The Bow Barracks were built for the army during World War I. But there are no written records to prove these facts.
KOLKATA: The narrow lane is flanked by six blocks of three-storeyed buildings, which look old but sturdy. Their red brick façade wear a shabby look in patches. The green windows frame gay curtains that catch the erratic summer breeze now and then.
Save for an idling cab at one end of the short row, no other vehicle or human being is in sight. An oasis of peace amid the mad rush of Central Avenue, barely a few yards away.
This is Bow Barracks, a Christian locality in Kolkata that has now become a “bone of contention” after the release of Anjan Dutt’s film Bow Barracks Forever.
Hardly anyone had heard of Bow Barracks before the film was made. But Bow Barracks, 80% of whose residents are Anglo Indians, has acquired a reputation of sorts for its Christmas celebrations.
It was actually at one of these Christmas gatherings that film-maker Dutt, also a singer, was asked to perform. He fell in love with the community right away and decided to make a film based on it.
But herein lies the problem. The Anglo Indians are upset at the portrayal of their community in Dutt’s film, which deals with the inter-personal relationships of several Anglo Indian families living in Bow Barracks.
In the film, all the characters seem to be down and out and desperate to move out of the barracks for a better life abroad.
Each family live in a single cluttered room. And looming over them is the shadow of the local goon, terrorising them to vacate the building.
But members of the Bow United Organisation (BUO) say: “The movie has nothing to do with Bow Barracks. We don’t live like that. No house here is so untidy.”
Barry O’Brien, Anglo-Indian representative in the state Assembly, says: “The film distorts reality. It has generalised the community as idlers and drunks, which shows a lack of research.”
BUO members allege Dutt had read out the script to them but he did not mention these details.
Anjan Dutt seems upset at being “misunderstood. “It’s regrettable that we are getting into minority issues. The setting is real but my film is a work of fiction.
It has nothing to do with reality. I have grown up with this community and have held my hat up to them. Why should drinking, sex have negative connotations?”
The Anglo Indians want Dutt to put a disclaimer in the film. “While the freedom of the film director should be respected, I feel the film should carry a statement saying it is a work of fiction. Unless this happens, the film should be banned immediately,” says O’Brien. He added: I have also requested the CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to intervene.”
The Bow Barracks were built for the army during World War I. But there are no written records to prove these facts. When the soldiers left India, they handed over the apartments to the Anglo Indians who took them on rent.
Today, 132 families live in the Barracks. Of them, 80 per cent residents are Anglo Indians.
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