Film on Pritilata Waddedar, Bengal's first woman martyr, to come up in November
KOLKATA: A feature film on the life of Pritilata Waddedar, Bengal's first woman martyr—who chose to die at the age of 21 rather than being caught by the Britishers—is coming up in November.
Titled as 'Birkanya Pritilata', the film has been directed by Pradip Ghosh, a teacher in the department of Dramatics, University of Chittagong. It is based on the novel 'Bhalobasa Pritilata', written by well-known novelist, Selina Hossain. Bangladesh government has provided financial assistance for making of the film.
Ghosh said the film had been shot at the European Club at Chittagong, which has now been converted into an office of the Railways. Waddedar committed suicide by consuming Potassium Cyanide after being hit by a bullet on May 5, 1932 at the age of 21. The revolutionaries had gone to raid the European club. The length of the film is 1.45 hours.
Born at Dhalghat village in Potia sub district in Chittagong in 1911, Waddedar had topped the merit list in the Intermediate Arts (IA) examination from Eden College, now in Bangladesh, and joined Bethune College in Kolkata to study Philosophy in Kolkata after getting a scholarship of Rs 20 per month. She used to stay at the college hostel on Baranashi Ghosh Street.
Waddedar received a letter that Ramakrisha Biswas, who was put up at Alipore Central Correctional Home had been found guilty in the Creig murder case and awarded capital punishment. No one from Biswas' family, who also hailed from Chittagong, could come to see him in the jail. Pritilata went to see Biswas in the jail 40 times. Biswas was hanged on August 4, 1931. After this, she went back to Chittagong without completing her graduation.
She came in contact with Mastar da Surya Sen and other revolutionaries. Sen had found Indian Republican Army and freed Chittagong from the British rule for three days in 1930. Later, Sen was arrested and hanged. His body was not handed over to his family.
Ghosh said: "Making the film was really challenging as one has to follow the history strictly. Pritilata was a woman of great courage and her love for the country was phenomenal."
