BIMAL
ROY’S ‘AMRITA KUMBHA’
Bimal da died relatively young at the age of 57 of cancer leaving behind a body of work which has immortalized him – Parinita, Do Bigha Zameen, Biraj – Bahu, Sujata, Parakh, Madhumati, Devdas, Bandani are his renowned works in Hindi . His greatness could be ascertained from the fact that these films were both , commercially and critically successful and received many Filmfare and National awards.
However; the subject of the article is ‘Faith’ Bimal da
had in ‘Poorna Kumbh’ Mela rituals . This is revealed in a Book Chapter titled
‘Bimal da’ written by Gulzar who was his assistant at that time . This is part of the book by name –‘The Man
who spoke in pictures- Bimal Roy’ , edited by his daughter Rinki Roy
Bhattacharya.
Here Gulzar narrates his days spent with Bimal da when
he was working on a film script titled , ’Amrita Kumbha’, with the background
of the ‘Kumbha Mela’ at Prayagraj. In 1954 during Kumbha Mela at Prayag there occurred a stampede and
thousands of people died . Inadequate administrative arrangements and crowd
control were causes reported. The accident affected many families and the
tragedy became part of the folklore and people mourned the demise of the near
and dear by narrating the tale in a poetic form. The Bengali writer Samresh
Basu wrote a book titled ‘Amrit Kumbha Khoje ‘ on the stampede and the ‘Kumbh
Mela’ of 1954. Bimal da had read the
book when it was serialised in Anand Bazaar Patrika and was very enthusiastic
about it . The book was his prized possession , kept by his bedside. It was
heavily marked with pencil in between the printed lines and on the margins.
Numerous small paper notes were inserted and pinned in it . It had become bulky
and seemed as if there was another book
in the belly of the original .
Bimal da had a clear vision of the screenplay and he had mastered the sequence
and characterization. It is believed
that if one takes bath at the confluence of Ganga , Jamuna and Saraswati at
Sangam in Prayagraj on the auspicious ‘Jog Snan’ ( derived from ‘Yog’ ) day during ‘Poorna Kumbh’ when the early golden
sunrays are touching the water you are
cured of all sins and diseases and live
for one hundred years . Gulzar had asked
Bimal da if he believed in it and Bimal da replied that it was a matter of
faith and written in ‘Shastras’.
The ‘Shahi Snan’ of Kumbha is called ‘Jog Snan’ by Bengali
devotees. The ninth day of ‘Poorna Kumbha’ brought out in the book by the writer was being followed in the film making by
Bimal da . Traditionally and in practice
the auspicious days of ‘Poorna Kumbha’ are -Makar Sankranti , Mauni Amavasya,
Basant Panchami and Magh Poornima, known
as ‘Shahi Snan’ .
The novel was
in first person where the writer narrates the story. There is one character of Balram who suffers from
tuberculosis and wanted
to bathe at Sangam on the ninth day of ‘Poorna Kumbh’ to be cured of his
disease ! As the people were rushing out of the train at Allahabad he
gets crushed in the stampede and dies. Bimal da would repeatedly point out that
the writer has killed him too early and insisted that it should die later in the film . Gulzar argued that the
writer perhaps has shown his death in
the beginning so as to indicate of the tragedy ( stampede in Mela) in the end and to create a balance of the narrative, but Bimal da was
adamant.
Once he was
detected with cancer, which was not disclosed to him, he was confined to his
home but his commitment and perseverance for this film never waned . He was to
go with his team and take shots of the Annual Magh Mela in Prayagraj but since
he fell ill he directed Gulzar and his team to take the shots and gave them
detailed instructions . The main shooting was to take place during the ‘Poorna
Kumbh’ in December 1965.
Gulzar did visit ‘Magh Mela’ in Allahabad and took
some shots , but his mind was occupied by the illness of his master. The team
also knew that the film was unlikely be completed . The following conversation
between Gulzar and Kamal da ( Cameraman, ) brings out the reason behind Bimal Roy’s obsession with the film :
“One evening after returning from shooting ,
Kamalda asked , ‘ Why is Bimal da making this film
‘I had asked him once ,’ I answered.
‘What did he say?’
‘ I told him of a feeling that I am the writer
who had gone in search of amrit which makes man live for a hundred years .
Surrounded by the cigarette smoke he had coughed. His face had turned red and
after he recovered his breath , he added, ‘I too have been searching for that
amrit’.
‘ Confused, I had asked . ‘ Do you really wish to
live for a hundred years ?’
‘Hmm.’
‘ That day , the topic ended at that point . On
another occasion , ‘ he said , ‘ A hundred years do not literally mean that
many years. It means that a man attains immortality through this amrit.’
‘What amrit is that?’
‘ Bimal da had stared far into space for a long
time .’
‘ thinking back , now I feel that he knew that he
had cancer .’
‘ He answered at length , ‘ Culture. I want to become a part of the culture of this land
so that …’. He wanted to say that he wanted to become immortal but he did not
say it .”
The health of Bimal da continued to deteriorate and he
had become frail and shrunken but he did not cease to talk about the film based
on the book. One day he called Gulzar and admonished him for not working enough
on the script and asked him to sit every day in the evening with him on the
script . He insisted to shoot during the Kumbh of 1965 and Gulzar told him that
it would commence on 31 December and the ninth day of ‘Jog Snan’ would fall on
08 January 1966. In between a new film by the title of ‘Sahara’ was shot for a
few days but then the shooting had to stop as he was unwell.
He continued to discuss the finer details of the film
with Gulzar and was particularly unhappy about the timing of the death of the Balram.
Gulzar writes:
“Balram’s death kept on shifting and during the
debate lasting two to three months his timing of death was discussed , it was
being pushed forward by slow degrees. One day Bimal da said happily –“ I have
finally discovered the right place for that scene . On the day of the Jog Snan
, at the crack of dawn as the first ray
of sun falls on water ..’ he coughed excitedly . His whole body racked by the
cough , but he continued , ‘ that is when the death occurs . This first death
would balance the stampede in the climax . Balram would die on the day of the
Jog Snan.”
As
the fatal day neared all his family members and colleagues would expect the
tragic hour to arrive. However when Gulzar would meet him he would talk of the
film . As it was December 1965 and the ‘Poorna Kumbh’ had commenced he told
Gulzar that they would shoot after the culmination . Seeing the fast
deteriorating condition of Bimal da Gulzar stopped visiting him as he could not
see his suffering.
Finally the tragic day arrived and Gulzar states: “ I got the news in the morning and it was as if
the sword of Domacles hanging over my head had been removed . The moment I
recovered my breath , tears poured out
of my eyes . It was 8 January 1966, the day of the Jog Snan”
As the ‘Maha Kumbh’ of 2025 culminates in Sangam at Prayagraj , Bimal da would be
smiling watching the proceedings from above ; having attained immortality !
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