He Narrates Too

Voice is an integral part of an actor. The famous Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah once said that one of the major areas that an actor can continue to improve on is his or her voice. To the ordinary viewers, voice is 'the tool' that brings a character closer to them. It is 'the obvious tool' that story writers, script writers, dialogue writers and directors need in order to convey their message. For the viewers, it should never be the case - "What did he mean? I could not get it, he was too fast with a very low...."

Theater acting is very much dependent on voice. In movies, voice is usually part of the actor's mannerism; therefore, an actor carries his voice - perhaps, it is not the other way around. An exception to this arises when a narrator is needed in a movie. Beyond an iota of doubt, a narrator must have a gifted voice.

In this edition of InDepth, we try to focus on this act of narration. Particularly, we journey through some of the works of Amitabh Bachchan, whose contribution has been immense in this field.

In Indian movies, narration has mostly been used in historical or period films. A narrator has often been the "Sutradhar", or the invisible character who sets up such a story, and, from time to time, ties its loose ends. In a chronological order of time, we shall try to go deep into a few of these acts and fetch for ourselves some elemental qualities that characterize those acts.

*) Bhuvan Shome (1969) : Dir - Mrinal Sen
This film was released in the same year as Saat Hindustani, Amitabh Bachchan's debut film as an actor. Having a very strong educational background, and coming from an illustrious family, Bachchan had in him several qualities to go the distance. Parallel cinema was taking its first baby steps and Mrinal Sen was making a film based on a story by Banaphool, a very famous Bengali author. Mr Bachchan got to narrate a few lines - it was merely for two minutes. In the film, he says a few words about Bengalis and Bengal and then talks about Bhuvan Shome, the protagonist. Though it was a very small act, though it was never going to take the story forward, though the context was not historical, yet, through sheer modulation of his voice, he stamped his presence. He announced his arrival. A tiny wave was created in that brilliant movie, which, till today, remains an integral part. Check it out here :
Amitabh Bachchan's voice in Bhuvan Shome

*) Bawarchi (1972) : Dir - Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Whenever Hrishikesh Mukherjee ventured into middle class subjects (he had done it many times), he struck gold. Bawarchi was a remake of a Bengali movie by none other than the great Tapan Sinha. The film opens with Bachchan introducing the viewers with all the characters. A young voice with no pretensions, with a subtle touch of comic sense - Bachchan was spot on! You could not have asked for better. The way he communicates the words written to describe the house or the protagonist is of first class. To see more for yourself, here is the link :
Bawarchi movie

*) Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) : Dir - Satyajit Ray
Munshi Premchand wrote this short story, both in Hindi and then later on, in Urdu. Ray selected this story and brought it to the silver screen. It is said that he was very impressed with the movie "Sholay" and thereby went on to cast Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan. Both of them did their part exceptionally well, no doubt about it. But the narration? Well, only the ears can believe what Bachchan did with those lines lifted from history. Listening to him in Shatranj Ke Khilari, getting to know the concept of the Doctrine of Lapse gives the feeling : History should only be told, not written! Here is the link :
Shatranj Ke Khilari

*) Lagaan (2001) : Dir - Ashutosh Gowariker
Lagaan was a very unbelievable plot made to look believable. Performances, songs, lyrics, camera, everything were excellent and indeed made the story acceptable. But there was history too, and historical statements and texts to go with the movie. The sharp depth of the baritone was in full use; Amitabh made the words his own and Champaner, the small village was inserted into the pages of Indian freedom movement. The closing lines were emotional. The actor in him came out through his voice, the voice moved like a steady stream of a silent lake and drenched the soul of the viewers.
Closing lines of Lagaan


*) Parineeta (2005) : Dir - Pradeep Sarkar
Kolkata has always been very special to Mr Bachchan. The city was witness to his early days of struggle and taught him many important lessons. His theater days started from here and of course through his wife, he still maintains a strong connection. In Parineeta, the director gave him a few lines to describe the very city that he likes. Here he goes like a trembling river, his voice swirls through the contexts and flows all the way from the great Howrah Bridge to Phuchka (a certain street food in Kolkata), to Hartals (strikes) and finally ends in Lolita and Shekhar's love story.
Parineeta opening lines

To conclude, narration is an art. It is also an act. It is a very special act that not many can do. A narrator is also an actor and leaves similar or even greater impression than many of the performing actors. And when the narrator is Amitabh Bachchan, he definitely does.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Raikamal : With Pain Matures Life

"Oh maajhi re...." - decoding a masterpiece!

Chronicle Of A Grand Relation