In this age of torrents and pirated DVDs it is indeed difficult to market a set of classics, even if it about Rabindranath Tagore himself. But the National Film Development Council has pulled out an ace, a set of six DVDs to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, for only Rs 399.
Enclosed in a stylishly designed cover with Tagore's photos and writings, the special collection titled Tagore Stories on Film includes five landmark films based on the works of the Nobel laureate and two bonus features.
The films, classics in their own right, are beyond reviews. A mix of three Bengali and two Hindi features, the illustrious list includes: Tapan Sinha's Khudito Pashan (Hungry Stones) (1960), Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (Three Daughters) (1961) and Ghare Baire (Home And The World) (1984), Hemen Gupta's Kabuliwala (1961) and Kumar Shahani's Char Adhyay (Four Chapters) (1997).
That's not all. There's also a 1961 documentary by Satyajit Ray produced on the occasion of Tagore's birth centenary and the real gem of them all, the 1932 silent film Natir Puja, an adaptation of a poem by Tagore. The film, which unfortunately could be only partially restored, was directed, composed by the great man himself with him also playing an important character.
The special DVD set successfully manages to capture a synopsis of Tagore's vast oeuvre. The selection of films is such where the joy of watching does not diminish with multiple viewings. The stories, backed the directorial abilities of the likes of Satyajit Ray and Tapan Sinha, capture an engrossing breadth of human experiences: from a tax collector falling in love with a beautiful ghost (Khudito Pashan) to a Pathan's yearning for his daughter (Kabuliwala).
Over a 100 films have been made on Tagore's works and this is just a small selection. This is nevertheless, a must have in every Tagore lover's collection and an excellent primer for those who haven't yet been introduced to the wonderful world of Tagore, albeit on film.
The collection is available at leading music and video stores and is also available for purchase online.
Tagore Stories on Film is 727 minutes of sheer viewing pleasure and that too at an unbeatable price.
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