Moushumi Chatterjee: “Basu Chatterjee Never Got His Due”

The  reclusive  outspoken Moushumi Chatterjee remembers  the  good times she had while shooting with  Basu Chatterjee. “We  did three films together. Uss Paar was the first one . We also did my home production Do  Ladke  Donon Kadke. I remember the  beautiful songs in  Uss Paar. People  remember  Lataji singing Rimjhim gire saawan  for me in Manzil.   But  Lataji also sang some really beautiful songs for me in Uss Paar like Tumne diya piya sab kuch. Basuda  had a fantastic   music sense. He was a far greater filmmaker than what he’s acknowledged  to be.”

Moushumi reveals there was another  unfinished film with Basuda. “We  were  shooting the  film in 2005 . It had Satish Kaushik also  in the cast.  But about 30  percent of the shooting remained incomplete  because of  the rains that deluged Mumbai in July  2005.  I don’t know what happened  to that  film. So many films  Basuda  did!  He was prolific. In  fact the last time I spoke  to  him  was when I was watching something of his on television. I  instinctively called him. He asked me to send a recording  of  what  I was watching…He was getting very old. His memory  was  fading .And   he was suffering. I  wish I could have meet him. But then I had  my own issues regarding  my ailing daughter.”

 Speaking  of the famous rain  song Rimjhim gire sawan in  Manzil Moushumi says, “It looked very romantic  for Amit and me to be  running in the rain. But shooting it was a nightmare. I remember we shot it over two days on the streets  of Mumbai in real monsoom rain.  Basuda  didn’t  want  to shoot in artificial rain.  Amit  would arrive  at  the locations with his  brother Ajitabh in a small car. We would  shoot in the pouring rain and then  rush back to  take shelter  in that car. I remember the colour from my green saree began to bleed  in  the  heavy rain.Then suddenly Amit said to me. ‘Have you seen  your face?’ He asked  someone to get me a mirror. All the eyeliner was on my cheeks making me look  hideous. On top of this problems there was the problem of  our mismatched heights. Amit is super-tall I am short. Basuda’s cameraman the wonder K K Mahajan had a  tough time keeping us together in a frame  together.Shooting that song  was not easy.”

Moushumi recalls Basuda with much  pleasure.  “He  had a temper  problem. Whenever he was upset he’d stuff his mouth with  a handkerchief . But  I never  saw that side of him. To me he was a  cultured gentle  learned director whose films were  about real people and real situations.”