Film award announced in Uttam Kumar name
Announcing that a film award would be instituted in the name of Bengali cinema's star of yesteryear, Uttam Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday that the golden era of the State's culture would be revived.
Speaking at an event marking Uttam Kumar's 31th death anniversary, Ms. Banerjee said he would be given the deserved respect he had not got at the time of his death.
“There is no way that the people will forget him…Uttam Kumar took filmmaking to new heights at a time when there were limited resources and films were mostly made in black and white,” Ms. Banerjee said, adding that the films of those times were very different from the cinema presently being made in India or Hollywood.
She said people would always treasure the memories of the golden days of Bengal's culture. The work of the artistes of those days was steeped in emotion and thought-provoking, she said.
She said her government had already instituted the Banga Vibhushan awards along the lines of the Padma Bhushan and Bharat Ratna that is given by the Government of India. Nine eminent personalities will be awarded the Banga Vibhushan on Monday, she said.
Ms. Banerjee rued that the venue of the function, Uttam Mancha — the only auditorium named after Uttam Kumar — had been reduced to a state of disrepair and was on the verge of being sold off. She lauded the efforts of Kolkata Mayor Shovan Chatterjee in restoring the auditorium to its former glory.
