate goodness in every human being, rich or poor. This can be directly attributed to Gandhi’s belief in the power of nonviolent protest, appealing to the spirit of the latter to achieve friendship between the oppressed and the oppressed. The name of the industrialist as ‘Sarkar’ i.e. government is not a mere coincidence. This showed that the business class, not the elected representatives, was vested with decision-making powers.
suggestive aesthetics
Vidyapati Ghosh’s cinematography is different. The government is always caught looking down upon the people of Neechha Nagar. The high and low angle shots heighten the emotion when Sarkar meets a group of villagers. low town Innovatively blends documentary footage with acting sequences, a signature of Chetan Anand’s autobiography, giving it the feel of a researched docu-drama.
Another highlight of the film is another talented debutante, Pt. Ravi Shankar. Though he dabbles with harsh notes and protest music through most of the film, the pice-de-resistance is the unusual soundtrack of a terrifyingly shot reunion scene between ex-lovers Maya and Balraj.
Kamini Kaushal, Rafiq Anwar and Uma Anand (Chetan’s wife) – each of the film’s debut actors make a mark, but Rafi Pir as Sarkar makes the most impact. The film’s workshop is theatre, but the credit for not making his film or its characters theatrical goes to director Chetan Anand.
A valuable social document, the concerns of low town It is as relevant today as it was at the time of its creation. The film remains a major achievement of one of Indian cinema’s most experimental writers, who never got his due. The impact of his earlier work is such that it would make any serious student of cinema India’s first war film (Haqeeqat, 1966) for the first musical play of Hindi cinema (Heer Ranjha, 1970).
Critic, Writer, Film Producer is Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, RV University, Bangalore.
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