Remembering Bappaditya Bandopadhyay

The director, who breathed his last on Saturday evening, lived by his own belief in cinema
He thought he could change the world and cinema was his sole ammunition. Armed with it, he launched a war on the Bengali conscience. What followed were films like Sampradan, Silpantar, Devaki, Kantatar, Kaal, Houseful, Kagojer Bou, Elar Char Adhyay, Nayika Sangbad...He wasn't ruffled by boxoffice failures, lived by his own belief in cinema, and died by it too.
The other day, Bappaditya Bandopadhyay , 45, was struggling to get out of the ICU of a private hospital and complained like a child about not being allowed to watch TV . He wanted to catch Arun Jaitley addressing the media on International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2015. His Sohra Bridge was already selected in the Indian Panorama, but he was worried about the print not being ready . In his last interview to us, he had a lot to say about recognition coming in a bit late in the day . He was admitted in the hospital on November 2 after being diagnosed with pneumonia yet again. End-August, Bappaditya, who was busy shooting in Cherrapunjee for 19 days for the prequel to Sohra Bridge, landed straight in the ICU of a Kolkata hospital on his way back. He was diagnosed with acute pneumonia having shot continuously in the rains for the film starring Harsh Chhaya, Bidita Bag, Rajshri Deshpande and Merlvin J Mukhin.Bappaditya, who returned around August 16, was running a high temperature that he ignored in the beginning. When his condition worsened, he got admitted in a state-run hospital, where he was in the ICU. The director's family later moved him to a private hospital. ���I got the initial letter from the authorities and also know that the announcement is this afternoon.But for the past four days, the doctors haven't allowed me to check mails inside ICU. I don't even know when they'll allow me to go home as I'm undergoing one test after another. There's this constant breathing problem and my lungs are not functioning well, they told me. Also, as you know, there's a pacemaker in my heart. Even my parents are getting irritated," he let us in on his health on Tuesday.
Bappaditya was as excited about the content of Sohra Bridge as about the fact that it was made on a shoe-string budget. ���It's made with such less money that it can shame all low-budget films. Also, we shot for just a couple of days. I loved working with a mixed bag of actors, who are Assamese, Khasi, Bengali," he told us. A poet himself, Sohra Bridge, he said, originated from the excerpts of a poem by Ismail Kadare, Albanian author and poet. The lines go: `The memory of you dies in me day by day/Now, I am looking everywhere for a place to drop you'. After Nayika Sangbad failed to make a mark at the box office, he took a break and formed his own production house. Sohra Bridge was the first of the trilogy that he was planning to shoot in the Northeast. ���I was not getting much work in Kolkata and thought of going far away . The thought itself would make me happy . In fact, the film are made with a lot of joy," he said, cracking up in between about not being able to call his unit a family ever. ���Amar unit e shobai matal, family hobe ki kore (A sloshed unit cannot be called a family)," he said jokingly.
The director, who carved a niche for himself in the alternative space, had a lot to say on the raging nation-wide debate on award wapsi. ���I appreciate all those who are returning their awards. But then, not everyone is Anand Patwardhan (Left-wing documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films). He has a long history of struggle against the government. Also, I don't think IFFI should be banned on similar grounds. To apply for the National Awards and also the Indian Panorama in IFFI, one has to pay Rs 5,000. For non-fiction, it's Rs 2,500.So, can they be called purely government awards? There's public money involved," he reflected.
Though he was pretty much sure of giving IFFI a miss, Bappaditya said the screening on November 25 will be attended by Barun Chanda and Niharika Singh, who play leads in the movie on memories and coming face-to-face with the present. ���I am really unwell or so I'm made to believe. The doctors will not discharge me before the next 10 days. I have lost 10 kilos and you'll find it hard to recognize me. Shorir ta gechhe...," he said, adding on a serious note, ���They have selected my film in the Indian Panorama at a time when awards make no difference to me anymore. There was a time they did. Kantatar could have been selected; Houseful could have been selected... Back then, I was young; how does it matter anymore? But then, I can't live without cinema. If I die, it should be on the shooting floors.��� Bappaditya has left behind his ageing parents, a brother and a dream that remains to be fulfilled. If he could not change the world, he thought he should be able to change the perception of it. Like Bappa ��� as he is known to the world ��� his dream too has died young.