Kalighat film wins Grand Prix at int’l docu festival
Times of India | 1 February 2026
Kolkata: Bipuljit Basu's ‘Redlight to Limelight' has won the Grand Prix Award in the international competition at FIPADOC – Festival International du Documentaire in France, a recognition he values as deeply as the disappointment he feels over CBFC norms that required cuts to the film. Although he agreed to comply with the advisory, he remains distressed that Indian audiences will see an edited version, with scenes featuring a tortoise, a rat, and street catfights in Kalighat removed.
The International Documentary Festival – FIPADOC, founded by Michel Mitrani, was first held in Cannes in Oct 1987. "My co-producer, Uldis Cekulis was present in France to receive the award. This victory belongs to everyone associated with the film, including my producer Nilotpal Majumdar, executive producer Somnath Ghosh, Sayanti Bhattacharya and co-producers John Webster and Uldis Cekulis. I want to dedicate this win to the mothers of the Kalighat brothel and their children," Basu said.
"I agreed to the cuts because I didn't want to get into any friction. I'm sad I had to sacrifice the layers in my films because of the norms involving animals. All these animals were fellow inhabitants of the brothel," Basu said.
Anirban Maity, the documentary's editor, said, "Even OTT platforms will screen the cut version. For a non-fiction film on real locations, how do I get certificates for cats and rodents featured in the scenes? I had tried to show the caring nature of the girls in the brothel through those scenes between them and the tortoise. The deletion of the scene means giving up what could establish the audience's emotional connection with the protagonists," Maity said.