Kolkata International Film Festival 2024: Five Iconic Films of Tapan Sinha to Shine in Tribute Section
The 30th Kolkata International Film Festival is celebrating Tapan Sinha's centenary by showcasing five of his classic films and an exhibition of his film posters and stills. The festival opened with 'Galpo Holeo Satti' (1966) and will continue with screenings of 'Harmonium' (1976), 'Nirjan Saikate' (1963), 'Kabuliwala' (1957), and 'Banchharamer Bagan' (1980).
The 30th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is paying tribute to Bengali film doyen Tapan Sinha in his birth centenary year by screening five of his films and organising an exhibition containing posters of his films and shooting stills. While Sinha's 1966 film Galpo Holeo Satti was the inaugural film screened at a packed auditorium on the opening day, four other films of his - Harmonium (1976), Nirjan Saikate (1963), Kabuliwala (1957) and Banchharamer Bagan (1980)- will be screened on various days in the tribute section. Kolkata International Film Festival 2024: Vidya Balan and R Balki To Attend the 30th Edition of KIFF at Sisir Mancha in West Bengal.
An exhibition, containing stills of Sinha's over 40 films - both in Bengali and Hindi - was inaugurated at the foyer of Nandan, the main venue of KIFF on Thursday, the second day of the festival.
The stills and posters included Kabuliwala (1957), Jhinder Bandi (1961), Hatey Bazarey (1967), Sagina Mahato (1970), Atanka (1986) among others.
Inaugurating the exhibition, actor-MP Satabdi Roy, who was cast in the lead role of Atanka, said "he (Tapan Sinha) was like a guardian to me. He had cast me in Atanka when I was a higher secondary student. But his comforting words dispelled all my tensions on set."
Roy recalled that as she was supposed to look older than her real age in that film, as a college student, Sinha and his actor-wife Arundhati Devi took charge of her image make-over and treated her as their daughter.
"Tapan Sinha's forte is his narrative which is so communicable, understandable and relatable to the general audience and yet bearing the hallmark of a clean entertainment with social messages relevant for the society and reflecting the contemporary times," she said.
There will also be a seminar on Tapan Sinha on December 11, in which artists and crew who worked in his films will be felicitated. Kolkata International Film Festival 2024: From ‘Galpo Holeo Sotti’ Inaugural Screening to France As Focus Country, Here Are the Key Highlights of KIFF’s 30th Edition.
Centenary tributes will also be paid to Marlon Brando, Marcello Mastroianni, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sergei Parajanov, Arundhati Debi and Harisadhan Dasgupta.