''Komal Gandhar'' ( ''Kōmal Gāndhār''), also known as ''A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale'', is a 1961 Bengali film written and directed by legendary film maker

Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Widely considered as one of the greatest film makers of all time, his works remained largely underrated and ignored during hi ...

. The title refers to the Hindustani equivalent of " E-flat". It was part of the trilogy composed of '' Meghe Dhaka Tara'' (1960), Komal Gandhar and '' Subarnarekha'' (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947 and the refugees coping with it, though this was the most optimistic film of his oeuvre. The film explores three themes juxtaposed in the narrative: the dilemma of Anusuya, the lead character, the divided leadership of IPTA, and the fallout from the partition of India.

Overview

The film title was taken from the line of a poemBook: Punascha, poem: Komal–Gandhar; by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

that meant a ''sur'' or note, E-flat. As in other films by Ghatak, music plays a pivotal role in the movie. Through the microcosmic perspectivising of a group of devoted and uncompromising IPTA workers, Ghatak with his signature style touches on varied issues of partition, idealism, corruption, the interdependence of art and life, the scope of art, and class-struggle. Unlike his other films, this one runs along an upbeat mood with the lead pair of lovers (Vrigu and Anusua) being reunited.

Cast

* Supriya Devi as Anusuya * Abanish Bannerjee as Bhrigu * Bijon Bhattacharya as Gagan * Satindra Bhattacharya as Shibnath * Debabrata Biswas * Chitra Sen as Jaya * Anil Chatterjee as Rishi * Gyanesh Mukherjee * Satyabrata Chattopadhyay * Gita Dey as Shanta

Soundtrack

Music was by Jyotirindra Moitra, from IPTA, and a noted

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' (; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengalis, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the ...

exponent who had previously given music in Ghatak's '' Meghe Dhaka Tara'' (1960), and had song by singers like, Bijon Bhattacharya, Debabrata Biswas, Hemanga Biswas. Bahadur Khan played sarod in the soundtrack. The film is noted for its wedding songs and also

contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...

use of sound.''Indian horizons'', Volume 44.

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April ...

., 1995. ''p. 127''.

Screening of Komal Gandhar aka E-Flat in different festivals

*2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, U

References

Citation

Notes

External links

*
A Review by Erin O'Donnell
{{Ritwik Ghatak 1961 films Bengali-language Indian films Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak Films set in the partition of India Indian black-and-white films 1960s Bengali-language films