Exclusive! KIFF: Will Anjan Dutt’s Mrinal Sen tribute be premiered at the festival?

The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival will start on December 5 this year. The week-long festival will pay tribute to the centenary birth year of legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen and actor Dev Anand. The preparations are in full swing with designated committee members having started watching hundreds of films over months before compiling a final list.

The iconic films by Mrinal Sen

As part of its centenary tribute to Mrinal Sen, a number of his films will be screened at the festival. According to sources close to the committee, Khandhar is one of the frontrunners among his films. Based on Prememdra Mitra’s Telenapota Abishkar, the 1984 film features Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Pankaj Kapur. In that year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section.

Also read: Kolkata International Film Festival to begin on December 5, will pay tribute to Mrinal Sen and Dev Anand 

Besides, there are other films, including Calcutta 71 (1972), Kharij (The Case Is Closed) (1982), and Akaler Sandhane (In Search of Famine) (1980), are on the list. According to a source, “Since it is Mrinal Sen’s centenary, there will definitely be a tribute section with his films. We have made a list and now going back to our sources and checking what we have in our archive. Once we know which films are available, we will have a final list of his films.”

KIFF may feature films made on Mrinal Sen

Meanwhile, Anjan Dutt’s Chalchitra Ekhon has been submitted at the festival. According to sources, films made by Mrinal Sen may also be screened at the festival and Anjan Dutt’s film may be one of those. This film is billed as Anjan’s tribute to Mrinal Sen, who is considered to be the actor-director’s mentor. Earlier, Anjan told us that this film has been one of his ‘most spontaneous films’ that he made. Anjan is featured in a number of Mrinal Sen’s films including, Kharij, Antareen, Chaalchitra, and others. By his confession, the actor-director considered Mrinal Sen as his mentor, and this film is a personal tribute to him. Chalchitra Ekhon is being produced by Anjan and Neel Dutt.

Also read: Anjan Dutt is all set to pay tribute to his ‘mentor’ Mrinal Sen with Chalchitra Ekhon 

Meanwhile, there are other Bengali films made to remember Mrinal Sen on his birth centenary. Kaushik Ganguly’s Palan, which features Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Jisshu U Sengupta, Paoli Dam, and others, will be released soon. This film takes a cue from Mrinal Sen’s iconic film, Kharij. On the other hand, Srijit Mukherji has made a tribute biopic, Padatik, which features Chanchal Chowdhury as Mrinal Sen. The striking similarity between Mrinal Sen and Chanchal Chowdhury’s makeup has made headlines. Monami Ghosh plays Geeta Sen’s character in the film.