The Nobel Laureate, a poet, writer, philosopher, ambassador of Indian culture to the rest of the world, was born on 7th May 1861. Even though he is better known as a poet, writer, essayist, dramatist and for his musical compositions, which includes the two national anthems of India and Bangladesh, Tagore's multifaceted talent left its imprint on different branches of art as well. He was a social reformer, patriot and above all a great humanist. The 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore is on 7th May 2011 (25th Baishakh).
With a view to celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in a befitting manner, a National Committee (notified in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary on 27th April 2010) under the Chairmanship of the Hon'ble Prime Minister and a National Implementation Committee (NIC) under the Chairmanship of the Hon'ble Finance Minister have been constituted to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
The NIC approved the constitution of a Screening Committee, under the Chairmanship of Shri Shyam Benegal, to examine the film and documentary proposals received by the Ministry of Culture. It was also decided that NFDC would be the nodal Agency to coordinate with the Screening Committee.
The Screening Committee took a view that a Commemorative DVD should be made so that the people of all regions of India could connect with the Poet and his multifaceted genius and therefore recommended the preparation and production of a well-packaged DVD.
This Commemorative DVD, titled 'Tagore Stories on Film', is a collection of 6 DVD's and is a rare compilation of five classic stories written by Tagore and filmed by different talented directors. It also embraces two documentaries as bonus features based on Tagore's life. These films, the material for which was acquired from various sources in India and abroad, have undergone both picture and sound restoration. The DVD has been compiled by NFDC on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of I&B who commissioned the project.
The collection firstly, embraces a National award winning film from Tagore's classic story KHUDITO PASHAN (Hungry Stones) by Tapan Sinha, 1960 in Bengali.
The second is TEEN KANYA (Three Daughters) directed by Satyajit Ray, 1961 in Bengali, based on three of Tagore's stories - The Post Master, Monihara and Samapti.
Third is, critical and commercial success KABULIWALA directed by Hemen Gupta in Hindi, 1961 featuring Balraj Sahni.
Fourth is the Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Nominee film, a 1984 classic, GHARE BHAIRE (Home and the World) by Satyajit Ray based on women's empowerment.
Fifth film is a poignant comment on the adverse effects of nationalism and a nuanced interpretation of Tagore's novella, CHAR ADHYAY (Four Chapters), directed by Kumar Shahani, 1997 in Hindi.
The two documentaries are again rare of its kind. The silent film NATIR PUJA is a compilation of the footage available of the film that was directed by Rabindranath Tagore. A picturization of the dance-drama NATIR PUJA, this partial but restored film forms a landmark in Indian Cinema being the only film where Tagore was directly involved in production. Shot over four days on the occasion of Tagore's 70th Birth Anniversary on 1932, the film also features Rabindranath Tagore in an important role.
The second documentary was made by Satyajit Ray in 1961 to celebrate Tagore's Birth centenary called 'Rabindranath Tagore'. This dramatized documentary features some deft cinematic touches of a master filmmaker that sets it apart from most biographical documentaries in the world.
