Remembering Rabinndranath Tagore

Introduction by Sangeeta Datta
Nobel laureate Tagore was a multi-faceted man. He wrote novels, short stories, poetry, songs, essays, drama and dance-drama; and became a painter at 60. His oeuvre is the largest influence in shaping modern Bengali aesthetics. He also predicted that cinema would be the most influential medium of the 20th century. Born in 1861, the youngest in a family of 14 children, Tagore stared writing poetry at the age of seven. He is best known to the world for his collection of poems, Gitanjali: its 'profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse' earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. These deeply spiritual poems were rapidly translated into several languages amid the gloom of pre-war Europe. As an educationalist he set up a revolutionary open-air school and liberal arts college in Santiniketan, where children grew up in the lap of nature. As an international man of letters he interacted with WB Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges and later with Albert Einstein, Romain Rolland and George Bernard Shaw. His works have been translated by French laureate André Gide, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, and Czech indologist Vincent Lesny. Jimenez-Camprubi translated 22 books into Spanish, influencing significant Hispanic writers like Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral and Octavio Paz. Tagore's stories offer great cinematic potential, rich in visual metaphors, detailed characterisation and lyrical moments. Hence, in the immediate post-Tagore era, his works were adapted into classic film texts by some of the greatest filmmakers in India. Satyajit Ray adapted Tagore's fiction in three women-oriented classics - Three Daughters, Charulata and The Home and the World - and made a celebrated documentary on Tagore to mark the centenary of his birth. Tapan Sinha adapted three of Tagore's short stories for the screen, including the 1957 Berlin Silver Bear winner Kabuliwalah. In Chokher Bali, Rituparno Ghosh - bearer of Ray's legacy - adapted Tagore's novel to explore the politics of domestic relationships. Casting Bollywood's Aishwarya Rai as the widow Binodini caused great debate in conservative quarters, but also ensured the success of the film. This year Ghosh has adapted the short story Naukadubi to mark Tagore's 150th anniversary. Tagore's most acclaimed lyrical novel, Shesher Kobita, was improvised as a contemporary drama in Subrajit Mitra's Mon Amour (2008), and other recent Tagore adaptations include Chaturanga by Suman Mukhopadhyay and Laboratory by Raja Sen (both 2009). Film adaptations of Tagore's literature are also embellished with his songs. Tagore wrote 2,500 original songs (called Rabindrasangeet), and they form the staple music in Bengali culture. Outstanding use of Tagore's music is made in the Ritwik Ghatak classic The Cloud-Capped Star, while contemporary films like Life Goes On make fresh use of Tagore's music, poetry and aesthetics in a contemporary drama.