Neecha Nagar [1946] : Chetan Anand

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When I came to know that Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar [1946] is one of the eleven winners of Cannes’ Palme d'Or out of 45 films and it’s still the only Indian or South Asian film that holds the status till now. I have been deeply amazed by its historical references which are not much circulated as precious and pioneering in South Asian films as India was undivided. Therefore, I suppose Neecha Nagar is common pride for Bangladesh also; though K.A. Abbas’ Dharti Ke Lal [1946] was a more mind-blowing film released in 1946.

 

As Neecha Nagar was also written by K.A. Abbas, it would be a double celebration if Dharti Ke Lal took part in the Cannes film festival. I believe it would also be one of the winners. After watching Dharti Ke Lal & Saat Hindustani [1969], I was expecting to watch a narrative which is loosely based on social realism and the communist ideology.

 

When I heard the dialogue by Balraj: “अब ख़ामोशी का ज़माना गुजर चुका” [abb khamoshi ka zamana gujar chuka: The age of being silent has been passed on]; I got a sense of communism and rebel against the hierarchy in the social power. A class division is always present in Abbas’ story in the cinema.

 

I did not find any seminal variation and rendition in the cinematography aesthetically but technically it made some distinct additions in the Indian cinema. It talks more with the camera than the performance. Using low angle to project uccha nagar [upper class] as the dominant and active and high angle to focus neecha nagar [lower class] as the subservient and passive. Using optical but rapid zooming to create a dramatic situation and applying whiplash panning to create intensity of unity over the boycott of the hospital facility after the death of Rupa.

 

The floating wastes in the naala [stream] is very similar to the swamp in Akira Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel [1948]. I am really becoming a structuralist in that matter after watching a wide range of movies. It is really a wonder that there are so many good films made in South Asia but no one else got a room to achieve this recognition till now.

 

Neecha Nagar [1946]

Chetan Anand

Hindi, India

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