The New Town leg of the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) was inaugurated at Nazrul Tirtha on Wednesday, a day after the event was centrally flagged off by Salman Khan and other celebrities at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Yesteryear Tollywood star Chiranjeet Chakraborty was the main draw at the ceremony, which also saw a Dev Anand centenary tribute exhibition being unveiled.
Guests watch a dance performance by Mrinalini Biswas at the film festival opening Picture: Sudeshna Banerjee
“Film festival feels like Durga puja time to us, cinephiles. But one can still cover most pandals by going out day and night over five days. This time there are so many venues (23) and so many films (219) at KIFF that even watching the majority is impossible,” said Chiranjeet, who recalled becoming a member of Calcutta Film Society. The film society, founded by Satyajit Ray and his friends, showed films beyond the Hollywood releases at cinema halls, which was the only exposure to world cinema for Calcuttans.
Sudeshna Roy, the curator of the exhibition, pointed out that after Amitabh Bachchan and Jean Luc Godard last year, Mrinal Sen and Dev Anand were the chosen figures this year for tribute through exhibitions. While the Mrinal Sen show was happening only at Nandan, Nazrul Tirtha was chosen as the second venue for the Dev Anand exhibition. She read out a message from Ketan Anand on being informed about the centenary tribute to his uncle. “He has written: ‘We want romance to come back to people at a time when only violence is being exploited’,” she said, adding that Navketan Films, Chetan and Dev Anand’s production house, was named after Ketan.
Dev Anand brought in changes in popular cinema by choosing to do films like Guide on one hand and Hare Rama Hare Krishna on other. His debut film Hum Ek Hain was about communal unity and resonated in a country facing Partition. She pointed out that the Navketan banner was no less important than RK Films of the Kapoors. “Vijay Anand directed Guide while Dev Anand himself pursued R.K. Narayan to get the film rights to his book. Dev Anand also wrote 13 film scripts himself. “The three leading men at the time, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, were great friends,” she said, pointing to a frame on them.
A vital part of his films was music and a short film, directed by Saikat Sekhareshwar Roy, showcases some of his greatest hits and is being played in a loop on a screen in the exhibition room. “He was crazy about music. He would step into the recording studio at 11am and carry on till late evening. He had a high regard for Sachin Dev Barman. Once the unit left to shoot in Sikkim but Barman was still waiting for a particular instrument to finish recording a song. Anand agreed to leave without the song recording, on Barman’s assurance that the song would be sent over when it was ready.” There are two frames on his ties with the Barman father and son, SD and RD.
The exhibition traces six and half decades of the evergreen star’s career, over which he, the quintessential romantic hero, acted with three generations of heroines, from Suraiya to Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman. Zeenat, Tina Munim and Tabu are among the talents he launched, alongside Jackie Shroff. Among the separate frames on each of his leading ladies, there is also one on Suchitra Sen. Bengal’s mahanayika had acted in two films of different flavours with Dev saab, Bombai ka Babu and Sarhad, both of which released in 1960.
The exhibition will be on view for the duration of the festival, till December 12, at a gallery on the ground floor. Hidco managing director Debashis Sen announced that buses would be available to bring senior citizens from Swapnabhor and Snehodiya to the venue. Cinematographer Premendu Bikash Chaki and filmmakers Haranath Chakraborty and Sekhar Das also attended the launch.
Other than Nazrul Tirtha 1 and II, Rabindra Okakura Bhavan is the third venue of KIFF east of the EM Bypass. Passes will be given out free, maximum two to each person, two hours before the show at the venue.