KOLKATA: On a day Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee showered praises upon the talents of Bengali film and television industry, the brilliance of Bengal shone brightly at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony.
Director duo Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti’s ‘Kalkokkho’ bagged the best Bengali Film Award. Meanwhile, debutant director Ishaan Ghose’s Bengali film ‘Jhilli’ (Discards), which was shot at Dhapa dumping ground for three years, won best Audiography (for Aneesh Basu) Award. Actors Aranya Gupta and Bithan Biswas from ‘Jhilli’ also garnered special mention for their outstanding performance in the film.
Producer Anjan Bose of ‘Kalkokkho’ is happy for Paul and Maiti, and applauded their hard work. “This award proves that we need to trust the talents of the newcomers,” he said.
“Just a day after India landed on the Moon, we are literally over the moon,” said Paul. This is the second National Award for the director duo, who had earlier won the best Documentary Award for ‘At the Crossroads Nondon Bagchi Life and Living’.
For Ishaan, the award was unexpected. “I am quite surprised and shocked,” he said. When questioned about his father Goutam Ghose, a multiple National Award-winning filmmaker and the producer of ‘Jhilli,’ Ishaan nonchalantly said: “He was happy.”
Meanwhile, acclaimed director Avik Mukhopadhyay took home the best Cinematographer Award for the fourth time for ‘Sardar Udham’. In the non-feature category, Abhro Banerjee bagged the best Editor Award for ‘If Memory Serves Me Right’. Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s film ‘Ek Duaa’ received a special mention for shedding light on the issues of gender discrimination and female foeticide.
Adding to the Bengali connection, Shreya Ghoshal secured the Best Playback Singer Award for the Tamil thriller ‘Iravin Nizhal’.