Stories are rife around the eventful production of Basu Bhattacharya’s splendid film, in which Raj Kapoor gives what is probably one of his most sensitive performances alongside the great Waheeda Rehman. Discovering that a film produced by his unavoidable lyricist, Shailendra, was in preparation behind his back, Raj Kapoor demanded that he take part in it, fixing his salary at a token amount of one rupee. Subrata Mitra, Satyajit Ray’s faithful cinematographer, was freed up for the filming and commented that Teesri Kasam: “A movie made in black and white, but truly visualised and remembered in colour”. A box-office failure, Teesri Kasam nonetheless carried off the top national film award in 1966. JB
SCREENINGS
LE CINÉMATOGRAPHE
SUN 17 > 5:30 pm, in the presence of Jitka de Préval, author of the essay on Raj Kapoor, Le Maître de Bollywood.
KATORZA
THU 21 > 10:00 am
