I don‍‍`t deserve to be a leftist: Anik Dutta

Indian film director Anik Dutta is equally famous in two Bengal. His film 'Aparajita' won the best screenplay award at the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival. 'Aparajita', made as a tribute to Satyajit Ray's birth centenary, has been praised in both Bengals. Before this, Anik Dutta made films like 'Bhooter Vabishyat', 'Vabishyater Bhoot', 'Varun Babur Bandhu' and others. 
Bangladeshi writer and film critic Bidhan Rebeiro interviewed Anik Dutta at his house in Kolkata on April 29. Celluloid has printed a part of that interview here. Tahsinur Rahman transcribed the interview, and an online portal Songbad Prokash first published the Bangla interview on June 28.

Bidhan Rebeiro: You are pretty popular in Bangladesh. "Bhooter Bhabishyat" was released in 2012, and the film created a great response. In Bangladesh, especially in Dhaka. It attracted the audience because there were layers of politics. From then, people start showing interest in your work. After that, you did 'Ashcharya Pradeep', 'Meghnadhavadh Rahasya', 'Varun Babur Bandhu' and 'Aparajita'. The last one won the best screenplay award at the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival. So far, I have watched every movie; almost everything you do has a political bent. And you show it through simple narration. You use sarcasm. How do you prepare to do this?

Anik Dutta: Yes, first of all, I have been to Dhaka twice, but I never went once after 'Bhooter Vabishyat'. Besides, my father's house is in Comilla, my great-grandfather was in Comilla Banking Corporation, and my mother's side is in Dhaka. Bimal Roy, another famous filmmaker of Indian cinema, was my mother's uncle. Even after the partition, my mother could not forget Dhaka like Ritwik Ghatak. So she went back once or twice; from the Goalanda port. I have heard that story a lot. And I listened to the story of Comilla from my father and family members; my aunts used to say that we had this and that. I don't know how true or exaggerated it is. But I went to Dhaka alone, during work. I was working in advertising then. 

Anyway, let me come straight to your last question. But I was not a particularly political creature from the beginning. I was never that into student politics, I mean party politics. The college I studied in was a private college, Xavier's College, Calcutta, there was no hint of party politics, and I was not naturally interested in politics. I used to skip to the last page of the newspaper, which had sports, first the Statesman, then the Telegraph, and mainly cricket. That used to occupy much of my mind, but the movie interested me quite a while ago. Before entering college, it increases during college. Then more rises, and then the ghost presses on the head.

First, advertising work, job, then started making advertising pictures. Then I started working on the film in 2009, finished in 2010, and released it in 2012. It was shelved a year after making—Bhuter Vabishyat. The producers said it might not be shown anymore, and it didn't seem like it would get much attention, so anyway, my wife took some initiative and released it. And then there, too, distributors told me- it will run for three days, and if it doesn't run, they will drop it because there are big Hindi and Bengali films. Then what happened? There was almost no publicity. It was the complete word of mouth. By then, there was a significant uplift in state politics, with land acquisition, primarily so-called intellectuals and others were against land acquisition. But then I could see a game, realizing that it was a deadly danger and would destroy us, which it did.

Today, after 12 years, everyone, even one among those intellectuals, be it, filmmakers or painters, has hidden in the hole. Not a single one of them could say—what we said, we said right. Again not admitting that what I said, I told wrongly, I did injustice. For him, this state, the people of the state, my beloved city, the word love is a bit silly, but this is my city; I have not left anywhere. I had ample opportunity to go to Bombay or other places to earn more money for natural reasons. Kolkata was once at the top of the advertising, but it is gone; it has moved slowly; many things are moving here, the industry is also moving, and many head offices are no more in Kolkata. It is a very complicated socio-economic and socio-political situation with its implications. But what happened was very unfair. So, I am not a supporter of the left, but I am not a leftist in that bookish sense.

Rebeiro: Then, do you consider yourself progressive?
Dutta: Progressive is a puffy word; who is a progressive and who is a reactionary that is a complex issue. People used to flatter the government. And then I saw them, they had an evil, disgusting mask, just wearing a mask, that means their natural face came out, now everyone knows and understands it. But at that time, I was furious. And that came in my first film; people didn't quite understand that, realizing it had references. One will understand the connection if one listens to the title music carefully.

The song was: "Silent intellectuals, not marching silently, they are civil society, fighting nobody." But at that time, they were not silent at all. But I knew they would not keep quiet in this case because they had no interest in it. What are the interests of ghosts? Ghosts are not consumers, they don't buy products, and ghosts don't vote. So what will happen to influence them? So they are left to themselves; they have to fight for themselves. So politics comes from that place. Then I could see in retrospect that this hypocrisy, and outright, has now gone to a horrible place. I don't know how they are still here, I mean, after doing these misdeeds. The politicians have done it; they know this is their profit, but what about the so-called masked intellectual? The word intellectual has become slang now.

Rebeiro: You mean we have no expectations from politicians? 
Dutta: I will not sweep everyone; all politicians are not the same. But people like corrupt politicians more. For some reason.

Rebeiro: Corrupt people are more intelligent, right?
Dutta: Clever, voters think, good people can't run the country. Bad people can drive. A strange argument has been raised, that Machiavelli or our Chanakya's Kutneeti, diplomacy. This argument needs to be corrected. An honest man should be strong enough. But it is the responsibility of the people to strengthen his hand. On the contrary, people think that if there are dishonest and corrupt people, they can easily take advantage of them. I will stay with them; I will join them; I will register with them; I will loot the votes for them; I will get the benefits. It's straightforward. And factionalism over who will be with whom is triggering the conflict. 

Being somehow close to the ruling party is beneficiary. Not that it wasn't there before. But it was not in the form of such great horror. Seeing this made me interested in politics. My movies are going to be very political; it's not predetermined – in fact, when I was first thinking about 'Bhooter Vabishyat', politics didn't come up that much. But I saw the range of this film that I could easily get into with politics. I mean, the politics of the time can come in, and then I got furious and made it more direct at one point. Filmmaking was not my primary goal at that time. It was not about how good or bad the movie was.

Utpal Dutta said, "Theater, to me, is a tool of political propaganda". Then I knew if I made a movie, people would watch it. I have not yet reached where people will see it when I paint or read it when I write; my pen is not very sharp. People will laugh at it if I write rhymes, even though nothing will happen in journalism, nor do I have the experience of throwing bombs. But where to express that anger? So, I did the movie, and it caused a result. The screening was stopped by the government here. Therefore, in the history of cinema and politics, a state government has given a fine to a producer of 21 lakh rupees for the first time.

Rebeiro: It's for 'Vabishyater Bhoot'?
Dutta: Yes, in 2019. They had to pay a fine. The bench of Justice DY Chandrachud made it clear that you, the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DG, it is your responsibility to bring back the film into the hall where it was running. We do not know who is not showing; it should not be excepted. Either I will arrest you or take it as contempt of court and call you to Delhi. 

Since then, politics is not very open in my films. For example, you can see that in 'Barunbabu'r Bandhu'. There is no such thing as politics. At one time, political philosophy grew in me; I used to get some encouragement from a few politicians. I don't deserve to be a leftist myself. I don't have everything needed for that, that practice or that reading, or that sacrifice. I needed help understanding what Dialectical Materialism is by reading Marx and deciphering it. But I have seen many leftists whom I respect. One such person, who is not necessarily in party politics, may have moved away from party politics, the character of Soumitra Da (Soumitra Chattopadhyay) is a bit like that, and that is clearly understood. Still, it is not a topic about an overt political situation.

Rebeiro: As Mrinal Sen used to say, I am a private Marxist. Do you think so yourself?
Dutta: No, I wouldn't call myself a Marxist. Because my Marx reading is not enough, and what I try to read is almost like not reading. First, we had Political Science with Economics, Marx and Engels taught by our Jesuit Fathers. So I understood as much as I read his interpretation and while reading it myself. The people here were outraged after hearing this. I mean those who thought I was a leftist. They felt I am talking against Marx; I am an anti-leftist.

Rebeiro: They polarized you instantly, right?
Dutta: Yes, polarization. I keep saying, can anyone wake up in the morning and become a leftist? An induction is needed, and grooming is required. I am not the spokesman of the proletariat. I know that very well. I'm not into this whole leftist thing or that. I have that honesty. But I will take it altogether, openly. But it makes me angry. I can't do this complete reformation, or anyone else can do it now. But some things are still painful to the eyes, and socially, what can I say? I feel very ashamed of myself, something that can be reversed; this is a simple understanding, not rocket science.
If there is a dam in a river and the dam water rises almost to the edge in one place, the opposite side is dry; that will break the barrier, and the wall will come out. It is never healthy. Significant property disparities exist in society. Again, it is not that talent will not be valued separately. It will be.

Rebeiro: As a sensitive artist, you say what you have to say, isn't it?
Dutta: It is not right to call myself sensitive. Others will decide that (laughs).

Rebeiro: If one is not sensitive, can anyone make movies like 'Bhooter Vabishyat' and 'Vabishyater Bhhot'?
Dutta: That's what I'm saying; it was in 'Barun Babur Bandhu' too. The old Naxalite era, the freedom struggle, came up again; its name is 'Meghnadhbadh Rahasya'. It is interesting to catch those times. It means we do not exist in a suspended universe, a black space. Our environment will make an impression on us. When the film society was showing the first film inside 'Aparajita', the police came to their house knowing that they were showing Battleship Potemkin. So the fact that their ears were raised then is very similar to the McCarthy era, that they are communists. In doing so, what a fool, calling Charlie Chaplin a communist and not giving him an Oscar. Finally, when he got a lifetime achievement like Satyajit Ray, the authority told him not to speak for more than two minutes. So he just came and said, love you, love you and didn't say anything else.

Rebeiro: They suspected him as a KGB spy. Charlie replied- I am a pro-communist.
Dutta: Yes. He said that if loving everyone and wanting people to be good is communism, then I am a communist. But on the Oscar stage, he didn't have to do anything; everyone applauded for 12 minutes. Among those who stood in the applause were extreme capitalists. That's fun. Picasso took the risk and painted Guernica. At that time, he was famous, but he left his comfort zone.

Rebeiro: Artists always take the opportunity to express themselves.
Dutta: If the sensitivity is there, it will come out like a blister and like a rash. Can't keep it, and what can I say about those who can keep it? This greediness in them, a timid thing, is also revealed in their work. For this reason, the work that you are going to do, the force of that work will also go away.