HYDERABAD: “The way a story is told in a film excites me more than the story itself because, otherwise, you could just write a novel. The style and form of cinema are what truly captivate me,” says Anjan Dutt, actor, director, songwriter, music composer and vocalist at the Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival 2024. Held recently at Prasad Film Laboratories Private Ltd in Banjara Hills, the festival was a vibrant celebration of Bengali cinema, culture, craft, and cuisine. Over two days, the festival premiered four independent Bengali films, accompanied by cultural performances at Shilparamam. Hyderabadi cinephiles were also treated to the unique opportunity to meet and interact with the directors of these films.
Organised by Bengalis in Hyderabad, a non-profit organisation, the festival began in 2014 and has since evolved with new themes each year. This year’s theme focused on premiering independent films, including Whispers of Fire & Water (directed by Lubdhak Chatterjee), Once Upon A Time In Calcutta (directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta), Niharika (directed by Indrasis Acharya), and Chalchitra Ekhon (directed by Anjan Dutt) in the “Remembering Mrinal Sen” category.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Anjan Dutt about his film. “Chalchitra Ekhon is an independent project that I created with my son using our own funds. We raised money through concerts, and whatever surplus we had went into making this film. Mrinal Sen is incredibly close to my heart, and I didn’t want to involve anyone else in this project. I made it with all the love and freedom I could muster.
The film is a comedy centred around an inspiring man who cherished making films, loved cinema, and had a deep affection for this city. Without him, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Kolkata, written songs, or made movies. It’s a fun film, and I deliberately avoided making it serious because that’s the traditional way to portray a great man. To me, he was a fun guy, and I wanted to reflect that honestly and with as much modernism as I could. This is my first time here, and I’m very proud to be part of such a well-organised event,” he explains.
Anjan Dutt also shared his thoughts on cinema, describing it as a fascinating and personal form of art. “To me, the form of cinema is more important than the content. When I was growing up, there were many experiments happening in cinema, but today, I feel like that spirit of experimentation is fading, and it saddens me.”
Festival Director and President of Bengalis in Hyderabad, Partha Pratim Mallik, along with Joint Directors Santanu Mukherjee and Oindrila Mallik Basu, informed CE that the festival also aims to promote local artists by providing them with a platform to perform.