foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you so much ladies and gentlemen foreign good evening ladies and gentlemen as you can all see that I have taken my designated place as the host for this evening and with me is my co-host and together we both welcome you to the 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival 2022. a very good evening indeed ladies and gentlemen today we celebrate the 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival after a long covet str
uggle of two years it is a milestone that we all can be proud of from a modest start in 1995 the festival has grown phenomenally and expands content and stature especially in the last 12 years where else in the film festival's inaugural function do you see so many Spectators in one premise Kiff is not just about speeding off some award-winning films ladies and gentlemen Kiff is a whole package for the synagoguers involving many film related events and activities such as film exhibitions talk sho
ws Masters classes lectures cinearta and what have you ladies and Gentlemen let's get set and go for the much awaited inaugural ceremony of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival 2022. we promise you a spectacular evening filled with dance music Cinema Galaxy of national and International [Music] film personalities delegates dignitaries and distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen this year is a very special year for the Kolkata International Film Festival after two long years of covet st
ruggle just to remind you we celebrated the 27th edition of the Kiff in the month of April 2022 and today Bengal yet again celebrates the 28th edition of Kiff in a grand way but let me also remind you Shahid and our beautiful audience that today December important for all the people of Bengal because last year on this date 15th of December 2021 intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO inscribed Durga Puja in Kolkata on the representative list
of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity and our honorable prime minister SRI Narendra Modi ji tweeted with great pride and joy and our honorable chief minister of West Bengal mamata bandopadhai also tweeted and I quote Durga pujo is much more than a festival it is an emotion that unites everyone unquote absolutely yes jundi our honorable chief minister has been taking a very big initiative to celebrate this UNESCO Declaration on the 1st of September and celebration of charu chop was sta
rted one month ahead of scheduled date a huge rally consisting of one lakh people yes ladies and gentlemen one lakh people participated in that celebration rally the state come forums Durga Puja committees and clubs this month-long Mega celebration was concluded with an extravagant colorful spectacular carnival on Red Road where hundred barwari Durga Puja clubs and committees participated not only that ladies and gentlemen similar carnivals were organized in all the district headquarters across
the state now it is our turn to focus on our most colorful International Film Festival which is the Kolkata International Film Festival this is Kolkata the capital of West Bengal but the city is also widely acknowledged and known as the cultural capital of India and we cannot conceive a celebration without music and dance no you're absolutely to Mark the beginning of the suspicious evening ladies and gentlemen we present to you a beautiful piece of dance and music this has been conceptualized by
our honorable chief minister of West Bengal abilabidi stotra part by SRI Amitabh Bachchan bandish by ustad Rashid Khan the dance has been choreographed by Dona Ganguly and the song has been rendered by various eminent artists of Bengal ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for Donna Ganguly and her Troop foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] eyes [Music] [Music] it's always [Music] can hear the whistle
s [Music] [Music] [Music] around 500 miles away from home away from all my life [Music] [Music] [Music] tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] one of us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] that was truly magical wasn't it absolutely yes jundi undoubtedly thank you so much our honorable chief minister mamata Banerjee thank you so much Khan all the singers and of course Jonah Ganguly I would request donor Ganguly to please join us on stage as honorable chief minister mamata di would like to f
elicitate her Dona Ganguly priyo to [Music] felicitate Corbin kindly I would request dizzy to come on stage please to felicitate can we have a round of applause a moment to be remembered ladies and gentlemen [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] please sir madam ladies and gentlemen his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr CV Ananda Bose our honorable chief minister of West Bengal mamata bandupadhai Amitabh Bachchan srimuti Jaya Bachchan foreign [Music] [Music] who's come
all the way from Bangladesh for us Mr Sadiq barmak jury chairperson Miss latica but galker our Julie chairperson [Music] SRI Raj chakraborty our chairperson for the 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival our honorable Chief secretary Dr h k divedi Apna foreign [Laughter] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] ladies and gentlemen and Now ladies and gentlemen I would request three Amitabh Bachchan to kindly declare the 28th Kolkata Interna
tional Film Festival open by lighting the ceremonial lamp and he will be assisted by our very own the gorgeous I would also request his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr CV Ananda Bose and our honorable chief minister of West Bengal mamuta bandupati to join SRI Amitabh Bachchan and I would also request all our distinguished guests and delegates present here to do the same thank you maybe may we also call upon the dice please sir if you can please do the honor and our very own the lovely
the gorgeous shravanthi please come please [Music] thank you there was a request a beat Chatterjee to join us on the dash please happy and Trina can we have you on the stage with us please and also may I requests our very own foreign to please come up on the podium and do the honors [Music] [Music] I would also request to join us [Music] may I request srikanch to join us please we also have amongst us The Honorable speaker of the West Bengal legislative assembly SRI bhima and Banerjee sir can yo
u please join us on stage please [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] hola distinguished guests and delegates have sat down and I would request SRI Amitabh Bachchan to declare the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival 2022 opened by lighting the ceremonial Nam as I said earlier he'll be assisted by our very own rukmini moitra I would also request his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr CV Ananda Bose our honorable chief minister of West Bengal mamata to join SRI Amitabh Bachchan and I was
also request all our distinguished guests and dignitaries here to join them foreign [Music] so we keep this moment for a hold ladies and gentlemen because big things big surprises need a little bit of perseverance so now we start our felicitation program yeah may I request SRI show to felicitate his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr C V Ananda Bose with the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival commemoration trophy foreign ladies and gentlemen this is a moment of this year a very spec
ial moment indeed may I call upon SRI Deepak our very own tape to felicitate Mr Amitabh Bachchan with the 28th Kiff co-memoration trophy [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] hello ladies and gentlemen may I request show home chakraborty to felicitate our Dada Mr of Ganguly with the trophy [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you wow [Music] [Music] may I request to felicitate Sri chanchal chaudhuri fore
ign [Music] foreign [Music] oh my God [Music] my channel [Music] Khan foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] come on [Music] may I request Ganguly to felicitate Shahrukh Khan [Music] [Music] may I now request Frozen to felicitate Rani Mukherjee [Music] may I request foreign [Music] can we have a huge round of applause for this moment please may I now request SRI indrunil cell to felicitate uh Julie chairperson Mississippi [Music] [Music] now may I request to please felicitate SRI Ranjit mull Lake [Musi
c] [Music] may I request [Music] to felicitate a speaker [Music] foreign [Music] to felicitate our honorable Chief secretary Dr HK DVD [Music] [Music] and now I would request to felicitate all our delegates and distinguished guests [Music] as the felicitation continues we now request the chairperson executive Council of Kiff so before we go on to the next announcement there is a gentleman can I request see Bobby Hakim to please can we request our honorable mayor SRI Bobby Hakim to come on the di
ce please ladies and gentlemen honorable mayor Bobby Hakim [Music] may I request shobo SRI Ganguly to felicitate babita please [Music] there is a gentleman our very own subhashree Ganguly to do the honors for our own man see Bobby Hakim can we have a round of applause for this moment please thank you thank you [Music] so as our felicitation continues we now request the chairperson and executive Council of Kiff Mr Raj chakraborty to deliver the welcome address of Kiff 2022 good evening ladies and
gentlemen welcome to 28th Kolkata International Film Festival the chief guest is executive Excellence governor of West Bengal Dr C.B Anand Bose our very own Mr Amitabh Bachchan sir our guest of honor Mr Shahrukh Khan our special guest Mr show of Ganguly our eminent guest Mr Mahesh but foreign [Music] foreign immature is one of only Mr Amitabh Bachchan in his honor 28th in his honor 28th keep has organized exhibition on Amitabh Bachchan the living legend retrospective foreign foreign foreign [Mu
sic] government theater across the city in competition and non-competitions sector [Music] may I now request SRI Amitabh Bachchan to declare the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival opened by lighting the ceremonial lamp and he will be assisted by our very own the very gorgeous rukmini Moi throw I would also request his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr CV Ananda Bose I would request our honorable chief minister mamata SRI Shahrukh Khan and SRI saurabh Ganguly to join amitji and srim
ati Jaya Bachchan it also request Rani Mukherjee to join them we also request Chico marsanu shanuda Lake to all the dignitaries to be with Mr Amitabh Bachchan [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] ER of West Bengal our honorable chief minister and all our distinguished guests [Music] and Now ladies and gentlemen we'll take a quick look at an audio visual of our curtain racer film of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival 2022. maybe have th
e ab please foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so this was our curtain razor film of 28 Kiff can we have a huge round of applause from the audience to celebrate this beautiful moment thank you signature film foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] foreign meet the world at the world of Cinema I would now request his Excellency the governor of West Bengal Dr C V Ananda post to deliver his s
peech please sir honorable chief minister Mamta Balaji distinguished luminaries and stars and dignitaries on the days distinguished delegates in the audience and my very dear brothers and sisters of Bengal and Kolkata and the millions of nameless faceless people ordinary Common Man who will be watching this from across the world over the electronic media I name it a great privilege to be here among the distinguished gallery of luminaries on the days and also the cine lovers of the city of Calcut
ta the city with the soul I thank The Honorable chief minister for giving me this opportunity as it is her good will that she invited me to be here kudos to the ebullient poetic artistic chief minister of this Noble state I am a student of literature Tennyson says Canon to the right of them Cannon to the left of them cannon in front of them I say myself stars to the right of me stars were left of me stars in front of me I am the only known star among great Stars I enjoy this distinction of mine
Dryden said about the characters of Chaucer here is God's plenty looking here and looking there I can also repeat with confidence here is God's plenty there are international film festivals and film festivals in the country and in the world from canned Berlin from Tokyo to trivandrum world is international film festivals are certainly good we applaud them we appreciate them we congratulate them but we in Bengal have a pardonable pride of our gravitas there are tigers and tigers in all forests bu
t there is really one Royal Bengal Tiger this Film Festival is going to be the Royal Bengal Tiger among film festivals this tiger will be charged to Great Heights we may even reach up to the sky that is the purpose of this and Bengal Bengal has been a repository of humans talents in the film world we owe it the great names like Sade attack and the Galaxy of other eminent luminaries who made not good films but great films I salute and say three chairs the Geniuses in the music field SD Barman Kis
hore Kumar I salil Chaudhary and manadi how did they become great because of the pursuit of Excellence Milton says a good book is a precious lifeblood of a master spirit this can certainly be said about a good film a good film is a precious lifeblood of a master Spirit yes there are some films to be tasted some to be swallowed and the future be chewed and digested who will decide is the common man there will decide this the Common Man this Film Festival is known for the stars for the heroes the
stars and the heroes are there because they deserve it we congratulate them we compliment them looking at the nameless faceless common man who flocked the theater I would say they are the superstars they are the mega Heroes three chains to the common men who sustain the film industry in this country I would like to add only one thing is Ray has said anyone who makes a film has the interest of the human being in his might the interest of the human being in this might any film which does not addre
ss the immediate requirements the sentiments the emotions the tender chords of the common man has no relevance that is what we have been doing we are proud of the stars in the film world but every Star we shine should have a sky for that who gives the sky for the stars the sky for this chance to shine are given by the Common Man the nebulous entity called The Common Man the common man who goes to the theater they sustain the star and what is the importance of the star what is the relation betwee
n the sky and the star my favorite poet harivansarai Bachchan has said it says still the sky will go on the Stars may rise or fall but the sky will go on the people will go on the Common Man Will Go On says for the Common Man it is an endless journey to Perfection they will encourage the Stars we need the Stars we need the standing stars to come there but for the common man I think I dedicate my presence here my humble presence here to the Common Man of this country who sustain the film industry
yes I would like to quote something from our dignitary here Mr Shahrukh Khan before that what constitutes a great film what constitutes a good film you know The Poets called red says a great good actor becomes a great actor Amitabh Bachchan and Mr Khanna all of them will vouch for the fact we are all good actors you became great actors because you had the stability which God Visa says that is we are able to create the Willing suspension of disbelief in the spectators we know that a person who i
s here foreign but when you see the film power we are willing suspension of disbelief it is not Amitabh Bachchan it isn't it and similarly when we see we know this is the actor no when we see the film there is willing suspension of disbelief this is Mangal Singh yes when we see the Chennai Express it is not Shahrukh Khan we know it is Shahrukh Khan but we believe this is Rahul that is the Alchemy the Willing suspension of disbelief therefore the only message which can give I borrow from Mr saruk
h Khan's dialogue don't underestimate the power of the Common Man thank you thank you thank you so much his Excellency for your valuable Birds now may I request our very own a loving Maharashtra of Ganguly to address the auspicious Gathering ladies and gentlemen Mr shaurabh Ganguly foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] The Honorable government governor of West Bengal Dr CV Ananda Bose honorable chief minister of West Bengal srimati Mamta Banerjee our very own and very dear SRI Amita Bachchan a very ow
n SRI khani Mukherjee Kumar Sanu Arijit singha distinguished cash from the Bengal film fraternity prosenjit Dave and many of them I take this opportunity to welcome everyone to the state of West Bengal as they say it's the cultural capital Kolkata Office of the State of West Bengal uh this is a flagship even for the state the Kolkata International Film Festival and this is my second time in the last four or five years and I thank the honorable chief minister for inviting me every time here I do
not belong to this fraternity but it gives me immense pleasure and honor to be here every time to share the stage which which not only stars but some tremendous successful people of our country the last two years have been very difficult for all of us because of the pandemic and it's great to see that the Kolkata International Film Festival is backed to its original self this year with so many of you attending uh every time I come back to this wonderful Hall I see it I see these celebrations bec
ome better and better every year so I thank and I congratulate all those who are connected with the film festival that they keep increasing the bar every time they have it we all know that the city of Kolkata and the state of West Bengal has has got a rich cultural heritage it has produced Legends over the years and and there are too many of them for me to take names but people who've not only been uh you know successful in this state but all over the country and and the history and the culture
which they have created over over a long period of time the films which they create the films which they make remain in the memories of of a lot of us for the years to come it's a time of Celebration the next 10 days from the 15 to the 25th so I take this opportunity to encourage and request all of you to come and watch Cinema over a period of 10 days and watch the wonderful work which has been created by the Legends the stars and the exceptional people over a long period of time its amiti's 80t
h birthday this time the last six seven months have been able to keep in touch with him on a constant basis so I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy birthday you know I will I I played a sport where century was a very successful number so we pray and and we know that you continue to work you continue to enthrall all the audience people like us and everyone in this not just only in this country but in the world as long as you want I wish you you remain hail and Hearty and safe for you
are because for us for all of the people here you are very precious to Shahrukh I know you know his attachment to this city is just beyond films uh as as being the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders so his association with the city is not just film but Sports as well he's got a few important releases in the next two or three months and I'm sure we'll all get the Shahrukh Khan back of of the yesteryears and we genuinely believe we genuinely believe and and I personally believe that we'll be able
to see some special special moments in in the next few months to the actors and the and of the Bengali film fraternity this this evening this wonderful event is because of you uh I keep saying I don't know why I get invited here all the time but but this evening this stage is for all the people who are sitting behind and all the people who have made this Bengali Bengali Cinema so successful and so acceptable to to everyone in this city I won't take much of your time because a lot of dignitaries
who would speak this evening I once again thank honorable chief minister for being so kind and for inviting me every time to this wonderful function thank you so much and I hope you enjoy the cinema for the next next 10 days and thank you once again everyone thank you so much and now before we move on to our most honored and distinguished guest next speaker Mrs the one and only Mrs Java chill we would like to see the AV please [Music] [Music] make a request s your Excellency my very dear little
sister Mamta all the dignitaries on the dyes ladies and gentlemen thank you so much for the honor is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you very much and you know definitely whenever I'm there with you thank you thank you so much Mrs javachan thank you indeed we move on to or another most honored and distinguished SRI satragan sinhaji can we can we see the AV please foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you very much today the great day under the great leadership of Our Own most popular the l
eader of the masses Mrs Mamta banerjee's we have inaugurated rather our friend National icon Amitabh Bachchan has inaugurated this 28th International Kolkata International Film Festival fortunately I was the chief guest last time when Utah held in April 27th Kolkata International Film Festival I'm grateful to Bengal film industry I'm grateful to mamtaji so today with an attitude of gratitude I would like to salute mumtaji all the distinguished guests over here especially my friend of struggle da
ys and a successful icon of the film industry and the nation Amitabh Bachchan the most popular star of the nation Shahrukh Khan [Music] our very dear family friend and of course the actress bar excellence a great human being and of course a great parliamentarian Mr Jaya Bachchan who has been mine colleague rather my junior the FDA FDI we know each other since FDI days another very beautiful person and very beautiful person who is adored as mad in every house Bengal all over the country Rani Mukh
erjee whom I had declared first time it was I was fortunate enough to have declared her as Mrs Rani Chopra for a public platform another intellectual par Excellence Mahesh Bhatt here a great singer who has risen from Zero to Hero position Kumar Sanu all the other distinguished men have mentioned he remembers sitting over here and of course foreign delegates but let's also not forget the icing on the cake Maha mahim our own new but very learned Governor we have Mr Rao thank you very much or I I r
eally appreciate admire all of you for having come over here and of course my people all our friends thank you very much for inviting me over here today on this day before taking much of your time 28th International Film Festival could declare Kia [Music] should be named taken accepted and of course always [Music] figure National icon with the kind permission of our honorable governor and of course our very dear mamtab energy we would like to dedicate this evening thank you very much all of you
long live Kolkata International Film Festival Joy Bangla Joy head thank you sir thank you so much sir now can we please call upon SRI Mahesh Bhatt to share a few words with us AV please foreign [Music] [Music] gratitude gratitude and more gratitude to All You Beautiful People of Kolkata mantaji it's indeed a privilege to be invited to this prestigious event for the end's time 101 years ago on in 1921 May 26th gurudev got the Nobel Prize for gitanjali and he made a very passionate address the spi
rit of his words should echo in the heart of every Indian and we need to live those words are they produce a part of their speech that Guru they made he said I do not think it is the spirit of India to reject anything reject any race any culture the spirit of India has always proclaimed the idea of unity the ideal of unity never rejects anything any race or any culture comprehends all and it has to be the highest aim of our spiritual exertion to be able to penetrate all things with one soul to c
omprehend all things as they are and not to keep out anything in the whole universe to comprehend all things with sympathy and love this is the spirit of India now when in the present time of political unrest the children of the same Great India cry for rejection of the West I feel hurt I feel it is a lesson which they have received from the West such is not our mission India is there to unite all races these are the words of India's greatest son SRI rabindranath tagore and direct Echo in my hea
rt as they should echo in the heart of every Indian 101 years later what the gift Festival does to bring hearts together storytellers work as glues they hold this polarized divided world together when I drove into the city I saw this fascinating hoarding off the kef 20th gift Festival where there was this heartwarming image of Charlie's chaplain with little apple the child which was created by the greatest filmmaker India ever produced after this way that was the evidence that the East and the W
est have come together once again as gurudev had dreamed because the foundation of Shanti niketan was created with that single mission that it has to be a world where everybody is United either we all make it together or none of us does and storytellers and filmmakers do nothing but real articulate that dream which gurudeva had articulated 101 years ago in Stockholm when he received the Nobel Prize pakistanjali let's make his words into a reality let's live them let's not be merely a sound bit b
ite Society let's make those words a living palpable reality so that this nation touches the peaks of its Grandeur which it is capable of thank you thank you very much thank you thank you so much sir and now we invite our shanudas to Kumar Sanu to address the audience please [Music] [Music] foreign foreign foreign [Music] [Music] um thank you Joy Bangla join him thank you very much thank you so much thank you so much thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] [M
usic] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] ladies and gentlemen can we have a round of applause for Mr Ajit Singh please thank you thank you and now may I call upon the one and only the most gorgeous the most talented Mr Rani Mukherjee [Music] to change [Music] [Music] Kolkata foreign it's so good to be back here I really missed this city this energy and this love which you can only get in this city in Kolkata the city of joy thank you thank you honorable chief minister your Excellency Mr Bose for in
viting me for this prestigious Kolkata Film Festival it's great to see you again Muhammad ADI thank you for inviting me and of course Mr Amitabh Bachchan Amit uncle jayanti pathan Khan and all the distinguished and the dignitaries on stage my friends from the world of Cinema it is going to be a very special year for kids and I'm very happy to be here amongst you all Kolkata is my mother's Hometown and the city holds a very very special place in my heart I feel this gravitational pull towards Kol
kata and West Bengal and I feel the love from all you people out here thank you for always being such a huge support system for me I'm very touched for being felicited by Kolkata International Film Festival for my journey in cinema today without you I wouldn't have been a star so don't know it feels very surreal and I'm deeply honored to be receiving this in the presence of such luminaries of Indian Cinema Kolkata International Film Festival is a festival of world repute Kolkata has been the hom
e to many stalwarts of Cinema who have created a diverse Legacy for Indian culture and Cinema I am proud to be a Bengali and I'm proud of my roots so it is with great humility that I stand before you today hoping that I keep doing good work and make you and the entire West Bengal proud of the work that I do I wish this dedicated team of the Kolkata International Film Festival the very best and I thank them again for this recognition together let us all push the envelope and make this beautiful f
ilms that people cherish forever let us all add to the lasting Legacy of how bengalis have contributed in making Indian Cinema a force to reckon with in the world today thank you thank you very much foreign I would request Mr Shahrukh Khan to release the festival brochure for the 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival 2022. [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] we take a moment from you ladies and gentlemen the brochures are being distributed among our most distinguished deleg
ates and the guys [Music] Shahrukh Khan to say a few words foreign Ty [Music] okay foreign good evening everyone and thank you everybody here in Kolkata promise Karma um foreign if I do it badly then it's rani's fault me Kolkata is foreign [Music] what's up Arijit Singh and everybody who's present here and amongst the audience thank you very much for being here and it's lovely to see you after so many years I haven't been here for a couple of years I would also like to welcome all the delegates
and participants for the 28th gift and assure you as the ambassador of West Bengal that the hospitality and the love that you will get here in Kolkata will be the most memorable I wish you all a great and happiest day in the city of Kolkata Cinemas perhaps the most important medium of modern times from inception Humanity has built a civilization on the expression and sharing of its Journey like cave paintings Left Behind for us to Marvel at thousands of years later the enduring printed word or t
he different forms of traditional theater that Prevail for centuries across the world Cinema and in fact the Advent of articulation through social media platforms have now become the foremost expression of human experience and emotion the collective Narrative of a times is shaped by social media and contrary to the belief that the spread of social media will affect Cinema negatively I believe Cinema has an even more important role to play now social media is often driven by a certain narrowness
of you that limits human nature to its base of self I read somewhere that negative it increases social media consumption and thereby increases its commercial value as well such Pursuits enclose the collective narrative making it divisive and destructive Cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling stories in their simplest form as they are lived it allows us to know each other better in a way it is best placed to sustain a collective counter narrative that speaks to the larger nat
ure of humankind a narrative that brings to the four Humanities immense capacity for compassion unity and Brotherhood meeting the world at the world of Cinema is the call of the day not just meeting but also using the power of Cinema as a vehicle for people of different cultures colors casts and religion to better understand each other to efforts like Kev the end of us to build a new platform of understanding and break existing prejudices so let's come together and build a better world for all o
ur future Generations through the medium of Cinema and let GIF and Kolkata be the place to start the journey for a new and more inclusive world thank you very much everybody have a great evening it's wonderful to be back here in Kolkata huh so I I want to mention I want to mention you know I uh we all work in films we never get the opportunity to thank the Stars Behind the Stars so first of all thank you Kumar sanuji for giving me the voice people think is mine God bless you and thank you Arijit
for making me sound so good and all the people who work behind the scenes to make all of us look good except Mr Amita Bhajan he looks good behind on the side in front of the camera on top of the camera everywhere foreign [Music] Zendaya thank you very much thank you so much Mr Shahrukh Khan thank you so much sir we all agree that this year is indeed a landmark here for the state's film sector as we all have reunited again in this International Film Festival Arena after two years of struggle we
feel extremely proud to celebrate the 80th birthday of the living legend Mr amitav Bachchan in this Festival as a very very special category we shall screen his films exhibitions on his work in film Industries all over Babu um foreign [Music] foreign [Music] colleagues and friends on the dice distinguish you guys ladies and gentlemen I um [Music] foreign a great joy for me to be here after three long years at the inauguration of yet another edition of kolkata's prestigious International Film Fes
tival the festival ladies and gentlemen has always celebrated the inclusive Spirit of Cinema beyond the confines of what gurudev rabindranatha called narrow domestic walls I salute you Kolkata for giving me my first job I salute you Kolkata for giving Jaya her first film in mahanagar directed by satyajit Ray but most of all I salute you for your artistic temperament that Embraces the essence of plurality and equality this is what makes Bengal so special babe [Music] the pandemic ladies and gentl
emen has indeed been ruthless a gruesome situation we were unprepared to face there was a sudden change in the status quo that altered the very Dynamics of global economics be it in the functioning of business or film industry so today we wonder what is in store for us in the future given all possible precautions we can take heart from a checkered past in which despite pestilence was changing social dogmas and political turmoil film Industries all over the world have always propagated courage an
d faced every challenge head on man ladies and gentlemen has always been a social animal and the need to belong to a community and participate in a group of activities is a primal human need long before the Advent of Cinema people turns to various forms of collective activity for entertainment mainly centered around religious ceremonies and folk expressions be the temple dancers from South India and Manipur it gave birth to some of our major classical dance forms or the North Indian tradition of
the Ram Leela and the RAS Leela that married mythology and theater in their most accessible formats the tradition of kittens and kawalis were born at a place of worship like temples and dargahs to give communities a sense of companionship and solidarity compared to these age-old practices Cinema is a relatively newer phenomenon our first silent film Raja harishchan opened in the Olympia Theater Bombay on the 21st of April 1913 merely a few years before the Dual setbacks of the first World War a
nd the Advent of the dreaded Spanish flu earlier the Russian flu often described as the first modern influenza pandemic erupted between 1889 and 1892. and is believed to have killed more than a million people however three years later once the danger had subsided the world's first ever public screening of 10 of Lumiere Brothers short films took place in Paris on the 28th of December 1895. as with the current pandemic the 1918 Spanish flu also spread through international travel on steamships and
trains packed with soldiers returning from the first World War in India the disease arrived in Bombay on a trooper ship from Mesopotamia in May peaking in October Mahatma Gandhi ladies and gentlemen the Chief Architect of India's independence was one of the Millions who contracted the Spanish Flu had he not survived India's struggles to shed the British colonial yoke would have taken a drastically different turn the virus described by the media as the dog that did not bark but remained ferociou
s with every bite is believed to have affected close to one-third of our planet's population in India itself an estimated 18 million people died during that time but ironically it was also instrumental in uniting the people against the British who had neglected all Health Care norms despite these turbulent times India saw the birth of its film industry that continues to fly the flag High in our 75th year of Independence and has managed to keep the egalitarian Spirit of Cinema alive for over a hu
ndred years not only oversaw the production of Raja harishchan but also of 23 other films between 1913 and 1918. the following year in 1919 saw the release of the first Bengali language silent film produced by modern Theater Company of Calcutta on the 8th of November yet unlike Hollywood the initial growth of Indian Cinema was slow silent films in the west did occasionally touch on the subject of great contagious including the Bubonic plague but mostly from the safe distance of a few hundred yea
rs however Indian Cinema unlike the West had just begun taking its baby steps and of course our country's Freedom Movement was picking up base at a rate much faster than what the ruling dispensation had foreseen in 2020 Britain's World War one Epic 1917 directed and produced by Sam Mendes turned out to be one of the Front Runners of the Oscars and for many viewers of South Asian descent the historical drama also offered a glimpse into the role of the Indian military who fought in the Great War s
eek soldiers had arrived in the Western Front in 1914. and received worldwide news coverage of their Valiant involvement in the first battle of Ukraine yet ladies and gentlemen once the skirmishes were over their contribution went wildly unrewarded Britain alarmed by domestic disturbances imposed martial law on Punjab ultimately leading to the Amritsar Massacre of 1919 in jellianwal above many Sikh soldiers were left angry and led down by the British government Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk a
favorite at the 90th Academy Awards held in 2018 however led to direct questions about the Erasure of India from the second world war effort any portrayal of Indian soldiers or references to their contribution were conspicuously absent in India too the country's role in the global conflict tended to be overshadowed by the major events of the Indian independence movement that coincided with the Warriors nevertheless within this larger conversation about cultural retellings of two world wars it i
s important to look at how India's film industry responded and how it filtered stories of Valor and sacrifice through the prism of Cinema and the country's own struggle for freedom the message of India's solidarity with the allies against the Japanese invasion was underscored in the 1946 firm Dr kortnisky America honey which was directed by V shantaram the film depicted the real-life experiences of five Indian doctors who volunteered to go to China as part of the medical Mission during the Japan
ese invasion starred in the film as the titular doctor dwarkanath goodness regarded as a war hero the poster for the film designed by renowned Indian artist SM Pandit depicts the Buddha Serene and still standing above the burning remains of War is a lasting image of Hope and a reminder of historical cultural bonds between the two countries the story among several others shows that even in the midst of his own struggle against the British India shouldered his part in this momentous Collective res
ponsibility in the global fight against fascism as native voices started being raised against British oppression and social injustices often reflected in films of that era it was inevitable that films censorship was born out of a raging fire and into the consequent clamping down on human rights ladies and gentlemen early film stock and many amongst my firm colleagues would have noticed had a compound called nitrocellulose which was used in explosives as gun cotton mixed with camphor it became ni
trate filled not explosive but still violently flammable in 1897 a year and a half after the first ever film screening in the world in nitrate fire at the bazajila sharite in Paris killed 126 people a Spate of similar incidents over the next decade resulted in the first World's Cinemagic Cinema cinematograph legislation being passed in Britain in the year 1909 to improve safety standards by controlling the issue of Cinema licenses one kind of control led to another since the 1909 Act made licens
es necessary for public screenings local authorities use this to regulate not just the conditions in which the film would be screened but also the content of the film itself after a few confusing years with everyone making up their own rules the British Board of film census was formed in the year 1912. by this time Indians were not only watching films but also making their own films with one eye on the Freedom Movement the Indian cinematograph Committee of 1927-28 chaired by a former Madras high
court judge T rangaracharya was the first inquiry into movie viewing censoring and exhibiting habits in the country in 1921 they were an estimated just 148 movie Halls by 1927 this number had doubled despite Hollywood films accounting for roughly 80 percent of the shows in those early years it was the Indian titles that really got the public going the Indian Cinema wasn't exactly prurient in the 1920s and 30s except for some passionate kisses like the most famous One in karma made in 1933 invol
ving a snake and a tearful devakarani trying to bring a comatose himanshurai back to life the British however had bigger problems to tackle than a few on-screen smackers what they really dreaded was the threat of communal Discord and the expression of nationalistic sentiment any mention of British excesses was forbidden and enough reason to earn an outright ban and of course there was the ultimate better Noir Gandhi listed in the Journal of the modern picture Society of India in 1937 are several
titles of banned newsreads featuring The Mahatma in fact Gandhi was the hidden subject of the first film to be prescribed in India released in 1921 the protagonist of bhakta vidur with his gandhika Hadi cloth spinning wheel was deemed to be a stand-in for the Mahatma in 1939 met the same fate as it portrayed what was perceived as the Gandhi of Tamil Nadu sitting on a dial spinning with a circle in 1931 on seeing the word swaraj in the title of shantaram's film or thunder of hills and the poster
of the film depicting chatrapati shivaji Maharaj hoisting a flag the head of the British Indian censor flew into a rage this picture is banned conveyed the sensible but shantaram's friend and film distribute responded with the officials who demanded that the film be retitled a few scenes be modified and that the flag hoisting in the climax be entirely deleted and therefore swarajituran was renamed what they call and finally released armed with the proverbial pen our filmmakers were fighting the
ir battle against the hegemony of a haughty Empire close to two dozen films were released between 21 and 1947 that either obviously or obliquely depicted the British as oppressors the British Indian census made every possible attempt to throttle such messages to fight them India needed to be socially United and Progressive that was precisely the message in the 1937 classic which also raised a voice against unfair marriages and advocated Widow remarriage the British census interfered once again o
rdering the removal of documentary footage of vallabhai Patel making a speech about abstinence 1939 Greta criticized liquor consumption and exhorted gandhian morality while gharkhirani in 1940 showed the dire consequences of aping Western traditions though these messages started receiving the support of the country's nationalistic leaders the films had a very hard time of the sensible Indian film directors were forced to find ways to talk about the ongoing Freedom struggle without mentioning it
directly you must remember the famous song the hit musical number from the 1943 feature film called kismat it was ostensibly made as a warning to the Germans and the Japanese but the actual Target was clearly the British historical films like umaji Naik in 1926 that replaced the British with other invading forces and social films like apnagar in 1942 which spoke in a kind of code to Indian viewers started several agitations all over the country it wasn't just a case of official paranoia over fea
ture films and news sheets as the Freedom Movement picked up pace the ruling members of the Raj became more and more inflexible and the empire did not wait to strike back as a counter strategy to patriotic Hindi films the British released English language films deemed objectionable to Indian sensibilities the drum made in 1938 showed all Indians as untrustworthy and scheming against their British Masters Bombay City Rose and revolt against a screening with the frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul gaffar K
han demanding its immediate ban the 1938 edition of film India magazine called it a shameful afferent to the frontier patans the lives of a Bengal Lancer made in 1935 also met with stiff opposition in Lahore for its disrespectful portrayal of Muslims unafraid to retaliate our Cinema posters they got bolder bringing light to a vexed Nation was the tagline of chalchal Renault Javan in 1944. while turn East and here India speak was the tagline of prabhat's in 1946. in 1947 went to the extent of sho
wing netaji's Subhash boats in one of its posters with these never-ending confrontations in the 1940s the polishing of Indian Cinema grew exasperatingly stringent to put it mildly over the rigmarole of five different sensor boards setting up their own rules things were chaotic finally the 1952 cinematograph Act set out the structure of censorship as it stands today upheld by the film certification board but even Now ladies and gentlemen and I'm sure my colleagues on stage will agree questions ar
e being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression since those Early Times there have been many changes in cinema content production star system the way films are viewed by audiences subjects have also been vastly varied from mythological films socialist Cinema like the films of bimel Roy caitan Anand and Raj Kapoor with his chaplain-inspired Trump as the protagonist Art House Cinema the Advent of the Angry Young Man of the 70s and 80s viewed against the frustration of countless unemplo
yed youth to the current brand of historicals couched in fictionalized jingoism along with moral polusing the range has kept audiences reflecting on the politics and social concerns of our times through single screens videos multiplexes and now the burgeoning OTG keeping in mind the New World Order brought about by the covid-19 pandemic ladies and gentlemen we will have to take into account how films are going to be made and watched in the near future perhaps the clue lies in the works of our Ti
meless Cinema meisters near a home there may be pointers in satyajit Ray's Cinema which reveal a politically and socially conscious and often prescient vision of Bengal India and Humanity 's while remaining culturally rooted in Bengal speak on universal themes like the immortal upper trilogy his Cinema ladies and gentlemen is a reflection of the dreams aspirations struggles angst challenges and corrosiveness of India's plurality the Spanish Flu ended in April 1920. a year later on the 2nd of May
1921 satyajit Ray was born we celebrated his birth centenary as another pandemic ravaged the world one of his later films gonna shut through in 1990 can be taken as an indication of how Rey may have reacted to current times in this chamber drama about a jaundice epidemic caused by water contamination that is suppressed by both the state and the local temple Dr Ashok Gupta becomes an enemy of the people fighting for justice most of Ronaldo's early films were more overtly political always champio
ning the cause of the Rebels the Don Jordan and the oppressed his later films however touched upon the personal challenges of loneliness as I said by the protagonist Germany in kunder in the year 1984. 1980s views the horrors of the 1943 famine through the lens of a facetish an impersonal film crew shooting a story in 1980 about the catastrophe and suddenly becoming face to face with hunger and deprivation in real life the amalgamation of political turmoil and personal tragedy was a constant lat
e motive in mineral does over that makes his work so unique and relevant another of Bengal celebrated filmmakers whose Centenary is also approaching in the year 2025 unapologetically celebrated feminism and depicted a ruthless social realities born out of the partition in his Cinema within his relatively short filmography what stands out for its poignancy in lyricism is the partition Trilogy led by meghed hakatara in 1960. followed by komal gandhar in 1961 in subarneka in 1965. filmmaking was pu
rely an art form for it ghatak through which he expressed his anger and despair at the sufferings of the people we the film fraternity would do well to remember these stalwarts and their artistic convictions is the entertainment industry all over the world goes through a radical change the earlier environment of movie business concentrated in the hands of a few Studios is falling apart it is impossible to know whether the opportunity to Garner new home viewing audiences during the current crisis
will be short-lived or whether it will keep growing in time but I suspect it will be more demanding that the hunger for entertainment will drive viewers to new releases online whenever they show up and that Studios will begin calculating their online streaming drop dates with the same care that they devote to their theatrical release calendars the big question of course is whether Studios will be able to sustain the big ticket theatrical first model it is not impossible to imagine theatrical re
leases being transformed into special events to strictly limited runs of a week or a month that will coexist with or briefly precede streaming releases certainly in doing so the students would have to restructure their revenue models we cannot take our audiences for granted today viewers are not only exposed to a range of international content but also have the option to watch this content in a variety of formats ranging from the traditional big screen to their personal tabs and mobile phones bi
g decisions have to be made that will determine the future of entertainment I suspect they will have to be artistic rethinking and bold and imaginative ideas will bring new joy and Faith to humanity ladies and gentlemen let us discover more of that which is impossible and then do it let us find new Summits to conquer let us bring down the barriers that have blinded our view of the horizons let us craft a singularity out of the many truths that come our way let us build a landmark for today and l
et us make a new history for tomorrow let us demolish the differences that divide us let us build a monolith without diversity May no one be in the shadows of our Glory May everyone feel the joy way back in 1912 atop a ship across the Red Sea carrying him to Glasgow gurudev rabindranath had written these Immortal lines that should Inspire us all in The Darkest Hours offering us courage to seek a new tomorrow foreign pour more light into these eyes O Lord homo music into my flute fill my heart to
the brim quench my thirst give me more reason to rejoice and live thank you thank you sir for your valuable words [Music] foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign [Music] everyone accumulative successfully successfully [Music] news foreign [Music] ER Mr bashu we are really obliged to you sir because we are taking too much time from you foreign foreign [Music] foreign our mother respected jury chairperson Ileana Jaco Pello Afghanistan I welcome all the delegates fr
om all over the world senior world thank you very much for coming over here please enjoy your time and see the cinema and take decision what will be the best best one Merry Christmas to all of you and I wish Happy New Year to all of you again foreign foreign question foreign foreign [Music] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] act up International platform.com go ahead um Bangla don't know the inaugural ceremony directed by the late rishikesh Mukherjee is foreign thank you so much our distinguished g
uest is Excellency the governor of West Bengal our beloved chief minister of West Bengal amitji shahrukhji raniji and all our dignitaries and distinguished guests present on the dice all rise for the national anthem may we all rise for the national anthem please [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] thank you so much ladies and gentlemen
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