Mao Zedong would have said if he scooted around Patna this week, 'a hundred flowers appear to be well on their way to blooming'. Whether it is a celebration of authentic flavours of the orient at a restaurant in Bakerganj, or an evening of EDM - that's Electronic Dance Music — at one of the two discos in Patna, or a passing glimpse of a 'dom katch' performance on the lawns of Gandhi Maidan, you can be sure that cultural activity isn't slowing down for the summer.
The auditorium of the Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy at Saidpur has posters for upcoming plays. In Kalidas Rangalaya opposite Gandhi Maidan, the stage at Bihar Art Theatre is booked solid. However, as one exceptionally pessimistic theatre artist pouted, "Take a closer look and you will see all is not well. Audiences are not there."
Friday afternoon saw a hundred years of Indian cinema being 'celebrated' by the Cine Society and Bihar Art Theatre. A venerable R N Dash, president of the Cine Society, traced the history of cinema. Jai Mangal Deo, the vice-president, insisted that viewing the 20 minutes of 'Raja Harischandra' — India's first silent feature - was a 'golden opportunity for all cinema lovers'.
In the meanwhile, a young journalist, a product of one of Patna's privately-run media institutions, moaned softly, "What a boring assignment. I tell you sir, I only wanted to study media because of the glamour, and now I have to endure this. Look at the hall, three fourths empty. No glamour, no celebrity. These senior citizens are talking more about themselves and their memories. And we're looking at a documentary with bad resolution played from somebody's laptop. Hai, hai. "
The chocolate boy left after enduring the 'torture' for about 60 minutes, with a press release in his hand. So much for new-age journalism.
"On Facebook, they invited us to watch India's first feature film, and they took almost four hours to screen twenty minutes of it," a professional cinematographer remarked softly. "How can you engage with young people if you don't structure things well. The Cine Society has done a tremendous thing, very culturally significant, but unfortunately, your celebration only glorified the past and ignored the exciting technology of the present."
Let's face it. The Cine Society has valiantly kept the flame of cinema appreciation alive. It was the only entity in the country to mark 50 years of Bhojpuri cinema. It regularly holds film appreciation workshops for college students. But these fresh-faced media students, who avidly attend these government- sponsored workshops, were conspicuous by their total absence. Something's not right.
Indranil Chattopadhay, from one of Patna's FM stations, is a cinema buff. Over a cup of coffee, he had said, "The heat, the day, and the time are problematic. You will have to ensure that your media students go to the programme, because it will be an educational experience. But that's not really possible because it's examination time, or rather that will be the excuse to stay away."
One was particularly disappointed to see the apathy of the media students, and in particular the absence of any participation from the much-hyped Bachelor of Mass Communication department of a particular college. The students from this college attend media workshops and other free courses in droves and flaunt their certificates, all very important for the college's NAAC status. Had the Cine Society announced a participation certificate for the show, these pretty young things would have attended it in droves. Otherwise, John Abraham promoting Wadala next door is an infinitely better attraction.
Krishna Deo Kalpit from the local Doordarshan channel, may have had a point when he said that cinema as he knew it, no longer existed. And, in this age of airbrush and CGI, of scams and scandal, poor old Raja Harischandra hasn't the chance of a snowflake in May on the Dak Bungalow Chauraha.
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