BISHAR BLUES
Indien 2006 – Director: Amitabh Chakraborty – Original language: Bengali – Subtitles: English – Length: 80 min.
Suffocated by the images of Islam that he was bombarded with in the wake of 9/11, Chakraborty had his faith in the individual restored when he met the fakir. Disciples of the "Bishar Islam", they are the second largest ethnic language group practicing Islam, worshipping Man or the belief that to know oneself is to know Allah. The tradition preaches equality between man and woman and condemns the caste system, but its practitioners remain a minority and are outcasts in Indian society. Travelling almost 3,000 km across West Bengal, Bishar Blues follows the fakirs, a fairly unknown and liberal branch of Islam, to mazaars and melas.
The fakirs do not consider music a performing art, but a way of life. It is through the oral tradition of songs and tales that the fakirs, or Muslim mystics, pass on their knowledge to the population. An inherent part of their mythology, music immortalises the philosophy of Man as the ultimate mythology, with every fakir having his own twist on the tale. This film shows us another face of Islam, where democracy provides the strength and buoyancy of the faith.
Camera: Somak Mukherjee. Sound: Partha Barman. Editing: Amitabh Chakraborty, Amit Debnath. Production: Amitabh Chakraborty. Producer: Amitabh Chakraborty.
