Book Review: The Legends Of Indian Cinema - P.C. Barua 
By Joginder Tuteja, August 1, 2008 - 12:30 IST
Frankly, not many would be interested in reading about the professional life of a man who made films in the 30s and the 40s, and that too mainly in Bengali. Universal audience is suddenly lost for a filmmaker since except for hardcore movie followers who are interested in knowing about the legacy that many great makers have left behind them, 'aam junta' won't really find itself enthused.
This is why even as Shoma A. Chatterji writes a book on Pramathesh Chandra, mainly known to the world as P.C. Barua, as a part of six book series of 'The Legends Of Indian Cinema', there aren't many eyebrows that are raised. Yes, he is the same man who first made Devdas (in Bengali and then in Hindi) in the 30s but still one still one can't expect many takers for this book which is mainly a journey into the past.
Sensing this, Shoma intelligently fuses the book with numerous anecdotes from the personal life of Barua who has been known as an enigmatic personality even 50 years after his death. Apart from exploring all material from the past which speaks about Barua's professional journey as a filmmaker who started off with a bang, only to see a steady decline in the closing years of his life, the author brings to fore numerous spicy incidents which qualify as solid ingredients for someone penning a tale that has all the drama converging into an ultimate tragedy.
Shoma brings to fore quite a few legends associated with the life of Barua. One of them narrates an incident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where Barua had performed the dramatized version of Devdas for stage. Such was his pull amongst the audiences that cinemas all over the city had to be shut down when Barua was performing. The film too was an all time blockbuster when released in Bengali and though K.L. Saigal was roped in as a leading man for the Hindi version, Barua as a filmmaker continued to be acclaimed for his most remembered work.
However, as narrated in the book, his short personal life (which lasted only 48 years) wasn't really a bed of roses. Though he enjoyed a princely upbringing, deep inside he wasn't really a content person. Exploring something different with each of his films, he immersed himself completely into the art of film making though on marital front he faced quite a few challenges.
While his first wife remained as his best friend and pillar of support forever, he found solace in his second wife. However, this wasn't accepted by his father who threatened to disinherit him completely. Instead of backing out of his love, he went his own way with his new wife, though it wasn't really a happy situation for them financially. There were days when they couldn't even enjoy a meal together and Barua used to lie that he had dinner someplace else so that the love of his life could eat whatever was available!
Just when things seemed to be improving for Barua, his wife died and he hit the bottle a la Devdas. Not just that, the story on celluloid was perhaps the story of his own life since he started enjoying the company of countless mistresses who could never ever give him true love. Meanwhile he continued making films where he enjoyed consistent success when it came to Bengali films though his foray into Hindi films (with an exception of Devdas), was mainly disappointing.
One interesting film which Shoma highlights in this book is Bengal 1983. Believe it or not but much before Harry Baweja decided to go futuristic with Love Story 2050, P.C. Barua had taken the lead and made Bengal 1983, a film which looked 50 years into future when made in early 30s. Guess what, the film was a huge flop since the audience wasn't really charmed by what they saw on screen!
Barua though enjoyed quite a few wins for himself as well. While he was a pioneer when it came to some of the technical experiments going right, even in the world of art, he was the first to rope in a Rabindranath Tagore creation for a movie soundtrack. The film was called Mukti and though Tagore was hesitant to begin with, he allowed the song to be used in a film after much persuasion by Barua.
Coming to his personal life, as narrated by Shoma, Barua was quite soft at heart and seldom took offense on anything. Never to loose his temper, he was once infuriated by an English girl in England. Keeping his anger under control, the maximum he did was hold the girl's nose and shake her up completely!
It is incidents like the ones mentioned above which allow a reader to go through this book that otherwise holds little interest for its readers. The write-ups on the professional journey of Barua are hardly exciting and make you skip through lines in quick motion. Overall, the book is strictly for those who wish to do research on those who ruled the film world more than half a century back.
Price: Rs. 195/=
Rating: **
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Book Review: The Legends Of Indian Cinema - Shammi Kapoor
