|| #HBFF or the Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival that was held from 30th June to 2nd July this year, celebrated the world of cinema and the exchange of culture through the silver screen.
The film festival was started by a community called Bengalis In Hyderabad (BIH).
The members of team #HBFF who resides in the city of Hyderabad, which is so far away from the city of the bengali cinemas, Kolkata, simply ignored the geographical boundaries when it came to host and uphold the rich culture of the Bengal and Bengalis in front of the country.
It is India's first and world's third such Film Festival that celebrates Regional Cinema.
In its 4th year HBFF witnessed an overwhelming response from both the film makers and the viewers respectively.
India being a multilingual country, team HBFF introduced 2 critically acclaimed and award winning Telugu(which is the mother tongue of Telangana) movies, as guest language films, from this year onward.
This year the film festival featured 7 Bengali movies, 2 Telugu movies, and one documentary about Satyajit Ray's detective character Feluda, in the occasion of the character turning 50 this year.
A bunch of hard working individuals, commendably and smoothly organized the said event for the fourth time in a row which itself is a wonder considering that every one of them has a regular primary job in complete different fields.
I came to know about BIH through a social medium. With my utter astonishment, within a few days I got a call from one of the founding member of BIH for joining their organizing team for this colossal event, even though I missed the first meeting.
I had never done anything like this before in my life, but that did not seem to be of any concern to them. I am and will always be grateful for giving me this opportunity and letting me in on this project.
From day one of the team meeting till the last day of the presentation ceremony, I met people who are not only friendly but knew how to make an outsider at ease.
More importantly, no one ever thought twice before entrusting me with any responsibility, smaller or bigger! which amazingly increased my confidence.
Each and every team did their job not because they were assigned to it but they loved doing them.
It was an amazing feeling considering I knew nothing of managing an event or for that matter anything remotely related to it.
Now coming to my ulterior motive, you know because everyone is selfish, I wanted to be a part of team HBFF not only because I was new to the city and practically knew no one else but also because as a movie lover I was excited to watch some of the wonderful movies, which I missed, being outside of Bengal for quite sometime.
Although I could not watch everyone of it, yet I managed to watch quite few of them.
Life, like people, runs on grey scale. There is no one who is all good or all bad. In life also, we face situations, events which brings out the grey version of people. There is shadow just opposite to light, in the same way, if we accept the good in people or things, we ought to accept the bad as well.
All the movies , which are selected this time, has this factor in common. Be it any character or story or the whole movie itself.
Nothing in life is black and white. If you found something which is; it is either not real or you are in denial.
At the end of the wonderful three days journey, I came back with not only memories of good cinemas, but the satisfaction of knowing good people which includes all the actors, directors and technicians of all the above movies. From watching them on screen to interacting with them, it was once in a lifetime experience as some of them are National award winners while others are PadmaShree awardee.
After an amazing weekend, sitting alone in my room seems a little less scary...because in this strange city, now there are people and faces which are a little less strange to me...||
A timeless tale of forbidden love which seeks to rise
above all adversities. A Muslim man (Abir) washes up on the Bangladesh side of
the Ichhamati and is rescued by a Hindu widow (Jaya), and her watchful suitor (Kuashik).
Filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay’s “Asamapto” is an adaptation
of ace litterateur ShirshenduMukhopadhyay’s “AschorjoBhromon”. The film adopts
a multi-dimensional approach to the nuances of relationships and asks various
questions on what makes an union tick. Love is multi dimensional and without a definition.
Three men, in their seventies, observe one of their friends
being cremated before his son could arrive from abroad to perform the last
rites of his father. Troubled by the idea that they’ll meet the same fate as
there’s no mortuary which could preserve their remains long enough for their
children to arrive from afar, the three friends set out to build a mortuary by
themselves.
The movie deals with
subtleties of urban life and its manifold dimensions.
A hard-hitting story that is provoking, shocking, yet,
tender. Written and directed by Rajesh Touchriver, the film was co-produced by
M.S Rajesh and Dr. Sunitha Krishnan, who is an internationally renowned
anti-trafficking crusader. Through the traumatic trials of a family for which
the world suddenly turns upside down one day, “NaaBangaruTalli” exposes the sex
trafficking industry and seeks to open our eyes to it. It also questions a lot
of social values and points at the opportunistic predators who hide themselves
behind facades of honesty. This film own many national and international awards
including the Rajatkamal and Best Background Score in 2014.
~with director Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Sohini Dasgupta, Hall Management Team (screen 2)
#TeamHBFF2017
The film festival was started by a community called Bengalis In Hyderabad (BIH).
The members of team #HBFF who resides in the city of Hyderabad, which is so far away from the city of the bengali cinemas, Kolkata, simply ignored the geographical boundaries when it came to host and uphold the rich culture of the Bengal and Bengalis in front of the country.
It is India's first and world's third such Film Festival that celebrates Regional Cinema.
In its 4th year HBFF witnessed an overwhelming response from both the film makers and the viewers respectively.
India being a multilingual country, team HBFF introduced 2 critically acclaimed and award winning Telugu(which is the mother tongue of Telangana) movies, as guest language films, from this year onward.
This year the film festival featured 7 Bengali movies, 2 Telugu movies, and one documentary about Satyajit Ray's detective character Feluda, in the occasion of the character turning 50 this year.
A bunch of hard working individuals, commendably and smoothly organized the said event for the fourth time in a row which itself is a wonder considering that every one of them has a regular primary job in complete different fields.
I came to know about BIH through a social medium. With my utter astonishment, within a few days I got a call from one of the founding member of BIH for joining their organizing team for this colossal event, even though I missed the first meeting.
I had never done anything like this before in my life, but that did not seem to be of any concern to them. I am and will always be grateful for giving me this opportunity and letting me in on this project.
From day one of the team meeting till the last day of the presentation ceremony, I met people who are not only friendly but knew how to make an outsider at ease.
More importantly, no one ever thought twice before entrusting me with any responsibility, smaller or bigger! which amazingly increased my confidence.
Each and every team did their job not because they were assigned to it but they loved doing them.
It was an amazing feeling considering I knew nothing of managing an event or for that matter anything remotely related to it.
Now coming to my ulterior motive, you know because everyone is selfish, I wanted to be a part of team HBFF not only because I was new to the city and practically knew no one else but also because as a movie lover I was excited to watch some of the wonderful movies, which I missed, being outside of Bengal for quite sometime.
Although I could not watch everyone of it, yet I managed to watch quite few of them.
Life, like people, runs on grey scale. There is no one who is all good or all bad. In life also, we face situations, events which brings out the grey version of people. There is shadow just opposite to light, in the same way, if we accept the good in people or things, we ought to accept the bad as well.
All the movies , which are selected this time, has this factor in common. Be it any character or story or the whole movie itself.
Nothing in life is black and white. If you found something which is; it is either not real or you are in denial.
At the end of the wonderful three days journey, I came back with not only memories of good cinemas, but the satisfaction of knowing good people which includes all the actors, directors and technicians of all the above movies. From watching them on screen to interacting with them, it was once in a lifetime experience as some of them are National award winners while others are PadmaShree awardee.
After an amazing weekend, sitting alone in my room seems a little less scary...because in this strange city, now there are people and faces which are a little less strange to me...||
Following are the movies which are shown and their gist.
Bengali features included:
Tope (The Bait):
It was the inaugural film. Tope is directed by the ace filmmaker & poet Shri BuddhadebDasgupta. An adaptation of Narayan Gangopadhyay’s renowned short story, “Tope” is an engrossing celluloid narrative which depicts the desperate struggle of fading royalty to once again rise to prominence.
Bishorjon:
A timeless tale of forbidden love which seeks to rise
above all adversities. A Muslim man (Abir) washes up on the Bangladesh side of
the Ichhamati and is rescued by a Hindu widow (Jaya), and her watchful suitor (Kuashik).
The story revolves around the characters showing that how their present scenarios are the result of their past which ultimately helped their escape into the future. The film won the
National Award in 2017, as the Best Feature Film in Bengali.
Asamapto: (Incomplete)
Filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay’s “Asamapto” is an adaptation
of ace litterateur ShirshenduMukhopadhyay’s “AschorjoBhromon”. The film adopts
a multi-dimensional approach to the nuances of relationships and asks various
questions on what makes an union tick. Love is multi dimensional and without a definition.
Sometimes the closure of anything incomplete is in its incompleteness itself.
Abby Sen:
“Abby Sen” delves into the realm of sci-fi which becomes instrumental in showcasing the film’s take on the concepts of success, competition, acceptability and a struggle to find recognition with revolutionary ideas. No matter how misfit we are, each and everyone of us has been given a particular time to complete our chores in life.
Peace Haven:
Three men, in their seventies, observe one of their friends
being cremated before his son could arrive from abroad to perform the last
rites of his father. Troubled by the idea that they’ll meet the same fate as
there’s no mortuary which could preserve their remains long enough for their
children to arrive from afar, the three friends set out to build a mortuary by
themselves.
Death being the protagonist, one also realizes that there is a no prominent line between life and death. In a world of rat race, the realization that we are living only comes when death knocks at the door for us.
Bibaho Diaries:
The movie deals with
subtleties of urban life and its manifold dimensions.
Ritwick Chakraborty works hard to hold a struggling
theater group together in his dream of becoming the modern UtpalDutt.
Sohini
Sarkar plays his wife, as the couple bickers about their differences and finds
joy and comfort in things they love, the viewers come to realize that as far as modern marriages are concern, it can never be a smooth ride of black and white.
BombaiyerBombete:
It starts when the film adaptation of Jatayu’s novel is being made in Bombay, the film takes us on a thrilling ride as Feluda and team chase down hardened criminals.
Feluda: 50 Years of Ray’s Detective: (documentary)
This 111 minute-long film, directed by Sagnik Chatterjee, will be the first Indian documentary that will pay a tribute to a fictional detective character created by Satyajit Ray over 50 years ago. This film is an effort to ensure that the legacy of Feluda is preserved for eternity.
In Telugu features, there were two movies:
PelliChoopulu (Matchmaking):
A reflection of modern society which often looks down upon dreams and creativity, this romantic comedy depicts a heartwarming tale of two young people finding each other and also their true calling in life in the process. Winner of 2 National Award in 2017.
NaaBangaruThalli (My Dearest Daughter):
A hard-hitting story that is provoking, shocking, yet,
tender. Written and directed by Rajesh Touchriver, the film was co-produced by
M.S Rajesh and Dr. Sunitha Krishnan, who is an internationally renowned
anti-trafficking crusader. Through the traumatic trials of a family for which
the world suddenly turns upside down one day, “NaaBangaruTalli” exposes the sex
trafficking industry and seeks to open our eyes to it. It also questions a lot
of social values and points at the opportunistic predators who hide themselves
behind facades of honesty. This film own many national and international awards
including the Rajatkamal and Best Background Score in 2014.
More importantly, every aspect in this movie was the exact reflection how it had happened in real life.
I had the good fortune to watch this movie, and personally speaking there are very few movies which give me goosebumps, this has been included in that rare lot.
#HBFF2017
#GratitudeToAll
#GratitudeToAll
#StayBlessed
#TillNextTime
~with director Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Sohini Dasgupta, Hall Management Team (screen 2)
#TeamHBFF2017
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