Foundation stone laying ceremony for the Uttam Kumar Film Centre
He announced this during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the ambitious three-part Uttam Kumar Film Centre at New Town Action Area II for which the govt has initially allocated Rs 25 crore.
Kolkata: Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said the state govt will soon appoint Mithun Chakraborty as the official cultural adviser. “The govt will soon appoint Mithun Chakraborty as the official cultural adviser,” the CM said. Prominent Tollywood personalities will be felicitated over the coming days, said the CM.
Both the CM and Prosenjit Chatterjee highlighted how the Uttam Kumar centenary celebrations gained momentum to reach the number one trending spot on social media. This was mentioned on Friday at a programme organised by the state I&CA department.
Two 750-seater cinema halls will be in the first part,” the CM said. The CM also said, “The second part will include a 1,000-seater auditorium and an open-air theatre for cultural events and cafeteria while the third section will consist of animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, external reality and post-production laboratories and studios for movies, which will help the media and entertainment industry. Many skilled animators and technicians from Bengal have migrated to Mumbai due to scarcity of opportunities.
At another event held at Rabindra Sadan, state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya also spoke about the importance of Uttam Kumar and reminded how “some people” had not allowed his mortal remains to be taken to Rabindra Sadan after his demise. Perhaps, it would have been better had I not said this. Bhattacharya said, “The goal of the govt should be not to change the colours of Bengal.
Tentatively two-and-a-half years will be taken to make this centre functional for film research, training and exhibition. “Soil test is complete; site selection is already done. After the monsoon, the agency will start work here. There will be three sections in the Uttam Kumar Film Centre. Locating this infrastructure at the Uttam Kumar Film Centre will make production tools more affordable for Tollywood filmmakers. “I don’t know what they wanted to prove… But this is fact. As political activists, our parties may be different, and the colours of our flags may vary, but we belong to the same fraternity. Could anyone diminish Uttam Kumar’s stature by doing what was done?” he asked. Sometimes certain people have gone to the Academy (of Fine Arts) or newspaper offices and splashed paint. This is not the work of any part, or any govt. Our goal is to strengthen stage, theatre and all kinds of cinema. I also request our finance minister Swapan Dasgupta to make some Bengali films tax-free and help build some more state-run theatres in the state. ”