It was a remarkable coincidence catching Srijit Mukherjee’s new
Bengali flick Jaatishwar (which the director calls it “ A Musical memory”) on a
day Bengalis worldwide commemorated the day in memory of martyrs who laid down
their lives for their language.
Jaatiswar depicts, among many things, a musical history of Bengali songs in the late 18th century at a time when Kabial Gaan ( troubadours’ songs) was patronized by the feudal landlords through public contests. Not much history of these songs is either archived or documented , as elaborated by the Director in various interviews. And whatever little material did Srijit claim to have discovered through his research weren’t exactly good enough to satisfy a music lover looking back & beyond the asphyxiating genres of Rabindra-sangeet (Tagore’s songs), Shyama-sangeet (devotional songs) , Bangla Bands and others.
Jaatiswar depicts, among many things, a musical history of Bengali songs in the late 18th century at a time when Kabial Gaan ( troubadours’ songs) was patronized by the feudal landlords through public contests. Not much history of these songs is either archived or documented , as elaborated by the Director in various interviews. And whatever little material did Srijit claim to have discovered through his research weren’t exactly good enough to satisfy a music lover looking back & beyond the asphyxiating genres of Rabindra-sangeet (Tagore’s songs), Shyama-sangeet (devotional songs) , Bangla Bands and others.
