Adult content in Bengali cinema: II
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An illustrated history of nudity in Bengali cinema
2003: Stark naked in Bengal
In the Bengali film Parmapar (2003) Subhra Basu played a young girl persuaded by her grandmother, who had been an art college model herself, to pose naked for the first time for art students. The sequence (YouTube) got past the censors because the scene is too dark for anything to be seen distinctly, except that Subhra Basu is standing and then lying prone, totally naked. Even though this was the first Bengali film with total nudity and the scene got talked and written about extensively, the film flopped and Subhra did not get even one film role in Bengal or elsewhere, not even one requiring her to strip again.
2011: Paoli Dam becomes a cunning linguist
‘Yes, I was completely nude’: Munibor
In 2011 Paoli Dam pushed the boundary even further. Not only did she go completely naked in Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara’s controversial Chhatrak (Mushroom in English/ 2011), the scene involved oral sex. The film had a red carpet screening at Cannes’ 64th International Film Festival and was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
She described the sequence thus to Munibor, ‘See, it’s a full nude scene and I have done it because I was convinced that the scene is required to take the story forward. It isn’t there just to titillate. Incidentally my character’s name too is Paoli in the film! Now Paoli’s boyfriend (Sudip Mukherjee) lives far away and to fill the vacuum she gets physically involved with a young guy (Anubrata)… and indulges in oral sex! ... I was completely nude. So was my co-star and in the scene the girl is getting all the pleasure! ...We don’t wear clothes and make love, do we? Then why should we do that in cinema? Ei nyakamogulo aar koto din (How long will we carry on like this)?’
Paoli Dam did the scene though she knew that the Indian censor board would not allow it and that that particular scene would be available only on DVD. The scene was not shown at the Cannes screening either.
After Chhatrak Paoli Dam received an offer to act in Italian director Italo Spinelli’s Choli Ke Peechhe ,which she rejected because “the sex scene there was forced and [she] was not convinced.” Actresses Nandana Sen and Shahana Goswami, too, had turned down the role.
Paoli describes herself as a very traditional girl who grew up in a joint family and had a very good academic record, She could have pursued academics. It was her mother who encouraged her to take up acting. Paoli is a post-graduate in Chemistry and attracted attention in Gautam Ghose’s Kaalbela.
Jayasundara is an alumnus of Film and Television Institute, Pune. In 2005 he became the first Sri Lankan filmmaker to win the Camera d'Or at Cannes for his film The Forsaken Land.
Chhatrak came at a heavy price for Paoli, especially in the Bengali the film industry. Not only did she lose friends because of the nude scene, she lost film roles. Her name was officially removed from the publicity materials of Pritam Sarkar’s Flop-e because its makers felt that her newfound sex-bomb image could harm the commercial prospects of 'Flop-e'.
Rii’s Cosmic Sex in Gandu
Meanwhile, Rii (Rituparna Sen), who had gone nude for 'Gandu' six months before Paoli stripped, maintained what The Times of India called “a dignified silence all through the frontal nudity debate.” In other words, she did not go about giving statements to the effect that she was the first to have done it in Bengal, or whatever. She was quoted as having said, “Yes, there's lack of awareness about "Gandu" in Kolkata but I don't want to indulge in a petty game of who went nude first. Talking of Indian cinema, Seema Biswas had done it in "Bandit Queen".”
She told The Times of India “I've gone for full frontal nudity in both Q's " Gandu" (2010) Bengali banned and Amitabh Chakraborty's yet-unfinished "Cosmic Sex". Women's sexuality is dealt with in both films and I'm happy that I have been able to use my body for a great cinematic purpose… My characters are close to reality and there's no harm if I keep using my body over and over again to portray the real… I was the first to have worn a bikini on television…Sexuality is all about women power. So far, films have been from a man's perspective… Be it "Gandu" or "Chatrak", both are a slap on society face.”
Rii described Protima Bedi's streaking (naked jogging) on Juhu beach in the 1970s as a desire ‘to break free from the shackles of a patriarchal society.’
Regarding Paoli’s scene, Rii said, ‘I am sure some people, who've seen the footage, will dub Paoli as a porn star. That's because they don't know how else to react. C'mon, the porn industry, with its big budget and professional actors, is also thriving today.’
See also
Adult content in Bengali cinema Adult content in Hindi-Urdu cinema Adult content in Kannada cinema Adult content in Malayalam cinema Lesbian themes in Bengali films Lesbian themes in Hindi-Urdu films Lesbian themes in Malayalam cinema The Cloud Door/ Baadal Dwar
