Documentary
Visual communicator Bijoy Chowdhury's My Son and his Grandfather capturing the solitude of his father wins hearts
This is the dispassionately poignant story of a very ordinary grandfather of a lower-middle class family in a suburban town in West Bengal where the old man copes with solitude in the absence of his grandson sent to a boarding school.
But visual communicator and award-winning photographer Bijoy Chowdhury chose none other than his own father to train his camera on him for 16 years to bring to the audience an intimate story that is not always easy to tell.
"Today, almost all of us are enthralled in the illusionary digital world - as a result of which the once tender and loving bonds like a grandfather and his grandson are weakening.
"Like any other child, the grandchild of my family [read my son] too would love to spend time with his grandparents, running around and playing with them with his toys. He had an especially deep bonding with his grandfather.
"Later, he was sent off to a boarding school in Kurseong due to some complications in the relationship between his parents! Left lonely in the house were his father and the grandparents," says Chowdhury sharing a very personal space with the audience.
The absence of the grandson created a big vacuum in the grandfather’s heart. The memories of the grandson running around and playing were visible in every nook and corner of the house! This made the absence even more tormenting to the grandfather!
"That torment and helplessness of my father did not escape my eyes and I captured that visual narration in this film," adds Chowdhury whose film Undivided Solitude was selected as the best film and best director award last year in the National Short Film Competition in New Delhi by PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust)'s Film Challenge 2020-21.
In 2019 too his documentary ‘The Wounds’ won the awards from India, Spain and Bangladesh.
Narrating the making of this film, Chowdhury says: "In this documentary, I have used the images from the past 16 years back. I have spent nearly 3 years editing it and in that perspective, it took 16 years to make this film."
So was he not uncomfortable shooting his father?
"Actually, due to the physique of my father, I had started clicking on him from the very beginning and those pics were very much appreciated by the people. That’s why both my father and myself didn’t ever feel any discomfort during photography except with the occasional utterance of ‘why do you waste money on my photography? by my father’," he shares.
His son, who is now quite grown up, was moved to see this documentary for the first time, simply due to the sudden demise of his grandfather a few months ago.
"As he was deeply involved with him the documentary unleashed a flood of memories of his time with grandfather and his hostel life in the hills of North Bengal," he adds.
Chowdhury got some unexpected assistance in making the documentary and especially with use of music.
"To make this documentary, I have got the cooperation of some of my friends like Mithun Pramanik who helped me with editing, Suchisuvro Sen in sound designing. In addition to that I must acknowledge the contribution of Tajder Junaid, renowned musician and composer whose music is used in the film."
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