Borders blur as director’s death unites film fraternity
Times of India | 26 February 2025
12 Kolkata: The demise of Bangladesh's award-winning film-maker Zahidur Rahim Anjan in Bengaluru on Monday united the film communities of India and Bangladesh, with personal recollections from his batchmates and colleagues pouring in from across the border. The 61-year-old director, an alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), died following a surgery.
"We graduated from FTII in 1990. While he was in the direction department, I studied cinematography. We were very close. His untimely demise is a big loss," said cinematographer-turned-director Amit Sen. Anjan made his directorial debut in 2014 with ‘Meghmallar', a film about a simple man caught in the terror of 1971 Bangladesh. The adaptation of Akhtaruzzaman Elias's short story, ‘Raincoat', earned Anjan the National Film Award for Best Director and Best Dialogue Writer. His next film, ‘Chander Amabasya', awaits release.
Sandeep Chatterjee, head of the direction and screenplay writing department at FTII, remembered seeing Anjan in Delhi five months ago, when he went there from Dhaka for treatment. "He was a free-spirited soul. Never once did I see any anti-India sentiment in him. Mani Kaul was his guru... After Irrfan graduated from NSD, both of us cast him as the leads in our respective diploma films. We three shared a close bond... Irrfan left in 2020, and now, Anjan," Chatterjee said.
Shyamal Karmakar, former head of the editing department at SRFTI, has cherished memories of Anjan and his writer wife, Shaheen Akhtar. "I was a couple of years his senior at FTII and we often socialized together. Just before the pandemic, we both received Ritwik Ghatak Award in Bangladesh at Ghatak's ancestral home in Rajshahi," Karmakar said. Serving as the head of the direction department at Stamford University in Bangladesh, Anjan was immensely popular among his students.
Prasenjit Ghosh, associate professor of producing for film and television department at SRFTI, was a batch junior to Anjan at FTII. Since Monday night, he has been flooded with calls. "I had assisted him on his diploma film, which had Mani Kaul's daughter, Shambhavi, in the lead. On Anjan's encouragement, I submitted my SRFTI diploma film to the seventh Bangladesh Short Film Festival, where it was selected. Our friendship transcended geographical boundaries. Despite the political upheaval, we remained steadfast friends," Ghosh said.