While appreciating “the possibilities” that have opened up to both independent producers and mainstream cinema with the influx of unprecedented capital and investors, veteran actor Sharmila Tagore on Thursday asserted that “extraordinary films are not made only through extraordinary budgets.”
Speaking at the inauguration of the 17th Kolkata Film Festival, Ms. Tagore said though she was “impressed” with the contemporary concern of form, style and lavish production values, she was “distressed” at the disconnect between what was the reality of India and what was shown in the media.
The strains of string instruments playing a piece from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake in a rendition by the Kolkata Music Academy set the ball rolling for this edition of the festival. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, actor Shah Rukh Khan and several film personalities were present at the inauguration.
Emphasising the fact that “Kolkata is the capital of cultural activities,” Ms. Banerjee said her government wanted to extend all help to the film industry as well as other artists.
The “significant changes” made this year at the film festival were noted by Ms. Tagore even as she recounted the words of auteur Satyajit Ray at the forerunner of this festival 35 years ago.
“Ray's films along with his formidable contemporaries like Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak made it possible for films, which were deeply embedded in their cultural context, to emerge. At the same time, they had an enthusiastic conversation with world cinema,” Ms. Tagore said.
Highlighting this ability of their films “to speak eloquently with the world and the home,” Ms. Tagore expressed the hope that young directors would be able to resume this dialogue.
“To resume the conversation between cinema and the world that we live in would be the perfect tribute to the giants of cinema, to the legacy that they left us,” she said.
The eight-day festival will showcase nearly 150 films from over 50 countries. Dutch film TheMagicians, directed by Joram Lürsen, was screened as the inaugural film.
