The failure of Anjan Dutt's Bada Din based on the Anglo-Indian community made him direct Bow Barracks Forever which also deals with them
Features
-Staff
By Staff
By:
Bhavna
Chopra,
IndiaFM
Monday,
June
18,
2007
There
are
films
that
you
wish
were
a
reality
and
there
is
reality,
which
you
wish
were
just
a
film
or
a
part
of
a
drama.
But
one
has
to
wake
up
and
smell
coffee.
How
long
can
you
live
in
a
dream
world
of
fantasies,
in
a
world
so
fictional
that
at
end
of
it
all,
it
hurts
to
know
it
isn't
real?
But
thankfully
films
today
have
changed,
and
along
with
it
they
have
also
changed
the
face
of
cinema.
It
is
only
through
such
realistic
cinema
that
we
have
come
to
understand
our
real
world
much
better.
And
hope
to
know
more.
But
looks
like
you
do
not
understand
where
are
we
getting
at,
do
you?
What
men
it
is
not
as
complicated
as
Rosy
Aunty's
wine
but
as
simple
as
Peter
uncle's
vodka
shot.
There,
you
still
look
lost
on
that
one,
so
to
make
things
a
bit
simpler
and
less
complicated
let's
put
a
full
stop
to
my
bantering
and
come
to
the
point.
The
topic
of
our
interview
today
is
the
recent
but
yet
to
be
released
realistic
film,
'Bow
Barracks
Forever'.
It
is
a
film
that
is
being
made
by
Mr
Anjan
Dutt,
the
famous
bong
musician,
singer-composer
who
is
also
a
writer,
director
and
an
actor.
With
this
film
Anjan
Dutt
has
taken
a
keen
initiative
in
portraying
true
story
of
a
bunch
of
Anglo-Indians
living
in
Calcutta.
Through
this
film
he
wants
to
communicate
and
voice
out
the
serious
problem
of
this
very
special,
close
to
his
heart
community,
with
which
he
identifies
and
has
great
affiliation.
The
film
is
being
produced
by
PNC
(Pritish
Nandy
Communications)
and
is
based
on
true
story
and
lesser
known
facts
of
Anglo-
Indian
community
that
needs
to
come
into
the
limelight.
It
is
a
story
about
people
that
needs
to
be
told.
It
is
a
story
about
families
that
need
to
be
helped
and
what
better
way
to
showcase
their
worries
and
their
actual
essence
of
living
than
through
a
film
projecting
it
all.
One
may
wonder
what
Bow
Barracks
is
and
why
such
a
peculiar
name
for
a
film?
Well,
Bow
Barracks
is
nothing
but
a
very
historic,
extremely
cherished
and
an
old
residential
area
/building
in
Calcutta
that
houses
140
Anglo
Indian
families
and
for
whom
it
is
their
only
home.
But
the
grave
matter
of
concern
for
this
purely
loved
and
nurtured
area
is
that
it
is
under
the
threat
of
getting
demolished
and
reconstructed
into
a
newer
and
modern
architecture.
An
architecture
if
built,
will
ruin
each
and
every
person's
life
living
there,
will
kill
the
very
essence
of
their
presence,
their
survival
and
their
basic
aim
to
have
stayed
rooted
to
India
for
generations
and
generations
to
come.
On
interviewing
Mr
Anjan
Dutt,
the
actor
who
acted
in
Aparna
Sen's
films
like
Mr
and
Mrs
Iyer
and
Yugant,
veteran
director
Mrinal
Sen's
films
like
Kharij
and
Ek
Din
Achanak,
one
realizes
that
he
has
come
a
long
way
(almost
40
years
now)
to
pursue
his
real
passion,
which
is
direction.
Having
completed
his
education
in
Darjeeling,
he
moved
to
Calcutta
and
being
a
hardcore
cosmopolitan
city
that
it
is,
it
offered
him
a
wide
variety
of
career
options.
From
Advertising,
journalism,
rock
music,
theatre
to
acting
in
films,
Mr
Dutt
has
tested
them
all.
And
in
spite
of
the
fact
that
his
father
was
a
famous
lawyer,
Dutt
instead
of
choosing
law
as
his
obvious
path,
chose
to
merely
survive
by
doing
things
that
interested
him.
As
an
independent
director-writer,
Anjan
Dutt
has
some
commendable
films
to
his
kitty
out
of
which
his
worth
a
mention
films
are
The
Bong
Connection,
Bada
Din
and
a
documentary
Call
Cutta.
Though
Bada
Din,
a
film
again
on
Anglo-
Indians,
their
living
style,
culture
and
colorful
stories,
is
considered
by
Mr
Dutt
as
his
most
embarrassing
subject,
for
he
could
not
do
proper
justice
to
it,
is
a
movie
through
which
one
clearly
gathers
that
it
is
'the
topic'
he
is
utmost
passionate
about.
"The
failure
of
Bada
Din
is
one
of
the
main
reasons
I
have
chosen
to
make
a
film
on
Bow
Barracks
Forever.
Bada
Din
as
a
film
has
not
only
disappointed
me
but
also
failed
to
project
the
true
nature
of
the
community
I
am
so
fond
of.
I
have
literally
grown
up
being
a
part
of
the
Anglo
Indian
community.
The
reason
I
am
so
well
versed
with
their
lifestyle
and
culture
is
because
my
teacher,
my
girlfriend,
my
friends
were
all
Anglo
Indians.
I
have
grown
up
listening
to
their
kind
of
music,
eating
their
food
and
laughing
at
their
jokes.
But
I
never
knew
a
place
like
Bow
Barracks
existed
in
Calcutta,
until
I
was
invited
there
to
screen
Bada
Din
in
order
to
raise
funds.
Once
there
amongst
those
people,
it
was
only
then
did
I
learn
of
their
stories,
their
problems
which
is
how
I
decided
to
make
the
film
on
the
pertinent
issue",
says
Anjan
Dutt.