By Kunal Dutt(Photos: PTI1_14_2018_000020B; PTI1_14_2018_000021B;PTI1_14_2018_000022B; PTI1_14_2018_000023B)New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The over 150-year-old journey ofthe iconic Calcutta High Court, spanning its history, heritageand forgotten anecdotes, is all set to come alive in adocumentary for which the court has opened its doors for thefirst time.
The country's oldest high court, set up in 1862, hascommissioned the project, seeking to celebrate its illustriouslegacy and preserve it for the posterity, and roped in notedfilmmaker Goutam Ghose to helm it.
"For the first time, cameras have been allowed to rollinside the main building of the high court, so the film willshowcase some rare vignettes of history, besides capturing themonumental journey of this famed institution," Ghose said.
The acclaimed filmmaker, whose body of work includesseveral documentaries, including on the Asiatic Society('River of Knowledge') and shehnai legend Ustad BismilliahKhan ('Meeting a Milestone'), said he is treating the project"more as a storytelling film than a traditional documentary".
"We have filmed in Calcutta and the Circuit Bench in PortBlair. We went to shoot in Campbell Bay in Andaman & NicobarIslands which has the lowest point of the Indian territory(Indira Point). About 60 per cent of the shooting is done," hetold PTI over phone.
The 57-year-old filmmaker, said the project was"interesting and difficult" and involves a lot of academicresearch, for which he is digging up archival records fromvarious sources.
"The Calcutta High Court has opened its rich archives tous, which includes some of the landmark cases, and the detailson the building of the court, which is an architecturalmarvel," he said.
The imposing Gothic building was designed by WalterGranville on the model of the 'Stadt-Haus' or Cloth Hall atYpres in Belgium.
"The film will also thus showcase some of thearchitectural elements of the grand building that havehitherto been out-of-bounds for people. One interesting thingalso we found out that during the Second World War time, someexperts had come to Calcutta from Brussels to study itsarchitecture as the Stadt-Haus was damaged," Ghose said.
The High Court at Calcutta, formerly known as the HighCourt of Judicature at Fort William, was brought intoexistence by the Letters Patent dated May 14, 1862, issuedunder the High Court's Act, 1861, which provided that thejurisdiction and powers of the high court were to be definedby Letters Patent.
It was formally opened on July 1, 1862, with Sir BarnesPeacock as its first Chief Justice. The Calcutta High Courthas the distinction of being the first high court and one ofthe three chartered high courts to be set up in India, alongwith the high courts of Bombay and Madras.
Appointed on February 2, 1863, Justice Sumboo Nath Panditwas the first Indian to assume office as a judge of theCalcutta High Court, followed by legal luminaries such asJustice Dwarka Nath Mitter, Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee and JusticeP B Chakravartti, who was the first Indian to become itspermanent Chief Justice, according to the high court website.
"So, much of history is embedded in its journey and livesof personalities like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekanandaand Aurobindo Ghosh are connected with it.
"As a filmmakers, I am more interested in the human dramaand emotions that spring from the very existence of a court,its hurrying staff, or the plight of the common man, so inthat way it is like working on a feature film," said Ghose,who has won National Award multiple times.
For research, he said, the team is also going througharchives at the Victoria Memorial Hall, the Asiatic Society,besides, personal collections.
"We are also feeding in anecdotes associated with thecourt and a Bengali account 'Kata Aja Nare' (many unknownthings) is proving a big help, besides oral history given byold-timers," Ghose added.
Asked if landmark case episodes will be reconstructedthrough actors, the filmmaker said, "No. Role-playing somehowtends to be not very loyal to the original setting or thecharacter portrayed. We are thinking of using graphics torecreate the era." PTI KND ZMNABH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.