Anjan Dutt’s tribute film to Mrinal Sen wins hearts

KOLKATA: Anjan Dutt was teary-eyed after the screening of ‘Chalchitra Ekhon’, his tribute film to Mrinal Sen at the 29th edition of Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) on Sunday.

The film, which pays tribute to his mentor on his 100th birth anniversary, narrates the real-life experiences of Dutt with Sen. Dutt made his debut in feature films with Sen’s ‘Chalchitra’ (The Kaleidoscope) in 1981.

From Gautam Ghose, Sudhir Mishra to Aparna Sen and veteran film critic Samik Bandopadhyay, a bevy of stalwarts attended the world premiere of the film at Nandan. Dutt, who along with his son, Neel Dutt, has produced the film, said how Sen had opened the world of cinema to him while working on ‘Chalchitra’. “I wanted to go to Germany but then my life changed. When we decided to make ‘Chalchitra Ekhon’, both Neel and I decided to produce the film, which will allow us to make it in our own way,” he said.

In the film, actor Shaon Chakraborty is seen as Dutt and the filmmaker played his mentor Sen. Bidita Chakraborty was seen as Geeta Sen and Sekhar Das as Utpal Dutt. Dutt said how Sen would have been happy that a packed audience watched his film in Kolkata, a city where not many used to watch them which they released. “I wanted to have the world premiere of the film in Kolkata because Mrinal da loved the city. We had fun while making ‘Chalchitra’ and in ‘Chalchitra Ekhon’, we made fun of the city, Sen and myself,” he said.