Films Division celebrates #InternationalWomen'sDay with three docus

Films Division

, Government of India, organised a programme, A Daughter's Tribute, at

Nandan

recently. The programme featured documentaries made by three

women filmmakers

- Priya Dutt, Shabnam Sukhdev and Ratnottama Sengupta.

Celebrating International Women's Day, the programme was organised to showcase documentaries that were made by daughters on their parents and explored their relationship with them. "The idea came from an oft-repeated Bengali phrase 'Ekdom chheler moton meye hoyeche onader'. This expression always bothered me. Why can't a daughter be enough being just a daughter. So, I thought of approaching these daughters who have taken forward their parents' work," said

Sumay Mukherjee

, head (east), Films Division.

Helping him in putting together the event was Ratnottama Sengupta, who showed her documentary 'And They Made Classics' on Nabendu Ghosh. "Strangely, I didn't cry when my father passed away. But within some time of his death, there was a programme arranged to remember Bimal Roy. Four of his films were screened. One was Bandini. Something in the father-daughter scene there moved me and I was left howling after the show ended. Since then, I have been thinking of making such a documentary. When Sumay approached, I agreed," she said.

The screening saw the felicitation of two women achievers from Bengal. Sudiptaa Chakraborty, National Award-winning actress and theatre personality and Sohini Roychowdhury, dancer of international repute and professor of Natyashastra were awarded by the co-ordinator of the programme, Ratnottama Sengupta. "It was a great honour and the award is very close to my heart. Bidipta (Chakraborty) and I have tried to take forward my father Biplab Ketan Chakraborty's legacy in acting. Bidisha, my other sister, has taken forward dance which my mother is known for. This programme was a unique way to celebrate women as daughters," said Sudiptaa.

Apart from Ratnottama Sengupta's documentary, the two other were Priya Dutt's work on her mother Nargis and Shabnam Sukhdev's The Last Adieu on her filmmaker father, S Sukhdev.