Biswanath upset about Mitra's closing down

The closing down of north Kolkata’s iconic theatre — Mitra — has broken many hearts. One among them is Biswanath Basu. The actor said he has many memories of the theatre. “I was born in Barrackpore where standing in a public place and talking to women was unthinkable at one point in time. People had a closed mind about free mingling and I grew up in that ambience.After I finished my schooling and joined Scottish Church College, I remember going to Mitra cinema for a film. It was a movie called Tamanna, directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film had Pooja Bhatt, Sharad Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee and Paresh Rawal. My excitement knew no limits that day. After I returned home, I wrote it down in my diary. That day’s insertion reads: Aj meyeder sathe cinema dekhte giyechhilam. I also put two stars next to it,” he recalled. Biswanath said his favourite single screens are shutting down one after the other. “When I was young, I used to watch films at two theatres — Ashutosh and Pallisree. They were in Basirhat and I would go there on my cycle. Both these theatres are now a thing of the past and all they have become are memories of my childhood,” he said. On the workfront, Biswanath is caught up with quite a few releases. “There are films like Rahashya Romancho Series, Trio, Hullor and another based on a story by Nachiketa; it’s directed by Subir Mondal,” said the actor, who was recently part of Mukherjee Dar Bou.