মহাপুরুষ : The Holy Man
No, this is not a movie review 😉. And, no this is not because @raymondspeaks launched the new tribe and front-end (Cheers! Ray!) that I started to write about a movie. But hey, this is a good excuse!. I enjoy Ray's passion about most things hive. So it is only a trickery that I will write about another Ray, a bit more famous than ours though 😉.
This is a Bengali language movie, as most of Satyajit Ray's movies are. For those who doesn't know who Ray is I urge you to look him and watch some of his work. If you get a chance I highly recommend this one. English subtitles are available and quite okay. They are widely available on YouTube and many other popular places where you go for your movies.
Ray was much more than a film director, he was a prodigous man of many talents. He was a director, scriptwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer.... and above all a towering figure in Bengal's neo-renaissance.
The reason I was thinking about মহাপুরুষ : The Holy Man.... is not because of the main content of the movie, but there is a hostel life feel in the 60s Kolkata, which is very near and dear to my heart. That type of "hostel life", is besically gone now. But back in the day, it was called a 'mess'. It can be a rental property (most typically), it can be someone's house, where a large group of typically unmarried boys will come and hang out. Usually those places have a central character. Often a older gentleman, and the 'club' grows around him. The bonding used to be very powerful in this set up.
In this particular movie, one such guy in Nibaronda. One of his lads comes in and tells him about this fraud 'baba' the 'guru' the holy man. This is no ordinary guy. He is impressive knowledge about history, literature, basic science, and can play tricks with most human psyche. He says he had debates with Plato, chatted with Jesus Christ, and helps SUN to rise every morning! He says he taught Albert Eistein E= MC2! So Nibaronda asks, he said that and everyone believed him?! This is preposterous! But then came the answer:
"শুধু শুনলে না! "clap" দিলে ! "
not only they listened, they clapped!
This gets me thinking about the feverish movement over the last few years about conspiracy theories and alternative facts. Some of it is so far fetched and outlandish that is it hard to belive that how come any sane person believes it! But we certainly saw, that people does believes them. That is the strange world we live in. Nothing should surprise us anymore.
That is why I always tell a few folks that guys, please don't leave the stage empty, because if you do, someone will get up there and start barking, and then you won't be able to control the narrative. As the stage never remains empty!
Dhujjuti dhujjuti dhujjuti...
martondo, martondo, martondo!
"Mess" is right now very popular among young, freshly graduated doctors in BD dada. Most of us need to work "Kheps" for some period of time at some point after we graduate! Mostly a little outside the city center, in the suburbs.
Oh yeah! All you need is a "teni da" or "ghona da"
I don't know if you have read those books. They were amazing! Premen mittir..
Na dada, haven't read these books.
what about 'feluda' dada? :)
Satyajit Ray does love to explore social themes through comedy. I haven't seen this one yet. All the more reason to do it, I suppose.
it is an excellent movie, lot of the satire will be hard to understand for a non-native speaker, but still should be an excellent watch.
Dada isn't this the movie you were talking about yesterday? I haven't watched it yet though... but will soon
yes, you will enjoy it
I haven't had the chance to watch this, albeit I have had my share of Bengali classics when I nearly didn't have the grasp to retain memories. Every poster from a classic stimulates a feeling that comes nowhere else.
Dad had his own stories of "mess". I never had the chance to relive one of those in modern times, but we had our own in my hostel. It was a tradition of sorts.
Just like "history is written by the victors?"
Great post, makes me want to binge-watch classics.
Yes, 'mess' culture was classic after the 2nd world war... all the way upto perhaps the 80s and beyond. It is still present today, although in slidhtly different form. Major part of the Bengali Neo-renaissance is stemmed from there. Doc here says it is popular in BD as well present day.
History was indeed written by the victors, but now it is changing. There were highly talented authors in Bengali literature who went unpublished to barely published. Very few people here even remember Manik Bondhopadhyay or Debesh Roy, who were published, but largely forgotten. But today anyone can self-publish. Folks like Andy Weir was self-published, but now a celebrity. So times are different, and we can re-write history of the underdogs if we choose to. We have the power and the ability to do that now.
Thanks for stopping by. Hive blockchain is very dear to me, and I will protect it at all cost.
i'm with you brother (well - all cost might need defining more - but i get the spirit)
Sure! The spirit matters in my mind.
I think we are doing rather good as an ecosystem lately. Just need to keep at it. Thanks for stopping by.
Interesting. I will watch the movie. Thanks for sharing.
I'm a fan of the 'famous' Ray - The Apu trilogy...wah, what a stunner!!
I like how you present The Holy Man, which I haven't yet seen.
I guess I might not've commented but for:
I'm curious as to why that might be - in an friendly, amused sort of way. You see, to my mind and for example, a few years ago the notion that one's every move would be 'tracked' and 'traced' was considered far-fetched and outlandish, yet it is an accepted 'norm' of today!
My friend, IMO, it's not so hard to believe that sane people believe in narratives which are 'alternative' to the mainstream, given how tightly controlled and owned almost all of traditional media is....one of the reasons I'm on Hive btw.
Pic below is from 2006:
There are certain things that are FACTS, and there are no alternative facts. There are alternative opinions and that's fine, but not alternative facts. For example, Earth is round. This is a fact. Earth moves around Sun. This is a fact. There are no discussions on these facts. Unfortunately, there are people out there who doesn't believe that. That is a problem. We can put them under mental institution and treat them, but often they are cognitively able and do not believe that they are sick. There lies the problem.
Right, so you don't like the 'Flat Earth' theory...ok. I wonder why it's a problem if other people believe in it though.
Are you really suggesting that folk who believe in such things should be locked up in mental hospitals? C'mon!
And 'cognitively able' but not believing that they are sick? Kinda like they 'look normal' but are actually sick and don't know it....but you do?
I don't get your logic, but we can leave it at that, unless you wish to add anything or carry on.
The difference between facts and opnion is simple. The first doesn't require any logic, the second one does :)
YOU KNOW I CANNOT watch THAT HERE IN Holland. I did read his bio on Wikipedia what you added to the blog. And i think here in holland he is not know but that sepia portrait reminded me of someone here
Oh No! Yeah YouTube have content restrictions based on countries. Not sure if Netflix has it available for Netherlands. Ray's films are usually widely available globally, but this one is a bit uncommon internationally.
Did the unrest settled a bit? How are you doing?
Netflix also doesnt allow, same as some american series.
The dust settled , and on a personal level I am recovering slowly and holland is back to lockdown till 20 april
More lockdown!!
This is insane! I mean people need to me careful, but there is not data that a lockdown is helping anything. Maybe there is... I don't know. But at what cost?
We are fucked Dutch just don’t listen and we don’t have enough vaccines ! But I will stay at home and hive 😉
i haven't seen This movie yet. I think I miss something good .. but I will try to watch this movie soon
Give it a try. I am sure you will like it.
i had no idea about this movie. The good thing is that i can find it with English subs as you said. This will be added to my list! Not a big list though cause i watch too many movies/series/anime :P