

The exclusionist nature of the bhadralok (gentleman) public sphere as a Bengali-Hindu arena made the Bengali Muslims of colonial Bengal almost invisible. To analyse this trend, we need to look at the status of Muslims and the Hindu-Muslim relationship in Bengal from a historical point of view.Īmerican historian Broomfield rightly described the Bengali Muslims of colonial Bengal as “the forgotten majority” (Cited in Raju. In this piece, I want to locate the reasons behind the under-representation of Bengali Muslims and the changing pattern of representing them in Bengali cinema.


However, they only showcased the hardships of the ordinary Hindu citizens of the country ignoring the people of other communities, especially Muslims who constituted a majority of the population. They were internationally acclaimed because of their neo-realist approach which made them to portray reality and struggles of ordinary human beings. Though the post-independence era is considered as the golden era of Bengali cinema where international auteurs like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Bimal Roy and Mrinal Sen delivered their most remarkable works, there is hardly any film by them where Muslims are represented. However, there are films which were released in later years, such as Ghare Baire (directed by Satyajit Ray, 1983), Padma Nadir Majhi (directed by Goutom Ghosh 1993), Rajkahini (directed by Srijit Mukherjee, 2015), which were set in the backdrop of Partition and the narratives demanded some Muslim protagonists in those films. If we look back, Muslims did not share any screen space with majority Hindus during the post-independence era. Nevertheless, the representational format of Bengali Muslims started changing during the course of time intertwining with the changing socio-political situations. Everything about me is absolutely natural.Bengali Muslims never acquired a prominent space on Bengali silver screen, unlike Hindi cinema where Muslims were represented adequately and also involved actively in making those visuals. My role in 10.10 doesn���t require me to show skin. I���m comfortable with my body but wouldn���t do for any director and a film that doesn���t need it. It depends on the script, director and producer. Would you agree to do an Indian film where you have to go topless?
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That���s how it worked when I did my part in an Italian TV sitcom. I shall have a language coach in Kolkata. Bengali sounds quite like German and the pronunciation isn���t too complicated. I���ve picked up a few words over the telephone from my producer. Money isn���t always that important in life great experience is. Besides, I love to work as a model, actor and singer. I���ve made some concessions since this is a good chance for me. Is a Bengali film able to pay you the remuneration that you usually charge? India has Mallika Sherawat, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ameesha Patel who can also tease with their beauty. Indian cinema is a lot more conservative. With Shahjahan, I had gone to the English Garden where there were countless topless and even nude men and women. How inhibited do you think Indian cinema is about sex? They���re better than the men and yet have to work harder than them! I play a young journalist in the film who wants to discover India. I know of some women journalists who spend up to 20 hours at a stretch on a feature. But, I���ve many friends in the German media. In comparison, India is a lot friendlier and tolerant.

In Germany, the working atmosphere can be somewhat hostile. Shahjahan made sure that everyone felt at home. It seemed even better organised than what it is in Germany. He was planning to shoot a short film in my city to show my life to my Indian audience.Ĭould you tell us about your experience of shooting in India for Karma? After I met him at the Cannes film festival, Shahjahan also visited me in my hometown, Bamberg, Germany.
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He taught me how to act naturally, made me become the character while acting and keep my cool even in the most difficult of situations during the shot.
