Lost and found
The songbooks of cinema in the archive
A unique item from the golden era of cinema
Novera Deepita
In the early periods of our cinema history many interesting things were there which do not exist any more. A 'songbook' is one such thing. Moviegoers used to collect these books from the cinema hall premises after the show was over. These books contained the story line, songs and the names of the actors and directors. Often the books contained songs and synopsis of more than one cinema. Printed on very cheap paper, low quality printing, incorrect spelling and lyrics were the main characteristics of these songbooks. While talking to a moviegoer who watched films from the mid 60s till the Liberation War, one learnt that little children used to sell these books at a very low price, right after the show in front of the cinema halls. The price was two or four pice or even one anna. Sometimes these books were distributed free of cost. This middle aged once-upon-a-time moviegoer said, 'We were very fond of these books and never returned home without collecting them. The golden songs of the yesteryears like Amar Shwapney Dekha Rajkonya Thake, Muchhe Jawa Dinguli Amay Je Pichhu Dake or Tumi Je Amar were all time favourites.' She also said that the young girls of the traditional Hindu families used to purchase these books regularly and they used to sing these songs with the harmonium. They were very eager to pick up the songs and practised them the very day they viewed the film. The memories are still very vivid about the books being sold like hotcakes.' Bangladesh Film Archive (BFA) has nearly 300 such books. The librarian of BFA, Nurul Islam said, 'These songbooks used to come out till 1985. We have tried to collect all the books but it was not possible because before the archive was established all these books were scattered. Nobody was there to preserve them.' So, if anybody wants to have a taste of the past days from the films of the golden era, especially to have a look at the lyrics of old movies like Matir Pahar, Asia, Akash O Mati and so on Bangladesh Film Archive is the right place.
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