I dreaded the day I would have to write about Mrinalda in past tense. But I knew it was coming.
I met him last on November 11, when I was in Kolkata for the Kolkata Film Festival. No trip to the city was ever complete without meeting him.
And I made sure my trip was complete. I cherish every meeting with him. He would not leave my hand, even when he was too frail to talk. It was heartbreaking to leave him and even more to see him fade away into silence.
Actor Nandita Das with Mrinal Sen
A man of many words, and even more actions. I have known Mrinalda for over 20 years, but it was in 2002, when I finally got to work with him in his last film, A mar Bhuvan . After premiering at the festival in Kolkata, then we both went to the Cairo Film Festival and won awards, the film vanished without a trace. Ever since, I have been trying to find it, but to no avail. This is how we respect our great masters!
Today there is a vacuum that no-one can fill - not in Indian cinema, not in the world of artists whose conscience made sure there was no dissonance between their life and work. Not in the lives that he had touched. Bondhu (friend), which is what his son Kunal Sen called him, was a bondhu to many. Though not all. He had little patience for the bigoted and hypocrites. He was my friend, philosopher and guide, in the true sense of the word.
Mrinalda, the world, and for sure my world won’t be the same without you.
Nandita Das is an actor, director and activist
