TAGORES BEFORE TAGORE

A SCREENPLAY

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY

A book on the unknown history of the Tagore family centred around religion, ideology, finance, business, and law
Based on the screenplay of a film that the renowned film director Rituporno Ghosh wished to make but could not due to his sudden demise
Originally written on the insistence of the late Rituporno Ghosh
A brilliant portrayal of the colonial bhadralok community and the babu culture
The author is one of the most prominent names in modern Bangla literature.
The author has been awarded Vidyasagar Memorial Award (2010), Sisir Kumar Das Memorial Award (2010), and the Buddhadeva Bose Memorial Award (2016).

TAGORES BEFORE TAGORE

A SCREENPLAY

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY

Description

When Dwarakanath Tagore, the entrepreneur hailed as India's first 'bourgeois', died on 1 August 1846, Jorasanko found itself rattled by a series of upheavals. In each of these episodes, the chief player was his son—and Rabindranath Tagore's father—Debendranath Tagore. He was a social reformer who founded the Brahmo Dharma. Yet, despite his deeply spiritual nature, he dabbled in crass materialistic matters. Drawing upon Debendranath's opposing sentiments, Tagores Before Tagore narrates a historical period crucial to the making of indigenous modernity.

Scripted at the insistence of the famed filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, this screenplay, based on true events, chronicles the tumultuous happenings that shook Jorasanko between September 1846 and June 1860, following Dwarakanath's sudden death. Tales of bankruptcy, litigations, deceit, and domestic squabbles abound; and through these tales emerges a rich cultural history of nineteenth-century Bengal.

TAGORES BEFORE TAGORE

A SCREENPLAY

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY

TAGORES BEFORE TAGORE

A SCREENPLAY

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY

Author Information

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY, PROFESSOR, and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY, MR

Sibaji Bandyopadhyay writes poetry, plays, stories, novels, and film scripts in Bengali, and essays in Bengali and English. Earlier, he was a professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta and in the Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University.

TAGORES BEFORE TAGORE

A SCREENPLAY

SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY and Translated by MAHARGHYA CHAKRABORTY

Reviews and Awards

"The contribution is a very substantial one ... It is rare that such a rich vein of scholarship in the intimacy of a regional language is available to readers in English. The play will be essential reference for anyone researching the Tagores or the cultural history of 19th century Bengal (leading up to Rabindranath). The foreword about the author's relationship with Rituparno Ghosh over a number of years will be fascinating reference material for film scholars. The afterword is a minefield of historical information that consists of much that is new but recasts what is known in completely new ways. ... The scholarship is excellent and by one of the leading cultural historians of Bengal. The translation is very good. The intertextuality of this work with respect to the subject matter is dazzling. ... It makes history exciting to read." - Kaushik Bhaumik, Associate Professor, Cinema Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

"This screenplay is a unique and marvellous combination of historical scholarship and creative writing. ... It is a master lesson in critical unpacking of historical material ... While there is a huge body of literature on Rabindranath Tagore, there is scant little available on the Tagore family, especially in the English language. ... This is what scholars in the field of performance studies have dubbed 'performative writing'. ... One of the elements that makes this work unique is that it has kept Rabindranath Tagore out of its area. He appears in the screenplay only towards the very end and, that too, only as a sprightly child whom the camera chases and loses in the modern environs of metropolitan Kolkata." - Sudipto Chatterjee, Visiting Professor of Performance Studies, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata