Tollywood artistes conferred ‘Mahanayak Samman’ by Mamata

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recalled watching Uttam Kumar’s films with her mother when she was a child. “His film songs still evoke nostalgia. Even today, singers across generations perform songs filmed on Uttam Kumar, which keeps us connected to the iconic,” she said on the legendary artiste’s 44th death anniversary on Wednesday at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata.

During the event, the CM also presented Special Film Awards and Mahanayak Awards to Tollywood artistes for their contributions. Singer Nachiketa Chakraborty received the Mahanayak Award. Actress Rachana Banerjee, the first-time TMC MP from Hooghly, was also awarded Mahanayak Samman. Prosenjit Chatterjee was honoured with the Special Film Award for his four decades of work in Bengali cinema.

Special awards were also given to Ambarish Bhattacharya, Rukmini Maitra and senior actor Subhasish Mukherjee.

The Chief Minister also mentioned that till 2023, 23 actors and actresses have received the Mahanayak Award, 141 people have won Best Actor/Actress awards and 141 others have received Special Film Awards. Also, 21 artistes have been recognised for their contributions to cinema.

“We celebrate July 24 every year. Uttam Kumar is eternal and a symbol of Bengali cultural identity. We must not lose our identity,” said Banerjee.

The event included performances by Arundhati Holme Chowdhury, Ragab Chatterjee, Rupankar Bagchi, Jojo, Sreeradha Bandopadhyay, and others.

The CM praised Vivek Kumar, an IAS officer of 1990 batch, who is the new additional chief secretary of the land and land reforms and refugee relief and rehabilitation department, for his talent in singing Bengali songs. “He is such a good singer,” she said.