Srijit picks Golden Lotus as Tolly does a high five

KOLKATA: Srijit Mukherjee on Tuesday joined the league of extraordinary directors from Bengal — Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen, Goutam Ghose, Tapan Sinha, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Rituparno Ghosh — by picking up the Swarna Kamal for Best Direction for his 2014 hit thriller Chotushkone.
For Bengal, the prestigious Golden Lotus comes home after six years — Rituparno last won it for Abohoman in 2009.
Srijit also won Best Screenplay (Original) for Chotushkone and Sudip Chatterjee Best Cinematography for the same film.Two other debutant directors from Bengal made it big — Churni Ganguly’s Nirbashito was adjudged Best Bengali Film and Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love) won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director.
Last year, too, Tollywood had picked up five national awards, including four for Srijit’s Jaatishwar.
An elated Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said in a press statement, “Congratulations to all the winners of 62nd National Film Awards. So many talented artistes across India and Bengal. Congratulations to all.”
The man of the moment, Srijit, was elated. After all, he had pipped Haider-maker Vishal Bhardwaj. “We do not have the privileges enjoyed by the so-called biggies, and it’s indeed a proud moment for me. I don’t remember when was the last time a director from Bengal won these two awards together. It was the team’s victory last year even though I didn’t win any award myself. Similarly, this year too, it’s the team that has won. I dedicate my win to Rituparno Ghosh,” he said, in between dubbing for his next, Rajkahini.
While Srijit was sure Chotushkone would make an impression on the jury, for Sudip, the award came as a surprise. “I was in a meeting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani when Srijit called. After doing so many Hindi films, I get the national award for a Bengali movie — it feels great. After finishing Dhoom 3, I had some time and agreed to come on board Chotushkone. Srijit and I have been friends for long and he is one of the best creative minds I know,” he said.
Churni Ganguly was no less taken aback when she received a congratulatory call. “It was totally out of the blue. I don’t keep track of festival calendars and wasn’t even waiting for the National Film Awards to be announced. When Mahendra Soni (producer) called me, I thought he was pulling a fast one. I switched on the TV hoping I would get the right news. Yes, now that the feeling is sinking in, I’m elated. I worked very hard for this film,” she said. While Nirbashito is a satirical and fictionalized take on controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen’s difficult trek through life, Aditya’s Asha Jaoar Majhe is a dialogueless story of a married couple set in the backdrop of recession. The movie has already won several international awards.
Talking about bagging top honours at festivals, Aditya had earlier said, “Awards also send out unhealthy vibes. Films are personal expressions, you really can’t compare. You might like my film, I might hate it. So, it’s not about the film, but the two of us and our mindsets. It’s a great feeling and I’m happy but I’d rather festivals don’t have awards.” Ritwick Chakraborty, the film’s lead, said, “I’m extremely happy that after winning several international awards, the film has got recognition in our own country.”