Noted directors dropped from Kolkata fest
Film personalities Mrinal Sen and Soumitra Chatterjee have reportedly been dropped from 2013 Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) Committee.
Although there was no official communication from the state government, KIFF sources said Mrinal Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Tarun Majumdar and Buddhadeb Dasgupta have been dropped from the general body of the film festival committee. and new members have been included.
Sen and Chatterjee, whose names were dropped from the permanent membership of the 2013 Kolkata International Film Festival Committee, said they were never a part of it.
“It is unimaginable for me to think of her as the head of the cultural department. So I had quit on the first day after I was told that Mamata Banerjee is in charge,” Sen, known for his films Ek din Pratidin and Khandhar told PTI here.
“There is no question of me working with her,” said the National Award winning filmmaker.
Dadasaheb Phalke award winning actor Soumitra Chatterjee said he had neither attended any film festival committee’s meeting nor was he invited.
“I never attended a single meeting nor was I asked to attend a meeting. So I hardly know what they do. I don’t know when was this new committee constituted,” he said adding he was the chairman of the film festival committee few years ago.
In 2011, both Sen and Chatterjee had skipped the film festival.
Last year, Chatterjee had expressed against the idea of shifting the venue of the festival from the cultural complex Nandan to Netaji Indoor Stadium, saying film festivals should not be treated like a circus.
Haranath Chakraborty, a member of the film festival committee, said, “I have heard something but I don’t know what has happened. I don’t have the list with me.”
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