Kaushik Ganguly leads Bengal brigade in national awards with ‘Bisorjon’

KOLKATA: On a day when Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina embarked on a four-day visit to India, which will see the signing of at least 25 bilateral agreements, a film narrating the love story between a Bangladeshi widow and a small-time Indian businessman won the National Award for the Best Bengali Feature Film. Joya Ahsan — the lead actor in Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Bisorjon’ — also comes from

Bangladesh

.

Ganguly said, “We are sending a DVD of our film to the Bangladeshi PM.” Ahsan, who will be receiving her third National Award from Hasina for her performance in ‘Zero Degree’ once she returns to her country, is eager to have her PM watch this movie.

Ahsan said: “This movie belongs as much to India as it does to Bangladesh.” Her co-actor Abir Chatterjee added, “Getting the award for ‘Bisorjon’ at a time when the Bangladeshi PM is visiting India will give an impetus to more collaborative work between the two nations.”

Awaiting release on April 14, Ganguly is keen that his film also gets a commercial release in Bangladesh. Many Indo-Bangla co-productions have recently released in both countries. “But ‘Bisorjon’ isn’t a co-production. It has an Indian producer. So I will have to wait for an exchange programme through which I can release it there.”

However, the bigger problem such a release faces in Bangladesh is piracy. “Most Bengali films across the border are pirated soon after release. I wish both countries took up the issue seriously,” he said.