The documentary, “Talking Heads”, starts with a soothing background music. From a child playing, a cat sleeping, an empty football ground, the calm waters, to the cool breeze, which signifies the slow pace of life in Kolkata. The documentary commences with Dhritiman Chatterjee in frame, tracing his journey as an actor in the Indian film industry. The film unfolds and the fact is brought into the limelight, that Kolkata has a sweeter pace of life whereas life in Mumbai is full of rush. Dhritiman Chatterji talks about scores of reasons as to why he never picked any commercial cinemas and loved sticking to his “poster-boy” image in the Bengali Cinema.
The film is a golden archive of the actor’s memoirs and stories knitted when he was a prominent actor. It is the perfect documentary that chalks a path through the actor’s journey. It guides you through different scenes of the beautiful films that the actor has worked in. He traces a clear difference between the shooting life at Kolkata and shooting life at Bombay. He believes that the long pauses between the films for no good reason are ideally taken in the city of dreams. Furthermore, answers how the people in Kolkata cannot afford the luxury of long extended shoots in the limited timeframe and budget.
The documentary film has scenes from the two greatest movies of all times- Ray’s Pratidwandi (1970) and Mrinal Sen’s Padatik (1973). Through all these years, Dhritiman Chatterjee takes you on a rollercoaster ride, talking about his personal experiences and stories imprinted deep within his head and heart. The documentary has successfully pulled out his memories, which the audience can treasure. Talking about films in which scenes look very natural, he argues that there are a lot of artefacts and creation of sets that goes behind the same. The documentary film has scenes from the two greatest movies of all times- Ray’s Pratidwandi (1970) and Mrinal Sen’s Padatik (1973). Through all these years, Dhritiman Chatterjee takes you on a rollercoaster ride, talking about his personal experiences and stories imprinted deep within his head and heart. The documentary has successfully pulled out his memories, which the audience can treasure. Talking about films in which scenes look very natural, he argues that there are a lot of artefacts and creation of sets that goes behind the same.
Makeup changes the way actors look. Transformation is for everyone to see, the mask can be pulled off once the shooting is over. This is the reality and must sustain the same way. Talking specifically about the film industry, he talks about how Rajnikanth doesn’t care what he looks like, pulls off his normal self effortlessly when roaming in his home city. Even if in films he is shown young, has a lot of makeup on and has a wig on. However, in real life, he doesn’t bother to do anything since he is not on screen. On the contrary, in Mumbai no one wants to pull off their masks at all. For example: even if an actor is taken to the hospital on a stretcher, one needs to pull on a wig. That is one tremendous burden one has to live with. Dhritiman Chatterjee fails to understand as to why the actors have masked their lives so much when they have a choice to stem from reality.
The documentary film takes us to the actor’s era by bombarding the audience with his pictures. Talking about his childhood memories, the prominent actor stresses on the fact that his father used to click pictures and print it with dates. Today, having them digitally has lost the significance of dates and holding the photographs physically. In no small measure, this stands the ground reality.
As an actor, he brings scores of stories into the limelight where he did not like to be clicked by the paparazzi. On the other hand, in Kolkata, there is no reason to be worried because people won’t be staring at you or nudging you. You will be left alone to do things of your own.
The documentary film pulls the audience into the world, which is 5 decades older. Through the film he emphasized on the fact that was seen as an actor who did not have a lot of makeup on his face, or someone who had sharp features. However, he was seen as someone who could mould himself in the characters, and that's how he got the role. He never liked commercial cinemas, he knew he couldn't fit in those roles. The eminent actor never jumped into blockbusters, but rather reasonably good films, which ran on a moderate budget.
To conclude the film is a big thumbs up for the audience who want to magically enter the era of Dhritiman Chatterjee. From film clips, actor interviews to real life stories, the “Talking Head”, is the perfect amalgamation of everything.
Comments