Source : The Hindu
The Bengaluru Bengali Kannada Film Festival will screen films on a range of issues, from Euthanasia to politics
International film festivals are held frequently and with much fanfare in Bengaluru, but regional film festivals are few and far between. There is a wealth of regional films that only needs a platform to be showcased so that film buffs, critics and scholars can be exposed to not only to different film-making styles but also to different cultures and varied perspectives.
One such endeavour is the Bengaluru Bengali Kannada film festival that was well received in its first edition. The second edition will be held this weekend, featuring the best of Bengali cinema along with Kannada films, selected by renowned film critics Premendra Mazumder, Saibal Chatterjee and Siladitya Sen.
The film festival has been organised by Satyajit Ray Film Society Bengaluru in collaboration with Federation of Film Societies of India and Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy. There will be panel discussions too featuring luminaries such as Sandip Ray, film-maker and son of Satyajit Ray; Dhritiman Chatterjee, who has acted in films such as ‘36 Chowringhee Lane’, ‘15 Park Avenue’, ‘Pink’, ‘Kahani’, among other critically-acclaimed films; Sabyasachi Chakraborty of Feluda fame; film critic, Siladitya Sen; and director Sagnik Chatterjee.
The festival will screen 16 films: 12 Bengali films and four Kannada films, which includes ‘Rajkumara’, ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’, ‘Hebbet Ramakka’, and ‘Kurmavatara’. “Tollywood celebrities such as actress Sudipta Chakraborty; celebrity-anchor-cum-actor Mir, film-makers Arnab K Middya; director of ‘Andarkahini’, Abhijit Guha- Sudeshna Roy, the director duo of ‘Benche Thakar Gaan’, Saibal Mitra and Pranab Kanti Purkayastha, director and producer of ‘Chitrakar’, and Debasish Sen Sharma, director of ‘Aranyadeb’, will attend the festival,” says Dr Madhushree.
“For Satyajit Ray and Feluda fans there will be a special section ‘Tribute to Satyajit Ray,” says Dr Madhushree Sengupta, festival director, “There will be a screening of short films series titled ‘Royal Bengal Rohossyo’, which includes ‘Bhakta’, ‘Abhinetri’, ‘Chilekotha’, and ‘Tallywoode Tarinikhuro’, directed by Sandip Ray, and a docu- feature ‘Feluda- 50 years of Ray’s Detective’ directed by Sagnik Chatterjee.”
“The opening film of the festival is Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s award-winning and critically-acclaimed ‘Asha Jawar Mujhe’, set in Kolkata, which has no dialogues and revolves around the relationship between a married couple. The Festival will close with ‘Pupa’, directed by Indrashis Acharya, which is based on the subject of Euthanasia.” The other films are ‘Iye’, directed by Debesh Chatterjee, will be screened for the first time in India, and ‘Rainbow Jelly’, directed by Soukarya Ghoshal, a fantasy film for childrenwill also be screened.
The Bengaluru Bengali Kannada Film Festival will be held from June 8 to June 10 and will be screened at two venues: Gandhi Bhavan, Kumara Park Road, near Lalit Ashok, and Chamundeshwari Studio, Vasanth Nagar, Cunningham Road.
For information on invitation passes visit: https://www.facebook.com/srfs.bengaluru/ or Call: 9019512868.
