Swarna Kamal winner dedicates honour to ‘Bengal’s resilient women fighting for justice’
Times of India | 17 August 2024
Kolkata: Miriam Chandy Menacherry, who bagged the Swarna Kamal for Best Director in the non-feature film category at the 70th National Film Awards on Friday for ‘From The Shadows’, dedicated her win to the women in Bengal who were fighting for justice in the R G Kar case. The reason is her film revolves around the survivors of trafficking and was made by an all-women crew and Menacherry told TOI that it is only fair to dedicate her accolade to all the courageous female fighters of Bengal.
Artist Leena Kejriwal’s thought-provoking art installations — sprayed silhouettes on Kolkata’s walls accompanied by the hashtag #missingirls — served as the catalyst for the documentary.Filmed by Kolkata-based cinematographer Ranu Ghosh, it centres on the experiences of a girl who escaped trafficking and filed a case against her perpetrators, as well as another who secured a conviction. “My film is a testament to the unwavering sisterhood of survivors relentlessly fighting for justice, supported by an all-women crew. I would like to dedicate this award to all the resilient women in Be-ngal who are battling for justice,” Menacherry told TOI.
Director Nila Madhab Panda, chairperson of the non-feature film jury, told TOI: “We liked her sensitivity while exploring a very dark story. While connecting individual stories, a viewer feels as if he or she is a part of the life of a character who has gone through such tough physical and mental pressures.”
Two additional Swarna Kamals were announced for Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar’s work, ‘Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography’, in the Best Writing on Cinema Category. Another Swarna Kamal recipient with a Bengal connection is Ayan Mukherji, whose ‘Brahmastra Part I: Shiva’ won in the Best Film in the Animation, Visual Effects Gaming & Comic category.
A plethora of individuals with Bengal roots, including director Kaushik Ganguly (‘Kaberi Antardhan’); music director Pritam and singer Arijit Singh (‘Brahmastra Part I: Shiva’); makeup artist Somnath Kundu and production designer Ananda Addhya (‘Aparajito’); dialogue writer Arpita Mukherjee (‘Gulmohar’), and scriptwriter Koushik Sarkar (‘Mono No Aware’) got seven Rajat Kamals. Legendary music director Salil Chowdhury’s son, Sanjoy Salil Chowdhury, received a certificate for his score in the Malayalam film ‘Kadhikan’.
Ganguly, who won his eighth National Award and sixth Best Bengali Feature Film award, told TOI: “I am honoured to receive this award. But we are not in the mood to celebrate the win because of the current circumstances in Kolkata. I am very happy that our technicians – Somnath and Ananda - have won nationally. They work with so few resources and clinching the national award after competing nationally is huge. I dedicate my award to the talented technicians of Bengal.”