The still of Mahua Roy Chowdhury during the shooting of Tapan Sinha’s Aadmi aur Aurat

An exhibition on stills from Tapan Sinha’s films and other memorabilia was inaugurated by Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi at the Ramkinkar Baij sculpture court of ICCR’s Rabindranath Tagore Centre, on Saturday.

The event was conceived by Sounak Chacraverti and Arpan Mitra, who are compiling a book on the film-maker. During their research, they found that Sinha’s still photographer, Sukumar Roy, had more prints than they could ever accommodate in a book.

“This way, people will get a first-ever glimpse of these pictures,” said Chacraverti.

Roy, who was a freelance photographer, used to visit Sinha’s sets. “He was to me an inspiration, for his artistic sense, his discipline and his dedication. I was stunned when in 1977 he asked me to do the stills for Safed Hati. That was the beginning and I worked for all his subsequent films, including Sabuj Diper Raja, Banchharamer Bagaan, Adalat O Ekti Meye, Atanka, Wheelchair Ek Doctor Ke Mauth and Anokha Moti.

“I remember once I had taken a picture of Mahua (Roy Chowdhury) sitting under a tree in the rain during Aadmi aur Aurat. Tapanbabu said I had managed to capture the essence of the whole film in one snap,” recalled Roy.

Some mood shots of Sinha during shooting will also be on display. The show will be open from 11am to 7pm till October 3.