Unsophisticated storyline blended with unbelievable stunts
Lately, House of Variety, Patna has emerged as a cute sophisticated centre for performing arts with a distinctive focus on high-class theatre and motion pictures. Suman Sinha, the owner of Reagent Cinema is the main force behind it and there is a team of distinguished persons like Punj Prakash (NSD alumnus) in his team. To massive acclaim by the connoisseurs, Mr. Sinha has opened and been running the centre not for profit-making but for the selfless promotion of art and culture. There must be a hub of global standards in Patna like Prithvi Theatre in Delhi where aesthetic criterion should be the topmost priority. Though each of drama show performed here is chargeable to the public it is mainly for developing awareness that you must pay for the quality of art you enjoy. Buying tickets for drama shows is like offer of gratitude to the distinguished art you admire.
HoV, Patna celebrated Buster Keaton Film Festival from 13th to 18 th of May 2025 in which five films of Buster Keaton were screened. They were The Cameraman, Sherlock Jr, Steamboat Bill Jr, Our Hospitality, Cops, Play House and The General. By chance, I was privileged to attend some of them. Every day in the beginning of the event, Punj Prakash talked about the evolution of cinema step-by-step. After him, Kumar Vimalendu used to brief about the background and content in a pinpointed manner of the film to be shown on that day. After him it used to be the turn of Zia Hasan who talked about the technicalities as how some of the scenes of that film was shot. Suman Sinha himself was seen supervising and been actively involved in organising this festival. Krishna Samiddh and Dastak (drama group) also contributed to the festival. Vinit Kumar was also an important member of the team.
At a time when cinema had not yet learnt to talk, names like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton taught us how to communicate through silence. Buster Keaton was one of the greatest artists of the silent era of cinema, who even today teaches us that silence is not just an expression, but a philosophy.
Buster Keaton's film career reached its peak in the 1920s when he not only acted in but also directed and co-wrote classics like The General (1926), Sherlock Jr. (1924), and The Navigator (1924). These films established his technical prowess, risky stunts, and his unparalleled art of silent (body) acting. His most difficult film scenes were often so precisely structured and premeditated that they flowed like classical poetry. Every movement, every scene, every frame had a clear meaning. The General is still considered one of the greatest films in history, though it was a commercial failure in its time. It is an irony of Keaton's career that the things he did ahead of their time took time to catch up. His independent filmmaking days are now considered a golden age when he was at his creative peak and was fundamentally shaping the language of cinema. Keaton's life was as inspiring as his films. When the era of talkies came and the studio system curbed his creativity, he did not stop acting. His will to live is a true lesson in today's "viral or fail" era that the glory of creativity is determined not by success but by consistency.
The narrative structure of his films was of "Small man versus Big world". He would transform simple themes - love, travel, struggle etc. into such situations and disasters that they became epic conflicts. In films like Seven Chances, The General or The Navigator, his hero is an ordinary man who confronts extraordinary circumstances with aplomb.
Keaton reminds us that technology can never be a substitute for human sensitivity. His silence, his gestures and his courage inspire today's artists, filmmakers and general audiences to realise that a lot can be said, heard and shown through work provided there is truth and resonance in it because there is no greater investment than imagination and expertise in one's work.
We also came to know that a certificate of appreciation has been awarded to Mr. Suman Sinha by Dainik Jagaran as a recognition of his admiring role as a true ambassador of Patna's spirit, heritage and progress. Though we could not find a mention of date on the certificate.
And last but not the least, the auditorium remained packed with the enlightened lot of viewers on every day of the festival. It is sort of testimony of qualitative change in the taste of Patna audience brought by HoV at least to some extent among which there definitely exists a class who do not want to miss out on on the nectar of the global classics may even be silent movies 100 years back. They want to dip into the nitty-gritty of the content and technicalities that makes a movie classic. Some of them put their queries on some aspects of the film after it was shown. All the queries were satisfied by the experts.
In essence, HoV, Patna worth applauds not only for this festival in particular but for enrooting and nurturing the culture of watching, learning and appreciating the world-class theatre and movies of the earlier era also.
Report by- Hemant Das 'him'
Courtesy- The brochure of Buster Keaton Film Festival by HoV, Patna
