Once an industrial powerhouse, Bengal lost its sheen post-independence. People have some misconceptions about how Bengal lost its glory. Bengali OTT platform, Hoichoi’s documentary series Mukhyamantri provides a clear picture of the events that led to the difficulties and challenges of present-day Bengal.
The documentary underlines the importance of understanding Bengal’s political past to comprehend the current situation. Mukhyamantri is one of best series in Hoichoi that is worth watching.
The title may suggest that it is solely a documentary on all the Chief Ministers of Bengal, but it offers much more than that. It analyses the modern political history of Bengal through the works of the chief ministers of the state. What good decisions were taken in their era, and how did their wrong judgments impact the future of Bengal.
Mukhyamantri covers the eight chief ministers of Bengal, starting from Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Jyoti Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and Mamata Banerjee.
The series takes us back to 300 BC when the first civilization of Bengal, known as Gangaridhai or Gangaridhi, the agricultural society developed in the region. It covers all the major political events from that time till the dramatic rise of current chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Challenges Of Modern Day Bengal
Bengal had its own shares of crises and challenges. Around 2 to 4 million people had died in the famine of 1943. The direct action day 1946, also known as the Calcutta Killings, spiked the communal tension among Hindus and Muslims. The partition of Bengal and the resultant refugee influx increased the load on the infrastructure. The Naxal movement; eventually led to Naxalite-Maoist Insurgency in the state.
After the death of the visionary leader Bidhan Chandra Roy, who formed a range of educational institutions and industries, Bengal failed to rise economically. Few people know that it was the license policy of the central government that made a big blow to the industry sector of Bengal.
The series presents the various events like the mishandling of the Naxal movement by Siddhartha Shankar Ray and the rise of Communism, that turned the tide of Bengal politics.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did try to revive industries in Bengal. But, his wrong calculations on land acquisition policies turned out to be disastrous that led to the exit of the Tata Nano factory from Singur. Also, this was the last blow to the Communist reign. The documentary also touches on the social schemes of the current Mukhyamantri, Mamata Banerjee.
Mukhyamantri clearly explains all of that and much more. One would get to know a lot of stories that are not told before. The show provides a window for the current generation to go out and find the truth about the past. One realizes that many issues in the current political context of Bengal have their roots in the past.
People Behind The Series Mukhyamantri
Mukhyamantri has a total of five episodes, each with a duration of 25- 27 minutes. To make the documentary short, at a fast pace, one after another, you are bombarded with lots of information.
The docu-series brings footage, caricatures, newspaper clipping, and guest interviews to narrate the events. The presentation is neat and crisp.
Mukhyamantri is ABP studio’s first produced show. It premiered on Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi on 25 February. Famous Bengali director – Indranil Roychowdhury has directed it. Pratik Dutta and Shaoli Chattopadhyay have done the presentation.
While, the series is not totally impartial with the comments and observations; yet, it tried its best to maintain a reasonable balance between subjective philosophies and historical findings and information.
In one sentence, Mukhyamantri is a praiseworthy attempt to decipher the modern historical and political events of Bengal. The documentary is interesting, and a must for anyone who wants to know about the pulse of Bengal politics.
