Museum at Suchitra Sen’s Bangladesh home soon

KOLKATA: On Suchitra Sen’s third death anniversary on Tuesday, her fans and family in Kolkata have reacted to reports about her damaged house in Pabna.
Asaduzzaman Noor, Bangladesh’s minister of cultural affairs, however, assured that the house will be restored and a museum will be set up there by the end of this year.
On Tuesday, a report published in a Bangladeshi daily, The Daily Star, had mentioned how the house has decayed without proper care after it was freed from occupiers in July 2014 on the orders of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
The premise of the house was unkempt and petty criminals have allegedly stolen some of its doors and windows. As with most neglected houses, this house has allegedly become a den for local addicts.
Busy with a private puja at home on the third death anniversary of the legendary actor, her granddaughter and actor Raima Sen said, “The people of Bangladesh love her. I feel, they should have done something with the house. They claim to love her more than us Bengalis. If that’s a fact, they should restore her house. If it was left to our family, we would have done something about it.”
Sen’s daughter and actor-turned-Trinamool MP, Moon Moon Sen said that she had only seen photographs of the house but has never visited it. “The house was lying unguarded and perhaps that’s why miscreants have entered it,” she said.
Director Kamaleswar Mukherjee, who had helmed a television series titled “Mahanayika” that was supposedly inspired by some incidents from the life and times of the legend, said, “We Bengalis don’t give much importance to archiving. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t been able to treasure such things.”
When TOI contacted Bangladesh’s culture minister, he said, “After a long battle, we finally vacated that property. Some portion of the property was damaged. Around ten months ago, we had also given a grant to the local administration and Suchitra Sen Smrity Sangrohashala to restore the place and build a museum.”
Though it’s unfortunate that work hasn’t yet begun, he assured that it will begin in the next two months. “Apart from having her photos and writings on her, we would also invite Moon Moon Sen on to come over. We also have a plan to build an archive on Bengali cinema as well as host a library there. If all goes well, the archive should be functional by the end of 2017,” promised Noor.