Bengali films of the golden age

There is not only beauty in the names of these films, but also a touch of literature. People of the country were not so educated then. A large section of the cinema audience was illiterate. But these literary names did not confuse them nor did they care much about the underlying meaning of the names. They had a firm belief that whatever the name of the film, the film would be good. Using only the name of the picture, some wrote wonderful letters which were printed in various magazines.

Gradually the quality of Bengali films started to decline. The beauty of the name of the picture also diminishes. There were several reasons behind this. The main reason for this is the arrival of the VCR in the early or mid eighties. With the advent of VCRs, Bengali cinema began to be pirated in various ways. The wealthy started watching movies on VCRs at home. Gradually the middle class also started getting attracted to VCRs. Not only Bengali films, but also foreign films on VCR became an opportunity to watch. At one point, a large section of the audience turned away from the cinema hall. Cinema hall owners were in trouble. They are facing huge losses. It began to affect the entire film industry.

Meanwhile, some filmmakers tried to attract a special kind of audience by producing films based on light, catchy stories. In the music, dialogues, dances of such films, obscenities started going on. It created a special audience. Instead of the beautiful literary romantic dialogues, ugly abusive dialogues became the mainstay of all these films. Although it brought some audience to the cinema hall, the educated and tasteful audience started turning away from the cinema hall. Such low-quality films also became victims of piracy. A gang started making CDs of pirated films and selling them. In this, the common audience also started to get attracted towards CDs. The virtuoso directors folded themselves.

The film ‘Danga’ released in 1992 brought the audience back to the cinema hall. ‘Danga’ was a film of a different genre. The director was Kazi Hayat. In this film, the hero Manna’s extraordinary performance left a scar in the hearts of the audience. The diversity of the story attracts the audience. After a few years, Manna, Salman Shah, Shabnoor, Purnima and Moushumi’s many films gained popularity. And this period was also a bright chapter of Bengali cinema. Salman Shah-Shabnoor pair created a golden chapter separately. But its durability was less.

Image piracy was still going on. So the plight of cinema hall could not be stopped. Moreover, the deaths of Salman Shah and Manna created a void in Bengali cinema. Just when the audience was turning away from the cinema hall again and again, Humayun Ahmed produced some extraordinary films. Among these, ‘Aguner Parshmani’ (1994), ‘Shravan Megher Din’ (1999), ‘Dui Duari’ (2003), ‘Noy Numbar Bihal Sanket’ (2006) became quite popular. To watch these films on the big screen, the audience again heads to the cinema hall. At this time, another different manufacturer appeared. And he was Tareq Masood. He also gave some different flavor to the audience. But the sad thing is that Tarek Masood (2011) and Humayun Ahmed (2012) left everyone in a sea of ​​grief and left untimely. After their departure, there was a big crisis in the production of healthy films.

Still some good films have been made. But the number of theaters began to decline dramatically. Theaters started turning into shopping malls and flats. Moreover, the availability of satellite channels and internet and cinema hall of audience have worked behind the diversion.

Let’s come back to the golden age of cinema. There were several reasons behind the popularity of Bengali films at that time. The reasons are – skilled actors and actresses, beautiful and tasteful story, skilled and dedicated director. Almost every film had some amazing songs that touched the heart. The best actors and actresses of the film world from mid-sixties to mid-eighties – Razzaq, Alamgir, Javed, Wasim, Sohail Rana, Ujjal, Zafar Iqbal, Bulbul Ahmed, Ilyas Kanchan, Jaseem, Shabana, Babita, Kabri, Shabnam, Olivia, Sucharita , Rozina, Suvarna Mustafa captured the hearts of the audience in such a way that they became idols. Millions of youth of the country dreamed of becoming heroes. Trying to imitate the clothes, hairstyles of the favorite hero was more or less seen in almost all youngsters. Getting a big government job was not as easy as becoming a movie hero. Because if you don’t have a beautiful physique, strong voice, excellent acting skills, dancing and fighting skills, dreaming of becoming a hero is nothing but nonsense.

Songs played a major role in the popularity of films back then. Some famous lyricists have enriched the music repertoire of Bengali cinema by writing numerous timeless songs. Some of the best among them are Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Gazi Mazharul Anwar, Moniruzzaman, Md. Rafiquzzaman, Syed Shamsul Haque, Masud Karim, Amjad Hossain, Khan Ataur Rahman and some others. The timeless songs written by these great lyricists were devoted to mother, father and husband. After all, many songs also contain signs of devotion to the Creator. Besides, there were romantic songs. The songs written in harmony with the story of the film had a considerable impact on the minds of the audience.

The melodious melodiousness, the magical interweaving of the words and the sweet voice of the singer took the audience to another world. A romantic song would thrill the audience while a sad song would make the audience teary eyed. These songs could melt the stony heart, and some songs would bring peace to the troubled heart. The number of viewers who watched a film multiple times just to listen to the music was not small. At that time, some exceptionally talented singers emerged who used to work behind the scenes and put their voices on the lips of the actors and actresses. Notable among them are – Neena Hamid, Ferdowsi Rahman, Sabina Yasmin, Runa Laila, Shahnaz Rahmatullah, Abeda Sultana, Nilufar Yasmin, Anjuman Ara Begum, Shammi Akhtar, Kankchampa, Abdul Alim, Mostafa Zaman Abbasi, Abdul Jabbar, Syed Abdul Hadi, Khurshid. Alam, Mahmudunnabi, Bashir Ahmed, Andrew Kishore and Subir Nandi etc.

Bengali cinema songs would not have been so popular and rich if talented artistes like them had not been born. Moreover, some short-lived composers have taken the music of Bengali cinema to such heights by creating extraordinary melodies. Some of them are Abdul Ahad, Azad Rahman, Alauddin Ali, Khan Ataur Rahman, Satya Saha, Alam Khan, Subal Das, Sheikh Sadi Khan, Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul and Mukul Chowdhury. Their alternatives have not yet been developed.