Facing eviction, Kolkata’s oldest film society seeks heritage tag

KOLKATA: Members of Kolkata’s first film society, which was

co-founded by Satyajit Ray

, have approached the West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHC). The

Calcutta Film Society

(CFS), founded in 1947, might soon have to move away from its current address because of issues regarding non-payment of rent. But before a verdict is passed on that, the members have made a last ditch attempt of survival by asking WBHC to grant it heritage status.


Eviction threats are not new to CFS. Referring to the eviction issues, Ray had written in the introduction to his “Our Films, Their Films”: “Since we did not have a regular club room, members took turns to provide facilities in their own homes. On this occasion, in the middle of our discussion, our friend was summoned by the owner of the house and summarily told he would not put up with film people spoiling the sanctity of his house. We were thrown out of the place.”

The current problem is over CFS’s non-payment of monthly rent of Rs 5,335 to Life Insurance Corporation of India, who owns the building on B5 Bharat Bhawan, which has been housing this society. Swapan Bandopadhyay, the general secretary of CFS, said, “The problem is over non-payment of rent for 14 months. We are ready to pay the entire pending amount now and have another meeting with LIC officials on this issue on August 2. Of course, we are getting help from LIC. But it is a little harsh on us to be told to evict this place now. ”

The 350-odd members are now trying their best to avoid eviction. “In 1947, with a few friends like Bansi Chandra Gupta, Chidananda Dasgupta, Ray co-founded Calcutta’s first film society. ‘Battleship Potemkin’ was the first film they screened. We have 2,500 rare books in our collection and hold regular film screenings and seminars,” said Pradipta Sankar Sen, the president of CFS.

The official from LIC looking into this matter refused to answer any queries from TOI. Bandopadhyay sent two letters to WBHC requesting for heritage tag.

Veteran artist Shuvaprasanna

, who is the chairman of WBHC, said: “We can install a blue plaque. But, CFS has approached us to grant heritage tag to their space. I am well aware of the rich contribution of this film society to the cine movement. However, CFS has to come up with a concrete proposal on what they want to do in that space in future.”