Shantanu Thakur (thakur.santanu@gmail.com)
Yes, you’ve guessed it right, the title has been inspired by that best-seller Hollywood movie – “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”. One had watched it several times. Quite often, a story or certain scenes from a movie linger in your mind for a long time. In the Assamese movie “Bhaimonda”, the mandolin is not just a musical instrument; it is a character, an integral part of the story. Although there is no similarity with the English movie, Bhaimonda suddenly makes the mandolin relevant all over again. One doesn’t recall seeing such portrayal of a musical instrument as a living entity in Assamese cinema before. That’s why this is off-track piece about a musical instrument.
It’s surprising that although Assam had never had a large number of mandolin players, there was, nevertheless, at least one or two around in almost every town. During Bhaimon Baruah’s time, no music school in Assam taught the mandolin. How many music schools were there anyway, in the first place? Golaghat was certainly a good cultural centre though. Many people like Bhaimon Baruah picked up the mandolin out of love and passion for the instrument, not from a professional perspective. Parents generally did not encourage or support this passion. In the movie, you can hear the father’s dialogue: “What is that, a dotara or fotara that he plays!?” Even in our time, many called it the mandolium, thinking it was the little brother of the harmonium! The dialogue in the movie does not necessarily intend to belittle local folk instruments like the dotara or the tokari; it merely reflects the way people spoke with a bit of sarcasm back then. There was no complete disregard for the mandolin either. Parents those days did not encourage their children in these pursuits because making a living through arts and culture was difficult. Choosing music as a career meant the child was lost!
Despite this, Bhaimonda and his peers did not abandon the mandolin; they carried it within them, tied to their hearts. Perhaps the small size helped! In the movie, the mandolin conveys many things beyond just musical notes. It speaks about Bhaimon’s character, the society of that time, and the few music lovers who could be counted on one’s fingers. A musical instrument is not just a tool; it is a living entity. To understand this truth, one needs divine grace. It takes a lifetime of dedication to master it. These are not lifeless, inert objects; through them, human beings step into the sacred world of music. Musicians keep themselves alive through these instruments, even amidst scarcity and hardship; they worship the instruments. One must understand that even if Bhaimon stopped playing it physically, the mandolin always played in his heart and consciousness. There are many who think of learning to play the mandolin or the violin but end up keeping it at home without playing it. Some lucky children get the best of instruments brought to them voluntarily by their parents, but the kids hardly ever take even a good look at it. Precious instrumentslie buried in dust and dirt.
Sometimes, the mandolin can be amusing. Once, while looking for a high-quality mandolin, the owner of a famous shop in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk asked: “Do you want the Shah Rukh one?!” Just because Shah Rukh Khan had cavorted around trees with a mandolin in his hand in the popular movie ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,’ it became known as the Shah Rukh mandolin! Such is the magic of the instrument. It was the same during the time of the success of ‘Pyar Ka Mausam.’ Now that the mandolin has found centre-stage in “Bhaimonda,” we can, perhaps, hope for a new wave of mandolin interest in Assam. It is noteworthy that the pieces played on the mandolin in the movie were performed by the renowned artist Debojit Gogoi from Dibrugarh. He is also a talented member of our ‘Brahmaputra Mandolins’ group. We sincerely thank the producer and director of the movie for giving the mandolin the prominent place it deserved in a story on the life and times of Munin Barua. Our gratitude also to Debojit Gogoi for beautifully bringing the character of the instrument to life. Among string instruments, the mandolin has a unique character and voice; not everyone can express that uniqueness. The instrument found its identity through Debojit’s touch. The mandolin played no less a role than any other character in understanding the main character from within. In life, one has come across many music-lovers, met people who once loved and played an instrument passionately, but over time, it disappeared without a trace. One is aware that the family of artist Jayanta Hazarika carefully preserved his instruments. Bhaimonda’s family might not have been able to do that, even if they wanted to, or maybe they have done so already. Many once-precious passions fade over time. Many veenas break, many strings snap, only sweet memories remain. Just as Assam floats on oil, it also floats on music. The flow of music runs through the hearts of its people; you cannot separate music from the Assamese heart. Many might wonder why we are so emotional about an instrument that many have never heard of or even recognize, but we are extremely happy; we believe many others will be too.