Fr. Gaston Roberge, a
French - Canadian Jesuit priest, had been asking himself since the 1980s why
India did not have a new theory of popular films. It was only in 2010 he got an
answer after studying the 2000-year old Indian treatise of dance and drama –
Natya Sastra. The result was a 100 page
book,
The Indian Film Theory: Flames of
Sholay, Notes and Beyond that offered a new perspective on the theories
underlying Indian commercial cinema.
The book was released
at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata on June 15, 2010 by Goutam Ghose, a renowned Indian
film director. It has been described as ‘easily readable’ and ‘radical in its
content.’ Ghose said, ‘Fr. Roberge introduced the study of film in the context
of our social matrix, which is very important. He analysed the phenomena in the
sociopolitical context of this complex and heterogeneous country, writing about
our society while studying two films - Sholay and Beder Meye Jyotsna. He had a
kind of social observation on cinema. He would ask, “Why were people enjoying
films? Which class of people? What about education?”
Fr. Gaston, a legend,
a pioneer in the study of cinema and a close friend of Satyajit Ray, passed
away in Kolkata on August 26 and was laid to rest at Dhyan Asharm, the Jesuit
Novitiate at Konchowki, 20 KM from the city of Kolkata. He was a Master teacher
of film theories and was known as the high priest of cinema.
Fr. Roberge, was born
in May 1935 in Montreal, Quebec. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1956 and was
sent to India on his request in1961. He graduated, and did his Masters at UCLA.
He graduated from the University of Montreal and did his Masters at the
University of California in film
studies.
He then went to New
York where he saw Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali and became a fan of Ray. He
became a close friend of Ray, with whom he had many interactions and wrote
about. They were mutual advisors to each other in the world of films. Ray was
also one of the advisors of Chitrabani. Father Roberge also developed great
associations with Mrinal Sen and other filmmakers of India.
I had known Fr.
Gaston for over thirty years. He was an exemplary Jesuit and in the 70s and
80s, an idol to many young Jesuits like me. I had interviewed him a couple of
times for an Italian magazine, Popoli and other publications. He was a
large-hearted man with the spirit of
magis
in all that he did especially in spiritual and intellectual life. During his
short break in Montreal, I paid a visit to him. He took me to the St. Joseph’s
Oratory of Mount Royal, a basilica and national shrine in Montreal. It is a
National Historic Site of Canada and is Canada's largest church, with one of
the largest church domes in the world.
In one of my
interviews he told me, ‘I was reborn in India on October 15, 1961. For the last
50 years I have been mostly living in Kolkata. I teach communication media and
write. My main interest is the cultural roots of the Indian movies. And I love
it.” Fr. Roberge has authored more than 25 books on cinema, communications and
spirituality. He won an Indian National Film Award for his best writing on
Cinema for the year 1998 from the then President of India, K. R. Narayanan.
His first book,
Chitrbani, published in 1975, like the
institute he started, is a book on film appreciation. Satyajit Ray, through his
kind relationship with him and through his films, helped him in his journey to
the 'cave of the heart.' That is how he completed the "Pedagogy of the
Media Oppressed − In Tune with the Indian Folk Movies: Seven Steps of a
Self-Education for Liberation.”
He was the
founder-director of Chitrabani (1970), the first and the oldest media center in
eastern India located at Prabhu Jisur Gurija campus, Kolkata. For some years,
Chitrabani was an extension centre of SXCK and Fr. Roberge taught film
appreciation at the college. Thousands of film-makers, scholars and film
critics have been students of Fr. Roberge. National Award Winning director, K G
Das has made a documentary on ‘Fr. Roberge – Master Preacher of Film Theory.’
He was also the
founder-director of the EMMRC of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.
He was solely responsible for the UGC
granting the necessary affiliation and permission of EMMRC to SXCK. St.
Xavier’s is the only College which has an EMMRC under its management among the
19 EMMR Centres in India. He was the Executive Secretary for Social
Communication (1997 to 1999) at the Jesuit Curia in Rome.
Ray’s Pather Panchali
shook him and Indian cinema became his passion, his love and his commitment.
Through Chitrabani Fr. Roberge pioneered film academia in India as well as
cultivated and nurtured several generations of cineastes and filmmakers."
That is why the Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society, Mumbai gave him the
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
After his retirement
he remained at the St. Xavier’s infirmary till his eternal rest. He was 85. He
had almost totally lost his hearing and had to be on hearing aid. This Jesuit
priest and film guru has made a "significant contribution" to the
film industry. He will continue to be a major player on the field of Indian
cinema.
(Published on 14th
September 2020, Volume XXXII, Issue 38)
