MONER MANUSH / THE QUEST / THE MAN INSIDE

Bangladesh, 2010, 150 minutes, Colour.
Prosenjit.
Directed by Goutam Ghose.

Moner Manush is an epic film about a famous saint, fakir, of the Bengal region. It is beautifully photographed, using the sea, the forest, villages for atmosphere and a context for the life of this saint.

The film opens with the older Lalan being sketched by the older brother of celebrated Nobel Prizewinner Rabindranath Tagur, Jyotirindranath. Tagur admires Lalan and wants to discuss his philosophy, his religious understanding as well as to hear the explanation of the many songs that Lalan wrote. This serves as the framework for the film, the saint eventually singing for the interviewer who then reflects on the meaning of this life.

The film consists of many flashbacks. We are taken back to the very young Lalan, his life in a Bengal village, the Hindu religious traditions, his ability to sing songs and his being celebrated in the village. His mother is devoted to him – but his wife is more sceptical, wanting him to work rather than to spend his time composing. When he contracts smallpox, the village people decide that he has died and he is not to be burnt but to be floated down the river. However, he is not dead and is discovered by people from another village, this time Muslim. The kindly midwife of the village tends him and he recovers. However, he has lost his memory.

Living in this new village, his singing ability is honoured, his philosophy of life – especially after his death experience – is developed and he is influenced very much by the guru of the village. He also becomes Muslim.

The film spends a great deal of time showing him as the older man, finding disciples, philosophising on his way of life. He returns to his own village, the people not believing that he had survived. His wife now wants to go with him but his mother is rigid and severe in her demands that he renounce Islam. This Hindu village is rigorously anti-Muslim. However, he decides to go away – and this influences his understanding of religions, his tolerance for both Hinduism and Islam, his deep humanism.

Much of the film shows the fakir gathering disciples and living in the forest. He is also subject to sexual temptation – but, acknowledging his humanity, opts for celibacy.

A lot of the fakir’s sayings are incorporated into the screenplay of the film along with the songs.

The film offers an opportunity for western audiences to spend some time observing and trying to understand this kind of fakir, his leadership, his disciples and their loyalty, the persecutions that he underwent. In many ways, there are parallels to the Gospel story of Jesus – his call, his sense of mission, discipleship, integrity, the persecution of his disciples.

The film requires some patience on the part of audiences who do not know the history of Bengal, this part of India and Bangladesh. However, it is a significant experience of world religion – and the opportunity to question issues of faith and understanding as well as tolerance?