Chatterjee, who passed away in Mumbai at the age of 90, was born in Ajmer, moved to (then) Bombay where he worked as a cartoonist-illustrator for a weekly paper. After assisting Basu Bhattacharya on Teesri Kasam, he made his directorial debut with Sara Akash (1969), which was based on a novel by the same name. The film won him his first Filmfare award (for best director) setting him on a path that saw much success.
A member of the Film Society Forum, he was greatly influenced by world cinema, including Vittoria Di Sica’s Bicycle Thief and Billy Wilder’s films. The song ‘Cham cham barse’ featuring Neetu Singh from Priyatama (1977) was inspired by the French film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
If fast bowlers in cricket hunt in pairs, Chatterjee’s ‘partner’ was quite often and, not surprisingly, Amol Palekar. Chatterjee, who celebrated the middle class family aspiration, relationships, with emotionally rich plot lines and social commentary, found his ally in Palekar, who in the 1970s was the very symbol of middle class India.
In a tribute on IANS, Palekar said, “I have been most privileged to be associated with such a fine filmmaker as Basu Chatterjee. He was a filmmaker who made such beautiful, simple and loveable films.”
Together, they did eight films including Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor, Baton Baton Mein, often with a touch of humour, simplicity and sensitivity, films that were the antithesis of the violent, big budget, commercial films that emerged in the 70s and dominated 80s Hindi cinema.
“I belonged to a middle class family. That’s the life I know. That’s why there was nothing larger-than-life about my films,” Chatterjee said in an interview to Filmfare in 2016.
Choti Si Baat is a delightful film about a timid man, played by Palekar, who is unable to woo a girl, before being schooled in the art of courtship by a worldly mentor (Ashok Kumar). Baton Baton Mein follows the unfolding love story on a local commuter train between Nancy (Tina Munim) and Tony, filled with delightful sequences of Palekar sketching during his travels on the ubiquitous Mumbai locals.
Rajnigandha, adapted from a short story Yeh Sach Hai, was about a working woman caught in a love triangle. Jaya Bhaduri and Anil Dhawan lead the cast of Piya Ka Ghar (1972), an adaptation of a Marathi film, it was about a newly married couple adjusting to life and seeking privacy within a modest Bombay home already occupied by the groom’s family.
Perhaps Chatterjee’s most hilarious film was Khatta Meetha (1978). Set in a Parsi home in Bombay, when a widow (Pearl Padamsee) and widower (Ashok Kumar) try to integrate their many children across ages into a new home. Said to be a copy of the American film Yours, Mine and Ours, with fewer characters than the original, it was a laugh-a-minute comic drama.
In the late 1980s, Chatterjee turned to television with the hugely popular serial Rajani that not only catapulted lead actress Priya Tendulkar to stardom, but also gave vent to the common issues faced by people in their daily lives, including corruption and inadequacies of administration. For Byomkesh Bakshi, he dived into the mysterious world of sleuths while in 1986, he adapted Twelve Angry Men to Ek Ruka Hua Faisla.
He often took help from literary works, adapting them in Swami, Chitchor, Apne Paraye and Shaukeen among others. Besides love story and family sitcoms, he gave his women characters agency — to choose their partners (Chameli Ki Shaadi) or to defy domestication (Swami) or battle injustice (Rajani). He also directed Bengali films such as Chupi Chupi (2001) and Hothat Sedin (2012).
His films were usually peppered with memorable songs like the title tracks from Rajnigandha and Rajani, Gori tera gaon from Chitchor, Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha from Baton Baton Mein, Janeman janeman from Chotti si Baat among many others. He had winning with lyricist Yogesh, who also passed away recently.
While his films celebrated the “un-hero”, often represented by the demure, socially awkward Palekar, Chatterjee also worked with Amitabh Bachchan (Manzil), Dev Anand (Man Pasand), Rakesh Roshan (Khatta Meetha, Hamari Bahu Alka) and Rajesh Khanna (Chakravyuh), among others.
But if Chatterjee had any other muse, it was ‘Bombay’ city.
(Udita Jhunjhunwala is a Mumbai-based writer, film critic and festival programmer. Tweets @UditaJ)
Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.