Das: Inspiring role

April 12: His excellent handling of the camera and his sensitivity had made national award winner cinematographer Mrinal Kanti Das a highly revered man in the film fraternity across the country.

In order to carry forward his legacy, the Mrinal Kanti Das Foundation, set up after his death in a road accident in 2004, has organised a weeklong film appreciation course.

The course is being organised in collaboration with Sahay, an organisation for academic guidance and consultancy, at its premises in the last week of this month.

“The course is designed to inculcate film sense and appreciation among the participants and enable them to read cinema in a proper way,” said Rubee Das, convener of the workshop.

“Participants will undergo training under the guidance of renowned film personalities and critics of the state,” Rubee das said.

Some of the eminent personalities with whom the participants will get an opportunity to exchange their views and ideas are film critics Apurba Kumar Sarma, Manoj Borpujari, Bhuban Chandra Lahkar, Bitopan Borbora, filmmaker Gautam Bora, filmmaker and critic Altaf Mazid and theatre director and critic Nayan Prasad.

“During the seven days, students will be shown masterpieces from across the world. Instead of focusing on a single aspect of filmmaking or say cinematography, the course will help them learn film craft in totality,” Das said.

Welcoming the foundation’s move, film critic Arun Lochan Das said: “In order to bail out the Assamese film industry from its current bad phase, the younger lot needs to be trained in the art of filmmaking. The step taken by the foundation is noteworthy and we need more such workshops and training programmes to acquaint the young generation about the latest technical and artistic trend and development in the field.”

A graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Das shot to fame with his beautiful camera work in the Sanjib Hazarika-directed film Mimangsha in 1994. The film was screened at various international film festivals from Montreal to Chicago, winning laurels all the way for both Das and Hazarika.

In 1997, the jury at the national awards adjudged Das the best cinematographer of the year for his camera work in Raag Birag directed by Bidyut Chakraborty and Adaijya by Santawana Bordoloi.

Films like Manju Barua’s Boibhav (1999) and the Boro film Panoy Jonki (2002), where he worked as a director of photography, all got special mention by the jury at the national awards.