Bengali film on Rohingya refugees screened at KIFF

Kolkata: Director Kumar Chowdhury claims it is the first Bengali feature film on a Rohingya refugee as a protagonist, but even if it isn’t so, the actor-turned-director’s debut feature film titled ‘Priyo Chinar Pata, Iti Segun... (Fire of Teak Flame of Chinar)’ that was screened on Sunday at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival will remain an important film made during the pandemic.
Kumar Chowdhury
This film starring Piyali Samanta, Aarman Shaw and Iqbal Sultan is in competition at KIFF’s Asian Select category. Chowdhury, who has acted in 60 serials, including ‘Mahaprabhu’, ‘Kiranmala’ and ‘Sati’, and over 35 feature films, including ‘Pendulum’, ‘Houseful’ and ‘Megh Roddur’, and who has directed a dozen telefilms, had been moved by the photo of Aylan Kurdi — the Syrian boy of Kurdish background whose image made global headlines. A chance reading of a Bangladeshi author’s book on Rohingyas sparked his interest. “From 2012, I started my research on the conflicts in Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims. I met a woman from Tekna in Bangladesh who had come to Kolkata. She helped me with the research on the language used by Rohingyas,” he said.
‘Priyo Chinar Pata, Iti Segun...’ is loosely based on a girl whose story had been reported in a magazine. “I had accompanied the person who wrote the piece and even met her in a home in South 24 Parganas. Later, I went to homes across the state to hear more real-life stories,” Chowdhury said.
A still from ‘Priyo Chinar Pata, Iti Segun...’
Funding was difficult and Chowdhury had to take out personal loans, sell off family jewellery and then go for crowd-funding to raise the Rs 20 lakh required to make it. “During Amphan, the post-production got stalled because of funds crunch. As a last resort, I sold my personal belongings to raise money,” he said.
Chowdhury’s film is about a Rohingya girl who has no idea of where her parents and grandmother are. She meets a Kashmiri shawl-seller and his son at a home and a bond develops between her and the youth, who then tries, in his personal capacity, to trace her family. “It is difficult for anyone to randomly meet a Rohingya girl lodged in a home. But I have seen shawl sellers enter homes and interact with the staff. The love story in the film is a creative liberty I took,” he said.
In the process, he has also brought up crucial discussions regarding the difference between refugees and immigrants and how locals want them to return to their homeland. “While the Rohingya girl had to escape from her homeland, the Kashmiri youth is treated as an outsider in his own country. However, during shooting, I never shared my story with anyone because of its sensitivity. Not everyone is empathetic and I wanted to avoid any attempt to stall a film connecting Rohingyas and Kashmiris,” he said.
But his film is not just about focusing on the trials of the Rohingya refugees. Throughout the film, Chowdhury uses a radio as a prop to share happenings concerning refugees in the world to connect the dots and tell the tales of global loss.