An Indian film has won an award at the premiere film festival of Bangladesh.
Padatik, Srijit Mukherji’s film based on the life and times of filmmaker Mrinal Sen, won the “Best Audience Award” at the 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival.
The festival was held from January 11 to 19.
“We were informed (about the award) on Sunday. It is a special film. The award stands out because of the current atmosphere. Not a single delegate from our side went to Dhaka for the festival. There were many foreign films in contention. But even then, the audience chose Padatik. It shows the power of cultural ties,” said Firdausul Hasan, the producer of the film.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have hit a low following the July-August upheaval in the neighbouring country, which toppled the Shiekh Hasina government and led to the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, taking over as the head of an interim government.
Sheikh Hasina, a five-time Prime Minister of Bangladesh, fled Dhaka and arrived in India on August 5 and has been staying at an undisclosed location since, possibly near Delhi.
The Yunus regime has from the outset been demanding that India send Hasina back so she can be tried for crimes allegedly committed during the protests that deposed her and for alleged misdeeds during her latest, decade-and-a-half stint in power.
The award has come around the time when anti-India rhetoric is at its peak in Bangladesh.
Padatik depicts aspects of Mrinal Sen’s marital life, relationship with his peers like Satyajit Ray and Ritwick Ghatak, his bond with his son, his politics of cinema and many more.
The title is borrowed from a film of the same name made by Sen, featuring Dhritiman Chatterjee as a young Communist Party member on the run from police in Calcutta in the 1970s.
The film by Mukherjee was much anticipated in the neighbouring country because it stars Chanchal Chowdhury, regarded as one of Bangladesh’s finest actors, as Sen. The auteur-director, who passed away on December 30, 2018, was born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) in undivided Bengal in 1923.
Mukherjee’s film was supposed to be released in Bangladesh on August 16, a day after its India release. But it could not get a commercial release in Bangladesh because of the unrest there.
“It was screened in Bangladesh for the first time during the festival,” said Hasan.
Chowdhury, the actor, told The Telegraph over the phone: “Art is beyond the confines of race, religion and geographical boundaries. Art is universal. Change in political regimes cannot put a lid on creativity. This award proves the universality of art. It is a very positive development.”
