Luminaries in West Bengal Thursday paid homage to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his 72nd death anniversary through film screenings and cultural programmes.
The day - 22 Shrabon in the Bengali calendar - was observed with due solemnity, underscoring Tagore's genius that is evident in his compositions in music, art and penmanship.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute to Tagore through floral offerings at the poet's portrait at the iconic Writers' Buildings, which house the state secretariat.
Coinciding with Tagore's birth anniversary, an unreleased documentary on the legendary poet, made by late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, premiered at the inaugural function of the four-day "Homage Ritu" festival.
Titled "Jeevan Smriti: Selective Memories", the documentary is based on Tagore's reminiscences compiled in 1912 in the book "Jibon Smriti".
The event is being organised by the ministry of information and broadcasting and the Directorate of Film Festivals in collaboration with city-based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI).
"Ghosh was a genius and the festival will explore his cinema and his creativity," SRFTI director Sanjay Pattnaik told IANS.
A patient of pancreatitis, Ghosh died May 30 following cardiac arrest. He was 49.
Other cultural programmes were also held across the eastern metropolis and the districts to commemorate the occasion as also 100 years of Tagore's Nobel prize for book of poems "Gitanjali".
