Looking back on Saptapadi: Centenary tribute to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay in 26th KIFF

Saptapadi released just after Durga Pooja on Oct 20, 1961 completes 60 years this year. It ran without break for 15 long weeks drawing a full house in each show, bringing back four times the money invested.

Based on an extremely cinema-friendly novel by Jnanpith awardee late Tarasankar Bandopadhyay, the film was produced by Uttam Kumar and directed by one of the most outstanding mainstream directors of the time, Ajoy Kar who also cinematographed the film. Saptapadi was the 23rd film in which Suchitra and Uttam were paired as star-crossed lovers.

In the original story, there was no happy ending. In the celluloid representation, for commercial reasons, a happy ending was concocted and according to reports, Bandopadhyay did not complain.

Other than the fascinating story, twists round every corner and the reference to Shakespeare’s Othello, not to forget the electric performances by Uttam Kumar and Suchita Sen, the film will forever be remembered for the wonderful songs including their choreography, picturisation and placing along different points of the film.

The song – ei poth jodi na shesh hoy, shot on a stationary motor cycle the speed established through back projection with Rina Brown’s hair flying against standing fans in the studio floor on either side has been immortalised.

Clips from the sequence have been used by umpteen Bengali filmmakers later. One example is Subroto Sen who used a clip in his maiden film Ek Je Aachey Kanya. She lip syncs only to the refrain lal la la la and does not lip-sync the main song synced by Krishnendu yet it enhances and enriches the picturisation beautifully, adding to its romantic, lyrical and sensual quality.

The song On The Merry Go Round Let Us Ride and Roll versus the well-known devotional song Eibar Kali Tomai Khabo is choreographed very well to demonstrate a clash of cultures of the Anglo-Indians (them) versus the Bengalis (us) with of course the Bengalis 'winning'.

Sen is superb in this scene, beginning with great confidence but gradually losing it with the comic and sarcastic response she meets from her opponent Krishnendu. There were only two songs in the film with ei path repeated over time. But they have carved a niche in the minds of the Bengali audience forever.

Ranjan Biswas, a noted restaurateur of the city, has opened a chain of restaurants dedicated to Saptapadi because he has named them after his favourite film. He is a die-hard fan of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar movies and his restaurants specialise in purely Bangla dishes with some fusion thrown in.

The restaurant offers a fascinating cultural experience for me the other day which reached far beyond food. I would like some good h.r. images of the large wallpaper of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar in Saptapadi and the motorcycle in front along with some of the pictures on the walls, the hat stand, the wash basin and the antique clock.

Saptapadi turned out to be one of the biggest box office hits in Bengali cinema of all time. Suchitra Sen lived up to the faith her producer Uttam Kumar and director Ajoy Kar had placed in her.

(Reported by Shoma A. Chatterji)