Summer of 2018, was a happening summer, full of fresh beginnings.  It was the summer I took time off from work and my husband started working from home.  It was also the summer, Chhobighar came to Chicago.

 

The name Chhobighar was, for many of us immigrant Bengalis, surrounded by fond childhood memories from late seventies, early eighties in Kolkata.  Back then Chhobighar was one of the movie theaters in the chain, Minar, Bijoli, Chhobighar, all of which were located in different areas of Kolkata. They all released and screened the same movie at around the same time for movie goers in various locales of the metropolis.  An eager hunt on Facebook revealed Chicago’s Chhobighar as a newly established movie house that missions to showcase current Bengali Tollywood movies here in the Midwest.  Imagine not having to wait for the annual NABC (North American Bengali Conference) or U tube or Netflix release but getting to watch new Bengali films regularly each and every month!  That too in North America’s heartland!  In spite of alarming recent trends of insulation, political and cultural, Chhobighar seemed to be silently playing its part in the free flow of information and ideas through celluloid, making the world a smaller place.  Indeed the time had come for such bold vision and smart venture!

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Thus it was, on a sunny, Saturday afternoon, Chicago’s Bengali movie lovers, after many Bengali-screen starved immigrant years, set out for a one of a kind experience - a fusion of reliving their college day excitement of attending movie premieres, with a brand new anticipation of viewing a just released Tollywood movie for the first time outside Bengal. The most thrilling thing for me personally was that all this was happening, not in downtown Chicago, the proverbial hub of urban intelligentsia, (and miles away from where we live) but right here, in the sedate heart of the burbs of Chicago!

 

On August 25th 2018, Chhobighar movie club was launched at Hollywood Palms theater in a western suburb of Chicago, with screening of the inaugural movie Ahare Mon directed by Pratim D. Gupta.  The movie hall decorated with all American Disney figurines proved to be a quirky background for this first Bengali movie showing!  Happily, it was a warmly attended, packed kick-off.  Bengal has always had a love-affair with cinema and it was fun to witness how little geography mattered in terms of a Bengali immigrants love for the celluloid.  The light, feel-good movie boasting a cast of well-known faces and new bees of the Bengali silver screen, proved to be a perfect welcome offered by this new movie club.  Needless to say, young and young at heart viewers unanimously voiced appreciation.

 

Maati directed by Shaibal Banerjee and Leena Gangopadhyay was Chhobighar’s next choice.  This movie was on a slightly more serious note and a critics award winner from Kolkata. Though a bit facile in its treatment of the push and pull of two Bengals, the movie did get its message through that the two Bengals are really one in very many ways. With striking leads and an interesting theme, it proved to be a crowd grabber also as expected. Maati was screened on September 22nd 2018 at Yellow Box also in a western suburb of Chicago.  Not just a movie theater but an Arts Center, Yellow Box looked like a potentially ideal location for future bigger events hosted by Chhobighar.

 

Chhobighar’s third offering was Srijit Mukherji’s Ek je Chhilo Raja.  It was a remake of a popular story of an early seventies Uttam Kumar hit, Sannyashi Raja.  Even so, new treatment, in acting and cinematography, of the same story decades later, was an eye opener on how similar themes can take on a totally distinct guise and appeal, through difference in approach and presentation.  As such, aside from some anachronistic elements the director had juxtaposed into the main storyline (possibly as a crowd pleaser to the generation that was acquainted with the much-acclaimed original version), Ek je Chhilo Raja has remained one of my personal Chhobighar favs.  Ek je Chhilo Raja was screened on November 17th 2018 at MovieMax in the north west suburbs, where for the first-time fresh samosas and hot masala tea were available for purchase to spice up the movie experience.

 

After a long, hard Chicago winter, Chhobighar released Rosogolla directed by Pavel on February 3rd 2019 at MovieMax.  What better way for a true Bengali mind to chill on a bone chilling sub zero Chicago winter afternoon, than watch a sweet, retro Bengali romance named after Bengal’s heritage dessert, the syrupy sweet, rosogolla?  Unfortunately, having watched the movie without finding much spark apart from the title just a few days earlier at a trendy multiplex in South Kolkata and still reeling from jet lag and culture rebooting after returning from my recent Kolkata trip, I was unable to attend.  But to be honest, I’ve noticed that things which seem innocuous when I see them up close in the land of my birth, often acquire a certain value and warmth probably from nostalgia and memory association when I view them in this faraway land, which is my home now.  So, although Rosogolla would barely receive a 4 star from me in Kolkata, I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted had I watched this same movie here at MovieMax on a freezing Chicago afternoon.

 

Bhobishyoter Bhoot directed by Anik Dutta screened at MovieMax on March 31st 2019 was the most heavily attended Chhobighar movie till date.  Viewers were fighting over seats and even the front row seats were in great demand.  The overwhelming turnout was probably because this movie was a highly controversial one which had been banned by the ruling political party in Kolkata right after its release.  That had engendered counter demonstrations about freedom of speech and action by the intelligentsia in Kolkata.   Bhobishyoter Bhoot, though not very tight or well-knit, was a sharp, cerebral political satire with intense intellectual dialogue that revealed amazing wit and command of language.

 

On May 19th 2019 at MovieMax, Chhobighar presented to its viewers Basu Paribar directed by Suman Ghosh.  The less said about this film the better.  With so many brilliant actors in its cast, so many interesting issues visited, nothing came of anything till the very end.  It seemed a rather sad let down.  The director desperately sought a thread story towards the end.  Thank goodness for the last scene where consummate actor Aparna Sen turns round and walks to a window.  The camera catches her movement from the back.  The whole story lies right there and we can instantly forgive the director the first random hour.

 

The last movie Chhobighar screened was on June 30th 2019 at MovieMax.  It was also the most relevant and contemporary movie till date, in content, craft, cast and music.  Based on a true incident, the movie reveals how unforeseen circumstances can turn our lives topsy-turvy but the courage to fight back through education and endeavor is the essence of human dignity.  In spite of minor cosmetic triteness here and there, the heartwarming message and the innovative music with some very original lyrics and scores and excellent urban cinematography, made this movie quite a Chhobighar hit.  The movie was Konttho directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy.  Surprisingly it was not a well-attended showing at all, a big miss for those who couldn’t make it.

 

In conclusion, it is interesting to note that although the world is a smaller place, it is also a fast changing one and lifestyles, relationships, culture patterns, art forms metamorphose in every part of the world, whether it is in the place we came from or where we are in now.  As immigrants, it is easy for us to forget this and indulge in memory trips into the past, groping to find its echoes in the present, feeling lost and dislocated when we are unable to do so.  Contemporary Bengali cinema showcases life, times, ideas, artistic development of Bengal as they are today and helps us stay connected with our root heritage in the present real time without haziness or conjecture or regress into the past.  Herein lies the importance of watching these contemporary Bengali movies whatever their star rating maybe.  Chhobighar has given us this chance to stay in touch (and ‘view’) right here, right now, in an artistic and fun way.

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We look forward to attend Chhobighar’s first Movie Fest CBFF (Chicago Bengali Film Festival) at Yellow Box on September 7th 2019.  Here’s to many more years of enjoying modern Bengali films with Chhobighar!

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[This article was originally published in the commemorative magazine for the Chicago Bengali Film Festival 2019 (CBFF2019), organized by CHHOBIGHAR, the Bengali film society in Chicago, on September 7th, 2019. ]