Mandal at work. (Below) A shot from the film showing power lines being repaired

Every time you switch on a lamp, spare a thought for the ?dark? age five decades ago when state electricity board was pleading with people to take an electricity connection. The story of the illuminated years will reach a screen at Vidyut Bhavan this Friday, to mark the West Bengal State Electricity Board?s golden jubilee.

?Few organisations can boast five decades of growth, from 11,000 consumers to 50 lakh. The film documents this history,? says Nihar Majumdar, chief public relations officer, WBSEB.

What adds to the significance of the film is the fact that it has been directed by one of its own employees. Dhananjoy Mandal is an operating personnel at SEB?s Uluberia sub-station. ?It helped being an insider,? says the soft-spoken man from Andul, Howrah. When not monitoring supply and isolating grids, he makes films. And he has recently received the National Award for A Silent Killer, on arsenic contamination.

Though the history of WBSEB spans from 4, Fairlie Place (its first address) to Vidyut Bhavan in Salt Lake, Rajya Vidyut Parshader Itikatha goes even beyond. ?We wanted to place the story in perspective.? So there will be a Mr Flury lighting the first electric light in the state at Garden Reach, Sidrapong Hydel Power Station in Darjeeling giving Bengal its first power station in 1897, and even vignettes of the 1886 Congress national session, held under lights.

?In those days, factories generated their own power. Then in 1948, the government promulgated the Indian Electricity Act, to connect all power stations and institute electricity boards in every state. WBSEB was the first in India, coming into being on May 1, 1955,? Mandal says.

Shooting for the 72-minute film took place for 40 days across the state, from Darjeeling to Diamond Harbour. It is narration-based, but bits ? people being convinced that there will be no soot from electric lamps (in the ?50s) or a Puja day when a family sits in wait for the father to return only to learn that the maintenance man has to stay back to repair a breakdown (today) ? have been enacted. The film promises to throw light on all existing facets ? load-shedding, revenue generation, grievance redressal, ...

?There will also be music (composed by Debajyoti Mishra), celebrating how electricity touches lives. Mark my words, we have made an entertaining film,? smiles Majumdar.

The SEB, he says, is planning to sell copies in-house. But before that, it will send the film to the International Film Festival of India.

Mandal has already made 25 films, some of which have toured the festival circuit abroad. ?This is the first time I could shoot on duty,? grins the 39-year-old self-taight filmmaker.