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A deliberate screening of Ritwik Ghatak’s Amar Lenin documentary and his seminal function Komal Gandhar at a state-run college in Kolkata on February 10 was allegedly cancelled as a consequence of objections from native ruling get together supporters, citing the movies’ political content material as unsuitable for an academic institute. (Additionally learn: No screening of Kangana Ranaut’s movie Emergency in Punjab)
Naktala Setu, a cultural organisation in south Kolkata, had deliberate the screenings to commemorate Ghatak’s delivery centenary.
Nonetheless, simply days earlier than the occasion, on February 5, the college authorities withdrew their permission, citing “sure developments,” based on Onkar Roy, a spokesperson for the organisation mentioned on Thursday.
Roy mentioned, “The headmaster was initially enthusiastic concerning the screenings when he approached us within the third week of January, even mentioning he was a fan of Ghatak. However after February 5, he appeared underneath stress and knowledgeable us that there have been issues with screening the movies.”
The organisation then approached an area membership, but it surely too declined, citing stress from larger authorities.
Because of this, the NGO, which has additionally been lively in organising protests for social justice and neighborhood engagement, organized the screenings on the roadside within the close by Bidhan Pally space, the place lots of of individuals attended.
The headmaster of Naktala Excessive Faculty claimed the cancellation was as a consequence of different engagements and never exterior stress. Nonetheless, one other college official mentioned some guardians had expressed considerations about one of many movies within the package deal—Amar Lenin—as a consequence of its robust political content material.
The official famous that there have been no objections to Komal Gandhar, which depicts the struggles of these compelled emigrate after the partition of India.
Amar Lenin (1970), made to commemorate Vladimir Lenin’s delivery, confronted preliminary censorship points, which have been later waived following intervention by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Komal Gandhar is a part of Ghatak’s celebrated trilogy, which additionally contains Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha from the 1960s. The latter movie explores the cultural influence of the post-partition period and the experiences of refugees from East Pakistan.
This isn’t the primary time a movie with political themes has confronted resistance in Bengal. Years in the past, the left-leaning Bengali filmmaker Anik Dutta’s Bhabisyoter Bhoot encountered comparable points throughout its theater screenings, triggering avenue protests.
The movie was later re-released after the intervention of the Supreme Court docket. Whereas theatre house owners claimed the movie was pulled as a consequence of poor field workplace efficiency, Dutta and others argued that it had been focused for its anti-establishment stance.
A number of Bengali filmmakers and actors declined to touch upon the problem, stating they would like to know the complete information earlier than making any statements.
