The city of joy has many treasure troves, of which Indian cinema is one. We are aware of its rich tapestried history, but not much is known about the city’s contribution to Indian cinema, especially in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Filmmaker Jaydip Mukherjee, who has many archival works to his credit, has now embarked on a journey to piece together showman Raj Kapoor’s Calcutta (now Kolkata) connect in Painted Memories: Calcutta Connects Raj Kapoor.

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What the docu-maker is trying to capture is how many of the legends of Indian cinema have spent time in the city during their formative years. They then moved to Bombay to make a name and fortune for themselves. “Greats like Sambhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, Hemant Mukherjee, Manna De and so many others spent a part of their life in Calcutta, including Nargis Dutt, who stayed in the city for four years since her birth in 1929. Raj Kapoor and Nargis did not know each other but when they established themselves in Bombay, the Calcutta connection worked as a bridge between them,” reveals Mr Mukherjee.

Shooting his documentary at a time when India is celebrating Raj Kapoor’s centenary year, Jaydip Mukherjee also wants to capture how many of the film greats, mostly Bengalis, went on to rule the Bombay film industry from the 1930s to the ’60s. The documentary will also show how Raj Kapoor was influenced by his Bengali friends, with Radu Karmakar, his cameraman and Sombhu Mitra, who directed Jagte Raho, being prime examples.

Mr Mukherjee’s documentary, “Other Ray: The Art of Satyajit Ray” in 2022, is a biographical documentary incorporating his own conception of Ray’s genius.

I researched Hrishikesh Mukherjee and realised that the decades from the ’30s to the ’60s, saw many Bengali filmmakers and musicians contributing to the Bombay film industry. There was a flow of Bengali individuals in the Mumbai film industry.

In the year when the world celebrates Raj Kapoor’s 100 years, Mr Mukherjee thought that he should also talk about RK’s Calcutta connection through Painted Memories: Calcutta Connects Raj Kapoor. Prithvi Raj Kapoor lived in Calcutta from 1932-1939, working in New Theatres, while staying at a house in Hazra.

“The showman studied at Mitra Institution and also at St Xavier’s school. Sambhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, Hemant Mukherjee and Manna De, all had city connections. They did not know each other but when they established themselves in Bombay, the Calcutta connection worked as a bridge. This is the main theme of my documentary. I would also try to show about the bonding between RK and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Before Anand, they had worked on the prospect of doing a film, Ananda Sangbad in Bengali with Uttam Kumar in the role of Amitabh Bachchan and RK doing the role of Rajesh Khanna. But the film did not work out,” said Mr Mukherjee.

The 50-minute or so documentary, produced by Subrata Sanyal, now awaits completion of its Mumbai leg, which had a promo show in Kolkata recently.

Filmmaker Mukherjee says he is thrilled to work on this documentary. “My documentary is divided in three phases – Raj Kapoor’s childhood, his moving to Bombay and interactions between Bengali film directors, musicians with Raj Kapoor and their friendship, mainly Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Radu Karmakar. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was RK’s scriptwriter and through him his friendship with Sambhu Mitra happened. Tripti Mitra played the lead heroine in Gopinath,” said Mr Mukherjee, who is trying to get access to the material on Raj Kapoor’s first film, where he acted as a child artist named Inquilab. The film’s negatives, posters, print, everything seems to have been lost. The film was made in Calcutta, adds the filmmaker.

For the Mumbai leg, Mr Mukherjee plans to contact the Kapoor family, but doubts how much they know about his Kolkata connection. Randhir Kapoor, who might know, is ailing. The filmmaker says he will try to speak to people like Waheeda Rehman, Vyjayanthimala, Gulzar saab, who may be able to throw some light on the subject. Mr Mukherjee is depending on his resource persons, Sajal Datta and Nirmal Dhar to get access to people with the knowledge on the subject in Mumbai.

Mr Mukherjee, who has 35 plus years of experience in the field, feels that rich history needs to be preserved and archived and says the National Museum of Indian Cinema, under I&B ministry, is doing a great work in this regard.