‘Arrrre, na…never.’ Shankar had drawn Bimal close, thumping his back. ‘You keep up the good work bhaya. When I started Bharat Talkies it was not to make a lot of money. But to create and experiment…how can we serve the cause of art if we do not try out young men like you…you are our future…’
Often he would sit with them talking and laughing. ‘I’m going to run this studio for another few years…’ he would say fondly. ‘Then…I will give it all up.’
‘Tora chalabi…’ he would tell Anil. ‘All of you will run the show…you, Palash, Kedar, Bimal…you do it your way then. But mind it, no disagreements in your midst! I’m only going to watch from the wings. Ki? What do you say, Ramola?’
Shankar’s voice was in her ears again. Ramola shook it out of her head. Shankar was gone. And she had his last film to make. She and those others who owed him so much.
VII
Kedar Gupta glared. Opened his mouth, then closed it again as his wife Minati made an entry with a plateful of fresh fried singaras.
‘Anil Thakurpo, your favourite singaras. You’ll live many years, I was thinking of you while making them this morning. Even Khoka was remembering you, you used to come every Sunday…and today, after two…no three Sundays. Last Thursday…you could come with your dada till the main road, but not inside the house? Your dada said to me, Anil went from the door. You’ve forgotten us, bolo? Achha, now eat.’
She put down the plate before him, then looked from her husband to Anil. ‘Ki? What’s happening? What’s troubling you two?’
She turned again to her husband, ‘Your loud voice could be heard all the way in the kitchen, didn’t I tell you Khoka was sleeping? Is anything the matter? At the studio?’
She sighed, as the men sat grimly. ‘Don’t tell me. What do I know of your studio matters? Bad enough, that poor girl Ramola Devi losing her husband like that…and so young. And so beautiful…like an apsara…was he much older than her? Your Shankar Babu?’ She pushed the plate towards Anil, ‘Eat, before it gets cold. Your dada never takes me to see the bioscope. But last time my sister was here, we went to see your Ramola Devi’s Mayajal, what fine acting, such beautiful eyes, I couldn’t hold back my tears. They say she’s very educated also, foreign educated? Your dada will never answer anything I ask. They say she speaks English like a memsahib? Tai, Anil? You can tell, I always say, from a person’s looks…face and features. Like a princess, your Ramola Devi, not at all like a bioscope girl…those naachgaana wallis.’
‘Will you let us talk or not,’ her husband snapped. He was furious. ‘Go inside.’
‘Hmmm…talk…you don’t have to think about the house, it’s all my headache…my rotten fate, getting cooked inside the kitchen all day. You can sit and talk…’ Minati snapped back before making her exit. The singaras lay untouched.
‘No, Anil…and that is my last word…it cannot be, you’ve lost your mind,’ Kedar burst out as soon as his wife had left the room. ‘I cannot do gaddari with Shankar Da. Arre, Ramola is his wife, his widow. What you are asking of me…take Bharat Talkies out of her hands… that too at this time when she needs us with her…all of us. Na re, no Anu, I cannot do this…’
He softened. ‘Think it many times over Anil, this thing could finish you. Take over the studio’s running from Ramola Devi? She’s the boss now…malkin re…for us all.’
He picked a singara from the plate and handed it to Anil. ‘Ne kha, eat, and think. What you told me today sounds more unreal than a bioscope plot. Remember Anil, these bioscope girls are not like our girls. They cannot love selflessly…’ he lowered his voice, ‘…like your Minati Bouthan. That is how they are, because of what lives they have…they only know to use men like us. I have noticed these girls Anil, for as long as I have worked in a bioscope studio. They are different…for them love is just another game, to stay alive they will play that game. The ones who get anywhere in this world of ours have a past, all of them. Except one or two, like Ramola Devi. That Rajbala of yours…do you think she has no past…?’
He shook his head. ‘Anil, bhai, listen to me, you will not regret it. Give up this madness. These gambles are not for the simple chaposha like us. We are not like the rich… scandals suit them well, not us. We are madhyabitto, good name and goodwill are all we have. Don’t throw it away bhai, turn back before it’s too late. Can you think what kakima, your mother, will say? How can I show her my face, if you go and do something foolish? What will I tell her? Can she ever accept this Rajbala? Hand over her family’s keeping to a bioscope girl…’
Anil put the uneaten singara back on the plate and looked up from the green and black of the floor.
‘No, she cannot, she won’t. But aren’t you, Kedar Da, different from my mother? My mother who did not ever go to school, who believes in bhoot-pret, ghosts and evil spirits…and you, a meritorious student of science? You who told me that we must leave behind the old thinking, of good and bad, purity and pollution, when you got me into Bharat Talkies…that we must move forward. That bioscope is a thing of the future…where we would work hand in hand, rich and poor, high and low together to make this the art of the future. You are Subhas Babu’s bhakt, dada, does the freedom struggle not need us all, you, me, and girls like Raju? Why should they not be a part of our society? Why should we not give them a chance? Because they have a past? Will the past always cloud our future, shut out some people forever, like the British shut us Indians out for so many years? Should some people lord over others because they have money and power, because they have always had everything in life?’
‘Anil, don’t mistake me’, Kedar slapped his knee exasperated. ‘We are not talking about the country here, this is Bharat Talkies. Shankar Da and Ramola Devi, Bharat Talkies belongs to them, re. Yes, we had a hand in its success, all of us, but we are the soldiers Anil, we will have to follow a leader. We cannot take that lead, ever…’ He paused. ‘Look bhai, do you think I can ever take orders from Ramola Devi the way I would bow my head before Shankar Da? Shankar Da made me feel alive, he gave me the belief…that I could be world-class, Hollywood-level…for me this was not just a chakri re, not just my bread and butter, it was my mission. Ramola is no Shankar Da. I don’t even know if Bharat Talkies will go on for long now…’
‘And still…still you will not step forward? Take things in hand? Alright, side by side with Ramola Devi, but not she alone. Shankar Da had also wanted it. Don’t you remember what he used to say, that he would leave us the studio…that it belonged to us all. And don’t you yourself say that workers should take control, that their fate is in their own hands…are those empty words?’
Kedar was starting to look defeated. He picked a cold singara from the plate and bit into it. ‘Say, I agree. Anil, what about the others? What of everyone else?’
‘They will listen, dada, if you say. You know that. If anyone came even close to Shankar Da as our leader, you did. Would I be here, at Bharat Talkies, if not for you… then Bimal Da, Potla…don’t let it all go to the dogs, dada. Bharat Talkies is our blood and sweat, not some rich girl’s plaything, to do anything she wants. You know it as well, Ramola Devi will spoil it all, in no time. Why else did Shankar Da keep her away from studio matters? I myself heard Shankar Da tell her…not once…that she had to learn…how to talk with people. She thinks we’re all chakors, her servants. You see, dada, you mark my words, how many people will be ready to do her chakri? They will all leave, one by one. Let her be boss, in name…but let us do what will save the studio…there is no other way, no other way.’
Kedar sighed and ran his hand through his hair. ‘Let me think. This will be a big gamble. I don’t know Anu. What if we fall flat on our faces?’
‘You tell me, if Ramola Devi can take a gamble, why we can’t? Is she Nishith Babu or Ambarish Dev Burma, that she can guarantee a hit? If she can turn director overnight, then cannot we be the masters of our fate? Think it over a little. After all, everything has changed now, after Shankar Da went. Can’t we turn it all over… into something
new? Can’t we try Raju? So what if she is the char anna wala heroine? So what if she is not like us? Can’t we change that…for art’s sake? Can we not prepare her for something different, something truly great? She has it in her, that spark…that spirit, and she has a good voice, you know that, for the songs. Shankar Da would say it, that we should keep on trying new things, or we will never rise, or know what we are truly capable of. Tell me dada, who knew Ramola Devi would become a great star, if Shankar Da did not give her that first picture? Give this to Raju, Kedar Da, just one chance for her…her life will change…’
‘Speak about the studio Anu, I will listen. Why this madness? Don’t bring up this meyechele, this girl business in my presence.’
‘It is not madness…she is my life. I cannot stay without her. Tell me, dada, what do you want…should I end my life? Did you not take my mother’s hand when baba died and tell her, that you would always look after me…all your life? You and Minati Bouthan…what happened dada?’
There is madness in his eyes, thought Kedar in despair, he has lost his shame, his buddhi, all senses. Not I, not anyone can stop him now.
VIII
‘Move, shoro toh, don’t bother me…I won’t eat…’ Minati pushed Kedar’s hand huffily as she tidied up the utensils in the kitchen. ‘Khoka, play quietly’ she called out to their son as a small crash sounded in the next room.
Kedar scratched his head, mock fear on his face.
‘Aha, why this anger…I wasn’t so hungry tonight. I finished the dal and vegetables…will I die if I leave the fish one day…for that you won’t eat, how is that possible?’
‘Again…again, saying such inauspicious things in the dead of night…I will die very soon, you will see…not much longer.’
‘What dead of night? It’s only half past nine, the things you say…achha achha, you’ll see tomorrow. Make dal with macher matha, like my mother used to, then see how much bhat I can eat. Now you sit, toiling away whole day in the kitchen, how will you last if you don’t eat?’ He pulled her arm gently.
‘Achha…’ said Minati through her first mouthful of rice, ‘tell Anil Thakurpo to eat here tomorrow. The poor boy, didn’t even eat the singaras. God alone knows what they must be feeding him, where he rents…’
Anil’s name made Kedar grimace.
‘Forget Anil, you eat first…here, take some jhol, your plate is dry,’ he ladled some fish and vegetables over her rice. Minati smiled and made a face.
‘Achha, what’s wrong with Anil Thakurpo? Leaving that whole plate of singaras uneaten? All wasted…is he sick or what?’
Kedar sighed. ‘Studio work…it’s all on him now, with Shankar Da gone…he’s worried, that’s why…’
Minati picked a fishbone from inside her mouth. ‘So then he’ll give up eating? Curse on such work. What he needs is a good girl. Wait, I will speak with kakima when we go home next month.’
Kedar shook his head. ‘That won’t solve anything, Minati. You won’t understand…’
‘Hmmm, how will I?’ Minati shoveled the last of the rice into her mouth. ‘I’m not so educated like you. I stopped going to my father’s place for you, you and your studio work…because of all the things they would say… and still, I won’t understand…hmmm…’
‘Minati…’ Kedar clutched her arm as she was starting to lick her fingers, startling her. ‘Tell me something. That I work in a bioscope studio…you know what things people say about the bioscope. Didn’t you ever have any worries…about me…you know, if I went on the wrong path? You know what I mean, women and such things? Don’t you have any doubts, ever?’
Minati lowered her eyes and raised them again, then lifted her brows and batted her lashes, lips puckered. ‘Doubts? What doubts…I know everything…you think I know nothing.’
‘Everything? What do you mean? Everything of what? What is there to know?’
‘Why? What you just said…what you do at the studio? Women and all that?’ Minati screwed her nose.
‘You think I mix with those kinds of women? Minati, do you really think that of me? After all these years?’ Kedar’s voice trembled.
‘What’s in that?’ Minati hid a half smile. ‘Everyone does it, less or more, in your studio para…that’s what people say. Ei toh…the other day, Rashu’s mother was telling me, boudidi I know a good tantric baba. Take a kabaj from him, for dada’s protection, after all, his comings and goings are in the bioscope para. All those rakshasis there, those fiends, they can eat men alive… ei toh, one poor bhadralok used to live near my pishi’s house. Bioscope actor he was. Hanged himself. Leaving wife and eight-month-old son. All for some witch that captured him and took all his money. That’s why I say, boudidi, get a grip on dada…else…that’s what she was saying, Rashu’s mother…’
‘And what did you tell her?’ Kedar asked quietly.
‘That…you leave it…it’s women’s tittle tattle…you tell me, what if I was a bioscope girl? Would you still love me?’
‘The things you say Minati…you, why should you be one of them…do you even know what they are? These women?’
‘I know it very well, that is why I want to know…tell me, what if I was one of them? And I loved you? Would you love me then?’
‘What kind of absurd talk is this? Why should I love a bioscope girl?’
‘Not even if it was me?’ Minati raised her brows and fluttered her lashes again.
Kedar caught her twinkle. ‘Let me think now…if it was you…then I would meet the same fate as your Rashu’r ma’s gentleman…rope around my neck…all for your love.’
Minati smacked his arm, ‘Will you say anything? Just anything you like? Such awful things in the dead of night.’
‘Really, it’s the truth,’ Kedar laughed. ‘Even then I would marry you, and only you, whatever anyone said…’
Minati smiled. ‘Then why not Anil Thakurpo?’
Kedar scowled, ‘What do you mean Minati? What about Anil?’
Minati looked him in the eye. ‘What if he really loves that girl, the one he was going on about? And she him? Can it not be?’
‘You know nothing, Minati, nothing at all of these women…what they are. This is not a laughing matter.’
‘I know…’ Minati sighed. ‘I heard from outside the door after I came to give the singaras in the afternoon, what with your voice so loud…achha tell me, what if a bioscope girl wants to leave everything? Wants a husband and sansar? What if she really wants it? Is there no way out for such girls? Even the ones that want to live an honest life? So I was thinking, what if I was one of them?’
Kedar was studying his knuckles. ‘There is no place for such women in our society, Minati. Any such thing can only lead to unhappiness. I know it. And that is why I told Anil what I did today…’
‘Achha, you remember, in Comilla, just after we were married, how you stood up in that widow marriage matter…today that girl is sansari, mother of two. Could it have happened if not for you? How many people will allow a widow to live a new life? You saw nothing wrong in that. Then why not a bioscope girl? If she loves Anil Thakurpo I see nothing bad in it.’
Kedar shook his head obstinately. ‘This is not a play or a novel, Minati. The two are different things. Is it a girl’s fault if her husband dies? But these bioscope girls…they are made from a different soil. They have no dharma, they have sold their souls.’
‘And still, if such a girl can be lifted out of that quagmire, you will not stand for it?’
‘Minati, Anil said nothing about marrying this girl. He only wants to get her into Bharat Talkies? What do I say to that?’
‘So can you? Get her into your studio? There are other girls in your Bharat Talkies. What if there is one more? And what’s more, you can keep an eye on her then…see for yourself, what is what…’
‘And what about Ramola Devi, Minati? What do you think she will say, if I tell her I want this girl, in Bharat Talkies…Minati, there is no place for her there, she is not made for Bharat Talkies.’
&nbs
p; Another crash from the next room was attended by a loud ‘Maaa,’ and Minati rose with a start.
‘Who knows, baba, what is good and what not. But I think Ramola Devi will understand, if you tell her…she looks like she has kindness in her heart’.
Kedar scowled, as Minati darted in the miscreant’s pursuit.
IX
‘Minatiii…see who’s here.’ called Kedar even as Minati entered the small sitting room that opened on the lane outside.
‘Omaa, Palash Thakurpo, Bimal Thakurpo, which way did the sun rise today? You two have stopped setting foot here, forgotten your bouthan.’
‘Not so easy bouthan, we won’t let go of you just like that! What have you got in your kitchen today?’ Palash laughed.
‘Achha, achha, let me see…’ Minati smiled and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. ‘Khoka, look who’s here, your Palash Kaku and Bimal Kaku. Come fast.’
‘Ki go, what happened…’ Palash turned to Kedar. ‘You didn’t come to the studio today? Even Anil didn’t know. So we thought we would come by in the evening’.
‘Good thing, you did well. What to do with myself, the whole day in the house, not my habit, this. Fact is I wasn’t feeling well this morning. So Minati said, it’s just one day, stay at home today, don’t go to the studio… that is why…anyhow, there is not much work now, until things get settled a little bit more…’
‘That you did well dada, bouthan did right, I haven’t seen you take even a day off, ever…’
Bimal cut in, ‘Have you heard this morning’s news from the studio?’
‘Na re,’ Kedar looked troubled. ‘Something’s happened?’
‘What’s to happen? Ever heard, dada, no sradh-shanti for a Brahmin Hindu? No rituals, no rites, no puja, nothing?’ Bimal scowled.
Kedar’s face fell. ‘Who’s do you mean? No sradhshanti?’
‘Shankar Da, our Shankar Da. No sradh for the peace of his departed soul…his memsahib wife does not want any tamasha, understand dada, Hindu sradh is now a tamasha…’
Menoka has hanged herself Page 10