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Governor Syed Ahmed at the closing ceremony of the film festival as its chief guest in Ranchi on Saturday. Addressing the gathering, Ahmed asked the youth of the state to not be carried away by the glamour of cinema and instead aim to become personalities who can be depicted on celluloid itself. Telegraph picture
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Ranchi, Sept. 15: All good things must come to an end. So did Suhana Safar, the first state government sponsored film festival, in the capital today. But, not before giving hope to hundreds — who had flocked to attend the last day’s screening — that more such events would be organised on a regular basis from now on.
The event, which aimed to raise a toast to 100 glorious years of India cinema, had kicked off to a relatively dry start with chief minister Arjun Munda’s speech being the only highlight of Day One. However, it more than made up for its loss in numbers in the remaining three days with thousands trickling in daily to watch various classics that were screened at the twin halls of Sujata Cinema.
Cine buffs, who were taken on a spectacular journey of Indian cinema during the four days of the festival with classics like Guru Dutt’s Pyasa, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, Vijay Anand’s Guide and Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, among others, expressed hope that such events were organised on a regular basis.
Deputy director of Directorate of Film Festival Manu Gupta told The Telegraph today that they were ready and would chip in with all support if the state government took the initiative again.
The filmmaking fraternity in the state too sounded excited at Munda’s promise of setting up a film development corporation along with a studio near Patratu.
Secretary of Jamshedpur-based film club Celluloid Chapter Amitava Ghosh said it was high time the state government took some positive steps to promote local work.
“The state should promote local cinema by organising mini festivals, film appreciation courses and workshops in small towns and cities. This will help in increase penetration of local works,” Ghosh said.
Besides Raja Harishchandra (silent, 1913), the first Indian film made by Dadasaheb Phalke, 20 other films were screened during the festival.
The last day saw the screening of Baaja (2003), a children’s film directed by A.K. Bir that drew a large number of young audience. Baaja was followed by the screening of Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met (2007) to a packed house.
The more serious kinds, however, waited for the screening of K. Asif’s classic Mughal-e-Azam (1961). Prabir Ganguly’s Nagpuri superhit Sajana Anari too was screened in the mini hall on the last day.
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