The Bioscope Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Author | Indrajit Hazra |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Penguin Books India |
Publication date | 1 May 2008 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | pp 308 |
| ISBN | 9780143101741 |
The Bioscope Man is the third novel of Indian author Indrajit Hazra. It is set in Calcutta and stitches early 20th century Indian cultural and cinema history with the farcical story of Abani Chatterjee to conduct a darkly comic investigation of the phenomena of pretending, lying and acting. It was published by Penguin Books India on 1 May 2008,[1] and was translated into French the following year by Marc Amfreville. The French translation was entitled Le Roi du Cinéma Muet and was published by Le Cherche Midi.[2][3]
The Bioscope Man is the recollections of Abani Chatterjee, a washed-out silent-era movie actor, who, through this book, makes a bid to convince the reader that misfortune and bad taste of the times conspired to turn him into a non-entity.
As Calcutta's star begins to fade, with the capital of His Majesty's India shifting to Delhi, Abani's is on the rise. He is well on his way to becoming the country's first silent-screen star. But just as he is about to find fame and adulation, absurd personal disaster strikes, and Abani becomes a pariah in the world of the bioscope. In a city recently stripped of power and prestige, and in a family house that is in disrepair, he spins himself into a cocoon of solitude and denial, a talent he has inherited from both his parents.
In 1920, German director Fritz Lang comes calling to make his "India film" on the great 18th century English Orientalist Sir William Jones. When Abani is offered a role, he convinces Lang to make a bioscope on Pandit Ramlochan Sharma, Jones' Sanskrit tutor, instead. Naturally, Abani plays the lead. The result is The Pandit and the Englishman, a film that mirrors the vocabulary of Abani's life, hinting at the dangers of pretence and turning away, the virtues of lying and self-deception, the deranging allure of fame and impossible affections.
Afterwards, Abani writes a long letter, in which he tells his story. The Bioscope Man is that story.
Characters
- Tarini Chatterjee: Abani's father, a senior clerk at East Indian Railway.
- Shabitri Chatterjee: Abani's mother, a housewife.
- Adela Quested: Daughter of Tarini's boss at Great Eastern Railway, Edward Quested
- Shombhu Lahiri (Shombhu-mama): Abani's uncle, chief projectionist at the Elphinstone theatre, who introduces him to the bioscope world.
- Durga Devi/Felicia Miller: Actress who would co-star in bioscopes with Abani.
- Lalji Hemraj: Businessman who starts the Alochhaya Theatre and Bioscope Company.
- Fritz Lang: Austrian filmmaker who comes from Berlin to Calcutta to make his "India film".
- William Jones: 18th century English scholar of ancient Indian texts and founder of the Asiatic Society.
- Ramlochan Sharma: Sanskrit and grammar tutor to William Jones.
- Anna Maria Jones: Wife of William Jones.
- Kuli: Girl who conducts daily chores for Ramlochan.