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SHIFTING IMAGES

The legend lives on

MILIA ALI
I Twas 1963.1 was visiting my uncle, Professor Mahmood, in Kolkata. Bachchoo Mama (as we affectionately called him) asked what I wished to see in the historic city that was once the nerve centre of British India. Since I was at an age when life is "such stuff as dreams are made on," my response was: “I want to meet Suchitra Sen."
Bachchoo Mama was not one to be cowed down by a challenge. He immediately mustered his excellent pool of social and academic contacts that he had cultivated as a professor at Presidency College. He called an ex-student who happened to be Soumitra Chatterjee's brother and said, with his customary humour: "My niece is visiting from East Pakistan and I was hoping to give her a tour of the Victoria Memorial. But she says the only monument she wants to see in Kolkata is Suchitra Sen. Do you think you could arrange...?”
A few days later I was on my way to a studio in Tallygunj where the star was shooting for Uttar Phalguni. And - yes, 1 did meet her. But did we have a meaningful conversation that I can write about? No -because I was awestruck by the screen icon who had kindled the first spark of romance in my consciousness. In any case, what could a shy and unsure girl say to a legend who had captured the hearts of millions with her miraculous blend of beauty, elegance and acting talent? The meeting may not have transformed my life but 1 came back with the impression that Suchitra Sen was not just a great actor or a beautiful woman. She was a woman of substance ...her natural grace, poise and demeanour were a world apart from that of ordinary mortals!
On January 17, Suchitra Sen suffered a heart attack and passed away. The public adulation and media acclaim that she continues to receive have prompted me to ask myself: "What is it that makes Suchitra Sen so special that her memory lives on, although she retired from films more than thirty year ago?" Is itbecause she represented an era that marked progressive thought in Bengali art and literature? Or is it simply because she reigned over Bengali cinema for nearly three decades and set a high standard against which other actors are still judged? Or is itmuch more ....?
There was something unique about her charismatic screen presence. The men of her generation craved for her and the women wanted to be "her." She was every man's fantasy and every woman's envy. When facing the camera, she was guided by an instinctive ability to convey the right expression in the right way with perfect timing. So unerring was her instinct that it created the illusion that she lived each character she portrayed: whether it was the proud, liberated woman who walked out on a bad marriage (Saat Paake Bandha) or the helpless, abused wife forced into prostitution by her husband (Uttar Phaguni). Although some critics may have questioned her acting skills, the fact is that she captivated audiences with that slight turn of a perfectly shaped head and her hypnotically emotive eyes. The most remarkable aspect of her screen persona was that she always came across as a woman of dignity.She added poise and restraint to the characters she played, never allowing them to appear immoral or ignoble, whatever their situation.
Posterity will remember Suchitra Sen not just as an actor but someone who impacted the Bengali psyche by redefining the role of women in society. She made her entry into films at a time when the postindependence Indian woman was carving out a niche for herself in the world outside her home. In some ways Suchitra Sen helped in this transition. Not only did she set new trends in fashion and style, she pioneered a whole new sensibility about women in Indian films that reshaped the perception of women in society - traditional but with an innate strength to adapt to the demands of changing times. To an extent Suchitra Sen's overwhelming screen presence sparked an avant-garde movement in Indian cinema ... a genre where women began to be cast as heroes! This was an immensely significant achievement in a male dominated world that was reflected in films through female characters who were usually appendages to male protagonists.
It's ironic that despite the fact that she shunned publicity and became a recluse after retirement, Suchitra Sen is the most publicised star of Bengali films. The mystery surrounding her "disappearance" from the public eye made her screen personality even more appealing and her movies continue to enthrall audiences till today.
Suchitra Sen left the world stage without a final bow and no encore. But for her fans she will always be the “eternal woman" in whose "eyes the land of dreams begins!”
The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank. E-mail: shiftlngimages@gmail.com