The third edition of Bangla Movie Fest is all set to bring the best of films from Bengal, Assam and Maharashtra, and will be graced by acclaimed members of the film fraternity

There was a time when film fans in north India thought Hindi films are the only films being made in India. Whenever people spoke of Indian films, they meant ‘Bollywood’ or the Hindi film industry. And hardly any heed was paid to regional films. But now regional films are going mainstream — with a little help from subtitles.

Regional films of our country have achieved new heights in recent times. Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court (Marathi) was India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2015, and last year it was Rima Das’s Village Rockstars (Assamese). Similarly, Bengali films have also garnered attention and has been creating their own place — be it nationally or internationally. For instance, this year, Kaushik Ganguly’s Nagarkirtan was honoured in several festivals including South Asian Film Festival of SAARC.

To honour the efforts of regional films from Bengal, Assam and Maharashtra, Purpletouch Creatives is organising the third Bangla Movie Fest. The three-day fest will be held on December 20-22 at Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium. It will screen acclaimed movies from these states.

To be inaugurated by Mohan Agashe, the fest will start with a “Saving the tree” pledge. This will be followed by the release of a film festival book and felicitation of all distinguished guests.

Director, Purpletouch Creatives Ashish Das will be speaking on the roadmap for the film fest in coming years. The cultural event will also have Bharatnatyam Dance present by Madhura Bhorsundari.

The first film to be screened will be Agashe’s Asstu. On the second day, Anik Dutta’s critically acclaimed movie Bhobisotyer Bhoot will be screened, followed by Churni Ganguly’s National Award-winning movie Tarikh.

The evening session will start with India’s 2018 Oscars entry and winner of many national and international awards Village Rockstar by Rima Das.  And, the last movie to be screened that day is Indrasis Acharya’s Pupa.

The third and the final day of the film festival will showcase a total of eight movies. The morning screening will start with children’s film Sahaj Pather Golpo by Manas Mukul Pal, followed by critically acclaimed movie Bijoya by Kaushik Ganguly. And the evening screening will have Mahua Chakraborty’s Amar Bhoy.

The major attraction in the evening will be a tribute to the late legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen starting with a panel discussion, which will include celebrities like Dr Adrishya Kumar, Saswata Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Kaushik Ganguly and will be anchored by Rini Biswas. The festival’s closing film  will be Sen’s Bhuvan Shome.

Parallelly, the final day will also screen Gavthi, a Marathi film by Anand followed by three Assamese movies. As an initiative, the festival has been promoting Assamese movies for the last two years. Thus, this year they will screen National Award-winning film Alifa by Deep Choudhury, followed by Bokul by Reema Borah, among many.

The festival will be graced by noted actors, directors and producers of Bengali, Assamese and Marathi Movies. Some of the noted names include Rituparna Sengupta, Saswata Chatterjee, Churni Ganguly, Sudipta Chakraborty, Indrasis Acharya, Mohua Chakraborty, Manas Mukul Pal, Anik Dutta, Urmila Mahanta, Jaya Seal, Arman Ahmed, Reema Borah and others.

All Eyes This Side:

Some of the highlights in this edition’s Bangla Fest will be:

l A tribute to Mrinal Sen

l Classical dance – Bharatnatyam by Ms Madhura Bhrushundi at inauguration

l Reputed filmmakers will grace the three-day event with their presence and take part in film discussions

l A total of six Bengali, one Hindi, four Assamese and two Marathi films will be showcased

l Conference and discussion of each and every movie by its respective filmmaker or actors before screening

l Felicitation, Q&A session, panel discussions and press conferences during the festival