Inauguration of 19th KIFF. Photo source: Mamata Banerjee
This past weekend, film stars and filmmakers from around the world came together to celebrate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) which runs from 10-17 November 2013.
Founded in 1995, this year's film festival includes 3,000 delegates and 24 international guests and features 189 films by 152 directors from 63 countries screened in 13 venues around the city.
Joining West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the opening ceremonies was Amitabh Bachchan, who inaugurated the film festival and and West Bengal's Brand Ambassador Shah Rukh Khan as the chief guest. Among the multitude of other stars joining the festivities were Jaya Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Sandip Ray, and Kamal Hassan.
T 1289 -The Kolkata International Film Festival inauguration over.Great respect and regard to me from CM and people of the city. Overwhelmed
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 10, 2013
Kolkata has been fun & fantastic. Always a pleasure to get caught amidst the vortex of energy called Mamtadi. Holly, Bolly & Tollywood.
— SHAH RUKH KHAN (@iamsrk) November 10, 2013
Shah Rukh Khan Opening Remarks
West Bengal Brand Ambassador Shah Rukh Khan delivered some brief opening remarks at this year's KIFF where he recalled the contributions of two important Bengali filmmakers. Here is an excerpt:
Photo source: Amitabh BachchanFestivals are the most basic human expression of collective happiness for the life, I think. They have been so through the ages. Storytelling in some form or the other has always been part of this expression ever since the time that man began to organize himself into tribes and human society emerged.
Society is advancing in a manner that is doing both - diminishing distances between people and increasing them at the same time. Social networking, for example, allows you to interact with others without ever really interacting with them.
That is why I think cinema matters - because it brings people together in a single experience of life to which they relate collectively. To a nation like ours - a nation of diverse traditions, multiple cultures, and immense beauty - cinema can be so many things. It can be the collective dream, the individual aspiration, the definition of identity, the loss of animosity, the sense of togetherness, and the messenger that carries a voice across our boundaries into the rest of the world.
Especially in a festival like this one, where people come from all over to share stories and their telling, there ought to be a feeling of celebration and happiness, a sharing of India and of life and its experiences.
So on behalf of Kolkata, and humbly so as the ambassador of the state of Bengal, I wish all the dignitaries and filmmakers from all over the world the next few days to be the greatest celebration of your life because you are, perhaps, in the greatest, the most charming, the most loving city in the world. Just like the Chief Minister herself.
I also hope creative interactions of this scale help Indian films to reach the heights that great filmmakers present here tonight and who have passed away - like the wonderful Rituparno Ghosh - who have thought I have a dream for Indian films over the years.
So, I leave you with the words of the great Satyajit Ray. "What Indian cinema needs today is not more gloss, but more imagination, more integrity, and a more intelligent appreciation of the limitations of the medium. What our cinema needs above everything else is a style, an idiom, a sort of iconography of cinema which would be uniquely and recognizably Indian."
I wish you all present here tonight a very, very pleasant evening and welcome to Kolkata.
If you are new to Bollywood, here is a very brief overview of the lives and contributions of Satyajit Ray and Rituparno Ghosh.
Satyajit Ray: The Auteur Filmmaker
Born 2 May 1921, Satyajit Ray was always interested in fine arts. After university, he worked at a British-run advertising agency then moved to Signet Press, where he designed covers for children's books. Shortly after the partition of India in 1947, he co-founded the Calcutta Film Society, a club that obtained and screened films from all over the world.
Soon Satyajit's passion for films turned into an obsession for filmmaking. Obtaining funding by taking a loan against his insurance policy, Satyajit's first film Pather Panchali won eleven international prizes. Over the course of his career, he carefully crafted his films to his vision by personally writing, casting, scoring, directing and editing each of his 36 films: 29 feature films, five documentaries and two shorts.
In 1977, Amitabh Bachchan's voice had impressed Satyajit Ray and he wanted to used him in his film. Finding no suitable on-screen role for him, he cast him as the narrator in his 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khilari. On his blog, Amitabh Bachchan described the work space and genius of Satyajit Ray:
I had on occasion visited his house and spent some time in his room. It was a sight that displayed what kind of a mind the individual possessed. Not an inch of space in the room for anything else but paper work, books, writings, a piano …ah just so many objects ! And most importantly the absolute strength and memory to be able to find any sheet of some paper work that he may have casually placed in the pile of others …
I don’t know … I just felt elated at the fact of his room being so busy. many would disagree … but I shall not … I love the sight of matter all about and within reach than to be documented and filed of loaded as in todays times on the hard disc of a computer.
A cluttered mind they say is filled with confusion, indecision and one that could be directionless … would one ever say that about the genius of Satyajit Ray. I would never dare to even think in that direction.
Receiving 32 National Film Awards for this work, Satyajit Ray was considered one of the top Asian directors of his time - and is viewed as a visionary filmmaker who continues to have a major impact on the film industry throughout the world. Satyajit's cinematic style was praised by Akira Kurosawa and his unique creative vision has influenced filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, François Truffaut, and Danny Boyle.
In 1992, Satyajit Ray was hospitalized with a serious heart condition. Shortly before his death, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him an Honorary Academy Award which he accepted from his hospital bed.
Satyajit's son Sandip Ray is a filmmaker in his own right. He participated in this year's opening ceremonies at KIFF.
If you are interested in learning more about the films and filmmaking of Satyajit Ray, visit www.satyajitray.org.
Rituparno Ghosh: The Progressive Filmmaker
"It was [Satyajit] Ray who inspired me to become a filmmaker, " explained Rituparno Ghosh in an interview with Kaustav Bakshi posted in early May 2013.
Born in Kolkata in 31 August 1963, Rituparno Ghosh was the eldest son of Sunil Ghosh - a documentary filmmaker and artist. Rituparno initially pursued a degree in economics, then worked as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He eventually found his passion in filmmaking and released his first film, Hirer Angti, in 1992. His second film, Unishe April (1994), won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
In 2007, Rituparno worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal on an the english-language film The Last Lear, about a retired Shakespearean actor.
During his two decades of filmmaking, he won 12 National Film Awards. While he principly wrote his screenplays in Bengali, he wrote several films in Hindi and English.
Rituparno Ghosh passed away on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata after suffering a heart attack.
Amitabh Bachchan pointed out that Ghosh was the only director to have worked individually with the whole Bachchan clan, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. On his blog, Amitabh explained that Rituparno's passing, "left a huge void in the world of some of the most progressive work done in recent times."
Rituparno Ghosh's unreleased film, Taak Jhaank was screened at the start of the 19th KIFF.
Find out more about the Kolkata International Film Festival at the KIFF website and via our Storify collection.
Photo source: Amitabh Bachchan
The following playlist features the remarks by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan delivered at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival. Their words not only highlight the important history of Bengali film, but the powerful impact of cinema on all of society.