Journey of Durga Utsav a part of Int'l Kolkata film fest

Kolkata: Durga Dalil, a documentary on the historical journey of Durga Utsav, will be screened at the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival

(KIFF).

This is for the first time when a documentary on the history of Durga Puja will be screen at an international film festival. It will be screened at Nandan 3 at 7.30pm on November 10.

Directed by Samrat Chattopadhyay and music by Nilanshuk- Dishari, the 14-minute documentary tells the history of Bengal's greatest festival from the Moghul period to the Red Road carnival, which was introduced by the state government four years ago.

Rare photographs and sketches made by both Indian and British artists, who had seen the Durga Puja of the bygone era, have been incorporated in the documentary.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is working hard to make Durga Puja an international event. She inaugurated more than 70 Durga Pujas in 2019 and the state government donated Rs 25,000 to the clubs. The Red Road carnival is attended by hundreds of people, representatives and dignitaries from various consulates and foreign media.

Chattopadhyay said the documentary has covered all the aspects of Durga Puja from creating images to the immersion.

Durga Puja started 400 years ago during the Moghul period. There are many houses in Kolkata where puja is being organised for the past 250 or 300 years.

There are community pujas that are older than a century and many are about to mark the 100th edition of their pujas in the next few years.

Durga Dalil is based on a book titled Amar Para, Amar Pujo comprising experiences of important people and celebrities such as Nananita Deb Sen, Jagannath Basu, Abir Chatterjee and Gourab Chattopadhay.