Indian Express

A Regional Treat

Pallavi Chattopadhyay Posted online: Sat Nov 24 2012, 00:45 hrs
If you are one of those who have migrated to Delhi from other parts of the country and have a longing to watch films from your region, the upcoming Regional Film Festival might interest you. In its first edition, the three-day festival will screen three acclaimed Bengali films — Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar, Rituparno Ghosh’s Dahan and Utpalendu Chakraborty’s Chokh.

J P Singh, assistant secretary of Sahitya Kala Parishad, which is organising the event, said, “Delhi is the capital where people from different regions who speak diverse languages reside. Most of the film festivals that are organised here are dedicated to Hindi and English movies and, therefore, people from other regions feel alienated. We thought of bringing this festival for all those longing to witness cinema from their region.”

Singh added that the festival, which is being organised in association with the Delhi government’s Department of Art, Culture and Languages, will be a monthly affair, where three films from a specific region of the country will be showcased.

Award-winning film Apur Sansar (1959), featuring Bollywood actor Sharmila Tagore, revolves around the life of a young Bengali boy, Apu, and traces his journey from adulthood to the death of his wife Aparna that leaves him shattered. Dahan (Crossfire) is based on Suchitra Bhattacharya’s short story of the same name, while Chokh (1983) is a political film that exposes contemporary reality.

The festival will be held between November 26 and 28 at Siri Fort Auditorium 2