JOIN US‘Neecha Nagar’ celebrates 75 years of a proud milestone
At the maiden Cannes Film Festival in 1946, a handsome and shy Chetan Anand could not believe he won the Grand Prix for his debut 'Neecha Nagar' (1946). To share the honour with David Lean’s 'Brief Encounters' and Billy Wilder’s 'The Last Weekend' was extremely special for the Indian filmmaker.
When the latest edition of the festival began on July 6, the film completed 75 years of its rare feat. It is also the only Indian film to win the Palme d'Or.
Back then, the special screening of 'Neecha Nagar' at Cannes won a big round of applause. The great David Lean termed 'Neecha Nagar' a true classic.
Inspired by Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths, 'Neecha Nagar' was India’s first path-breaking art film. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas wrote the screenplay for Hayatullah Ansari's story. The film was Ravi Shankar’s debut as a music director.
It was the nation’s first anti-imperialist film which portrayed the story of the revolution of a village against its autocratic mayor after many villagers, including a golden-hearted nurse, died when the water there gets contaminated.
Made on a shoestring budget, the film was produced by Rashid Anwar. It starred newcomers like Rafiq Anwar, Kamini Kaushal, Uma Anand, and Ruma Guha Thakunata. Zohra Saigal started her career as a choreographer with 'Neecha Nagar'. The cinematographer Bidyapati Ghosh was trained in Germany. Highly influenced by the works of Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin, Chetan introduced the art of dialectical montages brilliantly in the film.
A special sequence was filmed with an excellent interpretation of Aleksandr Pushkin’s poem 'The Bronze Horseman', which Eisenstein asked his students to pin in a script format. This was perfectly done by a Russian student. Having full knowledge of it, Chetan used it in cinematic montages. So advanced was the film's conceptualisation, direction, and cinematography, that only Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen recognised its depths and appreciated them.
Ravi Shankar made memorable use of bamboo flute, Indian drums, and his sitar to compose the background score, which later became a favourite of the iconic composer Maurice Jarre. It was interesting that the camera was on move from all angles. It was not static like the cinematography in films of V Shantaram. It was special that the editing was devoid of jump cuts.
Lord Mountbatten was very pleased after watching 'Neecha Nagar'. He requested Jawaharlal Nehru to release the film India-wide. Distributors compelled Chetan and Ravi Shankar to use a couple of songs in the film. They did so reluctantly. 'Neecha Nagar' was a massive flop when it was released in Punjab and Delhi. Only in Kolkata, it received a superb response.
Ray wrote to Chetan in 1948 to address an august gathering of film lovers about the film. Chetan politely refused, saying he did not consider himself that great for such a talk. He even refused to be a member of the Cannes Jury in 1950 reasoning he was not up to the mark to hold such a prestigious position with only one film to his credit.
In 1967, at his Juhu shack discussing 'Neecha Nagar' with Polish film legend Andrei Wajda, Chetan spoke about how he canned the climax in just two takes. Wajda marveled at Chetan's sense of timing and ability.
Even after 75 years since its impeccable achievements, 'Neecha Nagar' continues to haunt us.
(The author is a Kolkata-based freelancer who has done research on all three Anand brothers).