Mrinal Sen: ‘Eccentric, irresponsible adult’

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Kunal Sen's book Bondhu, on his father, the late, distinguished filmmaker Mrinal Sen (May 14, 1923-December 30, 2018, whom, wonderfully, he calls Bondhu, friend, rather than Baba, father), is punctuated with a refreshing honesty and candour that are not the hallmarks of books on celebrities in your family. These often wallow in hagiography, but Kunal Sen's Bondhu is a marvellous and frank tribute, celebrating Mrinal Sen's birth centenary year. "As I was growing up, Bondhu did not play the traditional role of a father… I found him a slightly eccentric, somewhat unreliable, irresponsible and bumbling adult," he writes in Bondhu (Seagull Books, paperback Rs 599). He recalls a wrenching incident he heard from his mother, the accomplished actress Gita Sen. When his parents married, they did not have anything substantial to eat for a couple of days. Sen promised to borrow some money, buy rice and return immediately. His mother put a handi of water to boil to cook the rice, and waited endlessly. His friend Nripen came by to ask if Mrinal-da was home, as he had been chatting with him and other friends in the neighbourhood. Later, his mother burst into tears. When Mrinal-da returned, she told him Nripen was looking for him. "My father exploded: ‘Shala!' Bastard. My mother poured water over the burning coals, put out the fire and went to bed… I hated my father's selfishness. But looking back with the knowledge of his eventual success, one can lionise his passion and see how that adda in the park with his friends was more important to him than the hunger," Kunal Sen writes.

Mrinal Sen has a body of about 34 films; many were acclaimed at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals, and worldwide. Part of the ‘Bengal Trinity' of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, the latter two were often overshadowed by Ray, and though a lot of Sen's work is remarkable, he has not always got his due. A pioneer of the Indian new wave, starting with his Bhuvan Shome (Mr Shome, 1969), his films, often deeply political, include Akaler Sandhane (In Search of Famine, 1981), Kharij (The Case is Closed, 1982), Khandhar (Ruins, 1984), Ek Din Pratidin (And Quiet Rolls the Dawn, 1979), and his famous Calcutta trilogy, Interview (1971), Calcutta '71 (1972) and Padatik (The Guerrilla Fighter, 1973).

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Mrinal Sen, who was born in Faridpur, later Bangladesh, came to Kolkata as a student. His close friends included Ritwik Ghatak, Tapas Sen, Salil Chowdhury and Hrishikesh Mukherjee - "mostly jobless, penniless dreamers, all eager to create something and possessed of an indomitable urge to change the world." What gave them the strength to endure this poverty? I think part of it was their political convictions: they believed the state of society was unjust and unfair, that it could be changed and that change was imminent, Sen writes. Mrinal Sen was not a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), but an activist, and he met his future wife Gita Sen through their work in Natya Chakra, a satellite of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), the cultural wing of the CPI. "His connection with Marxist ideology was profound," and he was eventually "frustrated" and "deeply disillusioned" by the Left, Sen observes.

Commenting on the Satyajit Ray v/s Mrinal Sen debate, Kunal Sen writes, "Bengalis have a strange propensity to split any position into two opposite camps… I think both Ray and my father were very respectful of each other, but this poisonous atmosphere did stain their thinking. Such is the power of sycophancy… Talking to Satyajit Ray one day, Mrinal-da asked Ray if he felt lonely, and Ray replied, ‘Terribly so.'"

That is why, as Kunal Sen grew older, he and his father genuinely became friends, and Sen greatly valued his son's honest opinion on his films. Sen also cherishes his father's delightful humour. The book also includes lovely b/w photographs of their family, shoots and festival trips.

Kunal Sen, who obtained a PhD in artificial intelligence in Chicago, where he is based, is Global Chief Information Officer, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster. Since 2012, he has become an artist as well. Sen writes that his father never tried to impose his beliefs - political, religious or any other choices - on his son, summing up: "He allowed me to find my own way, which is the greatest gift a parent can offer."

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com