Award for ‘Padatik’ at Dhaka fest despite no B’desh release
Times of India | 20 January 2025
12 Kolkata: Srijit Mukherji's ‘Padatik'— amongst the five Indian films showcased at the 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) — won the Best Audience Award under the world cinema segment on Sunday. This was confirmed by Bidhan Rebeiro, media in-charge of DIFF. It is a remarkable achievement for an Indian film that remained unreleased in Bangladesh to have bagged the award, both from the lens of cinema and Indo-Bangla diplomatic relations.Bigg Boss Finale NewsBigg Boss 18 Grand Finale: Top 6 contestants to fight for the trophyBigg Boss Tamil 8 grand finale : Who will be winner of the show tonight?BB18: Chum Darang gets evicted from the showThe film is a biopic of Mrinal Sen, who was born in Bangladesh.
The other Indian films screened at DIFF were Jatla Siddartha's ‘In The Belly of a Tiger', Samik Roy Choudhury's ‘Beline', Ujjal Paul's ‘Clerk' and Abhilash Sharma's ‘Swaha (In The Name of Fire)'. "Cinema has always cut across borders, boundaries and languages. It has always triumphed. ‘Padatik' is a human story. The triumph of ‘Padatik' is a triumph of humanity, art and cinema in general. Procuring a Bangladesh visa would not have been an issue. I could not attend the festival because of the shooting of my next film," Mukherji said. Bangladeshi actor Chanchal Chowdhury, who played the lead in ‘Padatik', couldn't attend DIFF due to urgent matters. "I lost my father shortly before the production commenced and worked in the film amidst arduous circumstances. However, the political climate in Kolkata and Dhaka was such that the film couldn't achieve the release that we envisioned for it. The RG Kar issue was significant in Kolkata whilst the govt collapsed in Dhaka. I couldn't attend the premiere in Kolkata, and the film failed to release in Bangladesh. That was disheartening," Chowdhury told TOI.
But the potency of art is immense, he said. "Considering the response to the film, I believe this film will endure," he added.
The category in which the film won is equally significant in the context of various narratives in circulation on both sides of the border. ‘Padatik' producer Firdausul Hasan said this victory was monumental in the prevailing political atmosphere. "The screening of an Indian film at a Dhaka festival without any film representatives in attendance is remarkable. The audience's selection of this as the finest film, surpassing all others, carries even greater significance than a jury selection. I am profoundly grateful to the viewers who prioritised the film's merit above all considerations," Hasan said.
Mukherji said the triumph in this category distinctly demonstrates that "eventually, the human narrative prevails over all other narratives".