In memory of the filmmaker extraordinaire

It was an amalgamation of cinema, music and fond memories at Gorky Sadan on Saturday evening. Apart from innumerable fans, several members from the film and music fraternities came together to remember master filmmaker Mrinal Sen. The venue also hosted an exhibition of pictures capturing the many moods of the filmmaker and also displayed his National Award medallion for

Bhuvan Shome

and many other award certificates.

Anjan Dutt anchored the remembrance meet and first up on stage was singer Rabin Pandit, who rendered a few of Sen’s favourite songs like Alor Pothojatri and Kon Alo Te Praner Prodip Jaliye Tumi Dhoraye Asho. This was followed by an audio-visual presentation of clippings from Mrinal Sen’s masterpieces and behind-the-scenes pictures.

The presentation had a song written and sung by Anjan Dutt — Amar Mrinalda — playing in the background. Mrinal Sen’s son, Kunal Sen, veteran director Tarun Majumdar, yesteryear actress Madhabi Mukherjee and Goutam Ghose, among others, spoke at length about their association with the late filmmaker. While sharing anecdotes about the filmmaker, his son said, “I used to call my father ‘bondhu’. But I would never address him as bondhu in front of my friends since I would feel awkward. So, on one occasion, when bondhu took me and my friends out for pandal-hopping during Durga Puja, I had to call him out as ‘O Mrinalda, ektu shunbe’ since I couldn’t address him as either Baba or bondhu in front of my friends.”

Tarun Majumdar also shared some of his fond memories of Mrinal Sen. He said, “Even though Mrinal babu used to make serious films that spoke against the system, I had not seen such a fun-loving and humorous person like him. Amar onar sathe somporko ta chhilo torka torkir ar praye jhograr. He used to tell me, ‘Apni moshai chhobita korte janen, kintu chhobir maddhome ki bolte hobe seta janen na’. And in reply I would say, ‘Apni ki bolte hobe seta janen, kintu kemon kore bolte hobe seta janen na’.

Samik Bandyopadhyay, one of Mrinal Sen’s close aides and also a critic of Indian art, theatre and film, apart from Madhabi and Goutam Ghose, also shared their stories.
The event drew to a close with the screening of Anjan Dutt’s docu on the filmmaker extraordinaire.


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