Shyama

Synopsis

Shyama, a court dancer, falls in love with a foreign merchant who is falsely imprisoned and faces execution ... unless Shyama accepts an admirer's offer to take the merchant's place.

Perhaps best described as a cross between opera and ballet, this classic Bengali romantic tragedy was written in 1939 by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Shyama was Tagore's last major work for the stage and illustrates the unique combination of song, dance, colour and movement of the dance style he created. The ensemble cast of this authentic, colourful, feature film version features leading dancers, singers and musicians from Tagore’s home town of Santiniketan, India.

Based on a Buddhist legend, Shyama reflects Tagore's artistic and philosophical reaction to both the turbulence of pre-Independence India and Hitler’s persecution of Jews in Germany. Tagore's subtle message is no less appropriate today, when the lives of innocent people continue to be wrecked or cut short by political violence and foreigners continue to be convenient scapegoats.

Shyama and Tagore are held by many of the 230 million Bengali-speakers around the world in the same light as, for example, Romeo & Juliet and Shakespeare in the English-speaking world. Many of the songs are also popular favourites in their own right. The various language versions of the film so far include the first published translations of Shyama into English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hungarian and Portuguese.

Latest Updates

'Shyama' gets fresh distribution spin

Published on: February 16, 2010

Hollywood Reporter article by Stuart Kemp

Radiohead did it with album "In Rainbows" and now Obhi Chatterjee's Bengali classic dance musical hit "Shyama" is coming to viewers in the same way, with Internet users being asked to pay what they think is fair for the title.

The rights owner, Inner Eye, plans to release the movie online and said consumers can "donate an amount of money that they think is fair which will cover the cost." The Web site is prompting donations to hit the £2 ($3) mark.

An HD version is also available via IndieFlix's online VoD rental platform.

The move will give the movie industries in Hollywood, Bollywood and more traditional sellers attending the European Film Market in Berlin pause for thought for one main reason -- Inner Eye is making the movie available in a format that allows personal copying and legal sharing.

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Shyama goes global

Published on: February 11, 2010

Obhi Chatterjee’s widescreen feature film Shyama brings Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance musical to a global audience for the first time with its pioneering digital distribution strategy. The film, its soundtrack album and related books are all released by Inner Eye under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence, allowing personal copying and sharing. Shyama is also free online using the Java-based technology of Forbidden Technologies plc. The HD version, suitable for home screenings, is available worldwide using IndieFlix’ online VoD rental platform.

Speaking as the free version went live, Obhi said “Every Bengali has heard of Tagore and Shyama but how many non-Bengalis have? Over 70 years after its creation, digital technology now allows us to help Shyama cross linguistic boundaries and bring it to new audiences all over the world.” So far, the film includes the first translations of Shyama into English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish.

Shyama, which had its Asian Première at the 2009 Kolkata Film Festival, features leading dancers, singers and musicians from Santiniketan. Kaberi Chatterjee dances the title role of Shyama, whose songs are performed by Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi. TS Vasunni dances the role of Bojroshen, sung by Jayanta Chatterjee.

“Shyama may be one of the first films to have a commercially viable business model based on allowing personal copying and having a free online version,” said Kaberi. “We want everyone who is interested to be able to watch Shyama in whichever format and language they like and wherever they are. In one of his most famous poems, Tagore dreamed of a world where knowledge is free. We share that dream.”

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Shyama gets warm welcome at the Kolkata Film Festival

Published on: November 17, 2009

Shyama, Obhi Chatterjee’s widescreen feature film version of Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance dram a, had its Asian première at the Kolkata Film Festival. Produced by UK-based Inner Eye, the film was conceived as an authentic reference work. Through subtitles and the film medium, it will raise global awareness of Tagore and the Tagore dance form (Rabindra nritya).

The film features leading dancers, singers and musicians from Santiniketan. Kaberi Chatterjee dances the title role of Shyama, whose songs are performed by Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi. TS Vasunni dances the role of Bojroshen, sung by Jayanta Chatterjee. The production design and costumes are based on Kaberi’s research. So far, Shyama is available in Bengali, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish.

“We were thrilled to be invited to present Shyama at the Kolkata Film Festival”, said Obhi. “It was a great surprise to find that some of the audience were so absorbed by the film that they were singing along at Wednesday’s screening.” 70 years after Tagore created it, Shyama will use the latest digital distribution techniques to help this classic work cross linguistic boundaries as he had intended.

Shyama will be screened at 6.30pm on December 10 at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium of the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, Kolkata, as part of a Tagore Festival called Tagore Beyond Frontiers, which will be inaugurated by the Governor on December 4. Kaberi’s book Tagore dance, which uses production stills from Shyama to illustrate different aspects of this unique, semi-classical dance form, will be published shortly.

Notes to editors
1. Film website: www.shyamathemovie.com includes the first episodes of the 10-part Shyama podcast series introduced by Obhi & Kaberi Chatterjee. Web search term: ‘Shyama podcast’. Production stills can be downloaded from www.innereye.eu/shyama/press/Shyama_production_stills.zip .
2. The English translation of Shyama by Jayanta, Obhi & Kaberi Chatterjee is published by Inner Eye. ISBN: 1440402043. The Shyama soundtrack album is available from online digital music stores.
3. Shyama is available on DVD and video-on-demand from amazon.com in the US. It will shortly be released on various global online platforms, such as indieflix.com. With the help of the Java-based video technology of Forbidden Technologies plc, Shyama will also be available free online.
4. Rabindranath Tagore Centre website: www.tagorecentreiccr.org .
Contacts:
Obhi Chatterjee - M: (+91) 94758 48651 until 22 November
Kaberi Chatterjee - M: (+91) 99336 00358 until 28 November; T: +44 20 8144 9690 from 29 November

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