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| (Above) Srijit, Parambrata, Rudranil, Prosenjit and Raima at Cathay Cineleisure — the hub of Darpan 2012 — in Singapore. (Below) Joy, Srijit and Arindam at the session on ‘the universal language of cinema’ |
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DAY THREE (September 8)
With rehearsals for his play Galileo beckoning back home, Anjan Dutt has left for Calcutta early morning via a stopover in Bangkok to meet an old friend. But another contingent has arrived — Prosenjit from Iceland, Raima Sen from Mumbai and Parambrata Chattopadhyay from Calcutta.
Coming from the land of glaciers and volcanoes where he was shooting for Hanumaan.com, Prosenjit tucked into a quick breakfast at the hotel and then retreated into his room for a power nap. “It’s been a 22-hour flight from Iceland” and a temperature switch from an icy “minus-3 degrees Celsius” to a hot and humid 32 degrees in Singapore, and the Tolly star had to be ready for an interface with the Singapore audience after the 22shey Srabon screening in the evening.
Back at the Cathay Cineleisure, the festival hub, a team of volunteers and festival committee members are hard at work, arranging screenings, food, travel, photos and what not. So, to find more than half the hall packed for the morning show of Kaushik Ganguly’s Laptop was rewarding.
“The group of 40 volunteers comprises engineers, teachers, housewives, bankers, artistes and students who have been taking turns to skip work and be there for the smooth running of Darpan. Many have come forward pro bono with their concepts, softwares and designs, and some of the Singaporeans involved (Vietnamese, Korean, Malay and Chinese) don’t even know where Bengal is on the map! It’s been a completely integrative effort,” said festival co-ordinator Sreyashi Sen.
Darpan 2012 also got a boost when the National Integration Council that fosters social integration among Singaporeans and new immigrants under the Prime Minister’s Office stepped in as an official sponsor, just before the start of the festival.
BEYOND BORDERS
The audience lingered on in the hall for an afternoon discussion on the “universal language of cinema” featuring a Tolly team of Joy Sengupta, Srijit Mukherji and Arindam Sil, plus Singaporean actor Jourdan Lee and Gisli Snaer, who heads the Puttnam School of Film at the Lasalle College of the Arts.
Arindam recalled a time at the Dhaka International Film Festival early this year when a common passion for cinema got a bunch of directors from Brazil, China, France and Italy travelling together in a mini-van. Srijit turned the spotlight on directors like Phani Mazumdar and Mrinal Sen who “validate that spoken language can only be cosmetic, if the story and emotions are powerful enough”.
Drawing from his understanding of the American perspective in Hollywood filmmaking, Los Angeles-based Jourdan Lee said: “As an artiste, we come from a place where there are no boundaries but core human emotions that everybody can relate to. Yet, Asian Americans are the only minorities who haven’t been well-represented on American television. There is no support or a push for Asian cultures to be represented despite their huge presence. Having more such festivals and film voices coming together might help highlight it on the American screen.”
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| Parambrata and Raima with festival organisers Mir and Sreyashi Sen and other guests at a private dinner; Prosenjit, who arrived from Iceland |
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THRILLS AND SPILLS
4.15pm. Cathay Cineleisure is teeming with cine-goers. Raima Sen is the head-turner in mother Moon Moon’s crimson-and-cream chiffon Benarasi. In the lounge, she is joined by her 22shey Srabon director Srijit and co-actors Prosenjit and Parambrata. With the star cast in front of them, the Bengali crowd swings into action — clicking and getting clicked.
Moments before the screening, Prosenjit is at his usual best, wooing the audience. “I am very happy and grateful to Mir, Mirvana and Singapore for organising such a great event here. And please don’t give me gaalis after watching the film!” he winked, handing over the mike to Raima, “the best speaker amongst us!”
“It’s really very nice to be invited for an event such as this and it also happens to be my first time in Singapore,” smiled Raima, charmingly. Terming Darpan 2012 a “rarity for us Bengalis”, Parambrata measured his words lest he killed the suspense of the film. “It’s nice to be part of an international event like this,” he signed off, letting the audience savour the thrills and spills of 22shey Srabon.
Mohua Das
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