WHAT MAKES SRIJIT MUKHERJI SO SPECIAL??
“If you have succeeded in a particular genre, you should not repeat it. You should do something else, then comeback to it later.”
First of all, let me clear the air. This article is not to suck up to Srijit Mukherji for attention. Again, I am a fan of his. Also I can’t stand some of his works(more on that later). The purpose of doing this is just to figure out what makes Srijit Mukherji stand out amongst his peers and what the current lot as well as the aspiring lot of film-makers should learn from him.
For a second, just try figuring out what is so similar between Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and Yash Chopra. If you have, good. If you haven’t; let me make things easier of you. All three of them had a film career spanning decades. Martin Scorcese started out in 70s; so did Spielberg. Yash Chopra even before that in 1960s; 1959 to be exact. All three of them stayed relevant all through the years with the kind of work they did. And if you go through the filmography of three; what connects them together is the diversity of the kind of work they did. Martin Scorcese is known for Italian American gangster flicks but he also did The Last Temptation of Christ; King of Comedy, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Aviator. Steven Spielberg became the poster boy for Big Summer Hollywood Blockbuster and Escapist film-making but also has Schindler’s List, The Post, Ready Player One and Saving Private Ryan along with others in his filmography. Yash Chopra is traditionally associated with Romance by the Indian audiences but also has Deewar; Kaala Patthar, Ittefaq and Trishul in his filmography. Though I am no Pandit; I believe the only reason they could stretch out their careers over five decades is because they always drifted out of their comfort zones after every film or two and tried something different; thus preventing themselves from becoming repetitive to the audience(Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock was the only exception).
Srijit Mukherjee may have been just a decade old in films and Horror and Action(excluding the fight scenes in several of his films) are only the basic genres he is yet to touch. This feat is probably going to stay unparalleled for long long time. Especially in Indian Cinema and more so in Bengali Cinema.
The year was 2010. After a lean couple of years in Bengali Box office; Chirodini Tumi Je Amar in 2008 turned to be a game changer. Not only it became a Blockbuster; it set off a new trend in Bengali Cinema. The trend of Remakes. And there was a turn around in the next couple of years when Challenge, Prem Amar, Poran Jaay Joliya Re, Wanted, Dui Prithibi; all set the cash registers ringing. The only common factor between them was the fact they were all remakes. And when Remake started to look as if it was here to stay; came the year 2010; the month of August. Being more into Bollywood music those days; I remember; the song “Amake amar moton thakte dao” was sung in a mockery tone in English tuitions. It cracked me off but within a next couple of days; I heard the actual song in TV and I was impressed and I was impressed like how. That was also the time I had my first PC and it had internet. And within days; I had the entire album in my desktop. Anupam Roy became a household name within a couple of weeks since the release of the songs. The fun fact is that no one was still really aware of who Srijit Mukherji is. But then, 14th October and the pages of history of Bengali Cinema were turned. I still remember; it was the Bhai Phonta time. Before I say further, Let me just say one thing that I come from a family which preferred to watch Hindi cinema only in the theatres. Even if they went for a bengali film; it used to be the occassional Feluda film that used to come out in the winters. Coming back; during the Bhai Phonta when everyone was together; the topic of watching a movie in the theatres broke. And what amused me was that they were talking of watching a Bengali film called “Autograph” in theatres. “It has been such a big hit” “Every one’s talking about it” and stuff like these were the pro Autograph arguments in the discussion. And when an uncle of mine asked for further clarity; he was introduced to Autograph by the tune of “Amake amar moton thakte dao”. That was the Inception of Srijit Mukherji in my head.
Seeking forward to the year 2015. Torrent had entered my life(I am not proud of it). From enjoying the dialogues and the violence of Baishe Shrabon to watching Mishawr Rahoshya five times in theatre just to skip tutions and Akaash’s AITS to playing the scene of Jishu where he sings “E tumi kemon tumi” in the concert in loop; I had done it all. On top of critical success and well as note worthy commercial success; By 2015, Srijit Mukherji had reached a point in his career where the film could be sold just on his name. And when a film-maker is on such heights; he tends to make a bigger and better film to expand his territory; both in fan base as well as in distribution network. What does Srijit Mukherji do? He makes a Nirbaak. To be honest, I saw the film much later last year only perhaps when it was made available on Hoichoi. But back in 2015 only, since I followed trade; I knew there weren’t too many who saw the film and those who saw also; weren’t impressed. Quite contrary to generally how Srijit Mukherji films are recieved; both critically and commercially. But when I saw the film; I was just blown away. More than the fim by the fact that he decided to make that film at a point of time when he was probably on PSLV and even sky was not the limit. There have been instances where a great director made one bad film and that was it for that director. It could have been for Srijit Mukherji as well but thank god it didn’t.
It’s true that most of his recent works have disappointed me including Yeti Obhijaan; Ek Je Chhilo Raja and Shahjahan Regency, but it doesn’t take away the brilliance of his as a film-maker. Yes he may have some style which are inspired by Hollywood biggies like Quick Pan during a conversation scene between two but there is nothing wrong if some one does something right and you learn from that person. A wide shot of the snow capped Himalayas with the two characters at the edge of a mountain and the camera tracking back to an aerial shot of the same. It may sound simple but no one did it before him. I don’t know why. While making a film from a fan favourite novel; transitioning to a comic sketch during a scene with the pages of the novel describing the scene underlaid was the first time he caught my attention as a film-maker; moving on from just being a “Good Director”. Also if you go through his filmography; apart from the variety of genres; what is bound to catch yout attention is the fact that all his films except the Kakababu franchise are written by him. Sometimes some things are difficult to convey in words. As a result of which what is written on paper doesn’t transpire on screen merely because the communication between the writer and director was not clean enough. But with Srijit Mukherji writing his own films, clarity of thought can be seen in every frame of his. In case you don’t like his film; you won’t be left complaining about how good the concept was and how the performances and the execution let the film down. This is so because he writes the film. If the film doesn’t work; it doesn’t work on the writing level itself.
Also Srijit Mukherji undoubtedly is the best in the Bengali scene if not atleast Indian cinema when it comes to VFX. We all know how much the market size of Bengali Cinema is. As a result of which; the film-makers are left with minimal budget to work with; often shooting an entire film in a period of 15–20 days. Despite that, though not flawless; Srijit Mukherji has been able to made the best use of it. Yes the cave in Yeti Obhijaan looked fake and you could clearly see the invisible cut during the make-up scene of Vinci Da;still what impresses me the most is he knows his limitations. Both of skill and budget. And keeping those in mind; he does not try too much and does not attempt something which he knows can’t be pulled off with perfection in the budget he has got. I just hope everyone tries to learn this from him and not subject us to fake glass breaking with the dynamics wrong; fake bullets flying around with different lighting than the rest of the scene.
Lastly, Srijit Mukherji is nowhere close to the best directors according to me yet. But considering his graph; the time may not be far when he becomes one of my personal favourites. I just wish that he sticks to his word of not repeating the genre of the film you are successfull in. That’s the only way to longetivity and Bengali Cinema needs Srijit Mukherji. Indian Cinema needs Srijit Mukherji. For long.
