Director duo Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha today expressed happiness that their film 'Benche Thakar Gaan' (Song of Life) was screened as the inaugural movie of the 22nd Kolkata International Film Festival.
Set in an old age home, 'Benche Thakar Gaan' can boast of being the first Bengali movie to become the inaugural film in the history of Kolkata International Film Festival, Sudeshna said.
"We are proud to be chosen as the inaugural film in this edition of the KIFF more because it is being held in Bengal," Abhijit said.
The film has been screened at the inaugural programme of the KIFF last evening and will be shown in various venues of the eight-day extravaganza where 156 movies from 65 countries are on the platter.
In 'Benche Thakar Gaan' we talked about the plight of elderly persons being left high and dry when their "successful children" start a new life. The old age home in this film can be any such home anywhere in the country," Sudeshna told PTI.
"However, we are not being judgmental. We sought to show it from both points of view and that the inmates of old-age homes don't lose the jest of living," she said.
Seasoned actor Paran Bandyopadhyay, who essayed the character of an inmate in the old age home, said, "I have encountered many such instances in my life about children forgetting their parents.
"And as a keen observer of human beings, my job is to portray the experiences I got by interacting with people. My theatre experiences also helped me," the 76-year-old actor said.
Besides Paran, also having starred in festival winner Peace Haven (by Suman Ghosh), Anamika Saha, Sohag Sen, Shankar Mukhopadhyay were among the veteran actors in the film.
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