Bhupen Hazarika
In 1959, Hazarika had directed a Bengali film based on a story by Alakesh Barua. Starring Dilip Roy, Trishna Hazarika, Jahar Roy, ‘Mahut Bandhu Re’ had been released in Uttara, Purabi and Ujjala.
I am in Guwahati now for a couple of days and would want to see if information about the film can be sourced,” Hatkhowa told TOI . Hiten Hatkhowa, working president of Kolkata Assamese Cultural Association, is ready to extend all support to organisers to help source films that have the Hazarika connection. “Though I haven’t watched the film, it would be great if a proper print can be sourced and screened in Kolkata.
“Everything depends on which films of these legends are made available for screening by the NFDC-NFAI,” a KIFF source noted, adding, “They are currently restoring several works of the cinematic icons whose centenaries we plan to celebrate at KIFF.” Kolkata: This year marks the birth centenary not only of Uttam Kumar but also of icons like Bhupen Hazarika , Shakti Samanta, OP Nayyar and Marilyn Monroe. To celebrate their legacy, the 32nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is curating a special retrospective of films featuring Hazarika’s unforgettable music. Organisers are also actively hunting down archival prints of the other artists so their work can light up the KIFF screens once again. In his career as a music director, Hazarika scored for over a dozen Bengali films. One was Yatrik’s ‘Ekhane Pinjar’, starring Uttam Kumar and Aparna Sen. The film had three songs composed by Hazarika. The title card has ‘O amar mon pakhi’ — a song for which Hazarika himself lent his voice. The other two songs are Pratima Banerjee’s ‘Eka mor gaaner tori’ and Madhuri Chatterjee’s ‘Jiboner kichhu kichhu rang’. Two other important films with his music direction were Indar Sen’s ‘Chameli Memsaheb’ starring Rakhee and Rajen Tarafdar’s ‘Nagpash’ starring Sandhya Ray. “The Assam govt is working with West Bengal authorities to acquire and convert his former Kolkata home into a heritage site and museum. It would be a fitting tribute to him if KIFF screened these movies,” Hatkhowa added. Festival organisers are actively working to source these films.