Come June 14 and the two Bengals will unite at the Film Awards Bangla (FAB 2010) in Bangkok. Apart from the simple sweet language and the lip-smacking “good food guide” that the two Bengals — Epar Bangla and the Opar Bangla — share in common, there exists a strong cinematic bond that ties the two lands across the Ganga-Padma rivers. Right from the pre-independence era, the two sides have witnessed the freedom movement, jointly scripted by revolutionary leaders and poets.
Over the years, the two Bengals — Bangladesh and West Bengal — have consolidated their bilateral relations not only at political levels, but via the cultural routes of literature, music and cinema.
In 1947, Bengal was divided and so were its film units. Both Tollywood and Dallywood emerged as two separate offshoots from the womb of Bengali cinema. Many yesteryear silver-screen icons and dream merchants had commenced their celluloid careers from the cradle of Bengal’s movie studios and the erstwhile 70 mm talkies of the marvellous black-and-white era. The pioneering New Theatres premises was then situated in the heart of the old Calcutta. For instance, the patriarch of Kapoor khandaan, Prithviraj Kapoor, singer-actor K.L. Saigal, singer Manna Dey’s mentor-uncle K.C. Dey, who himself was a great classical vocalist-cum-actor, apart from Tollywood’s top guns Chhabi Biswas, Bikash Roy, Pahari Sanyal, Basanta Choudhury were the most sought-after artistes from the New Theatres’ stable.
Organised and conceptualised by Ideas 24X7, the Bangkok bash of FAB 2010 is touted to be a huge hit. For the awards ceremony intends to facilitate the maestros of Bengali cinema from both Kolkata and Dhaka for the first time on a common platform. Besides, there’s a second important motive behind launching this colourful event: To promote the Indo-Bangladeshi culture through motion pictures in the tourist hotspot of Thailand.
“It will be a first-of-its kind ceremony wherein the Tollywood glitterati would rub shoulders with their Dallywood counterparts. The moviestars from f both sides of the border will share the same stage to raise a toast to the glory of Bengali cinema. This is the first time that the glam-quotient of the two cities — Kolkata and Dhaka — will hog the limelight at an international forum,” says Subhasis Basu, public relations manager, Ideas 24X7.
With the frills and flavour of Bengali culture ruling the roost in Bangkok next month, the city happens to be the maiden place to witness the extravaganza. Honouring entertainers from Epar and Opar Bangla as well as giving recognition to the newcomers, FAB 2010 aims at catapulting the blend of east-west Bengali films to a global market. “People often ask about the international takers for the Bengali cine industry. Our answer is a big yes. Of late, Tollywood has experienced the emergence of a crop of corporate sponsors. Investors are pitching in their money to launch a string of big-budget multi-starrers. Producers have no qualms in flying down their cast and crew to locations in the southeast Asian countries. The commercial Tolly-town filmmakers are increasingly exploring the picturesque locales of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Even the last year’s mainstream grossers were shot at the eye-catching sites of the Oriental belts,” says Suman Bhattacharya, the key conceptualiser of the event.
Along with the awards ceremony, the world premiere of two movies — Ley Chhakka by Raj Chakraborty and Ekti Tarar Khonje by Avik Mukherjee — will be screened at Bangkok’s Imax theatre. FAB 2010 is modelled on IIFA Awards. Ten years ago, IIFA had kickstarted its journey from the famed Siam Paragom auditorium in Bangkok and, incidentally, so will the FAB 2010.
Are the organisers concerned over the security issues in the wake of the massive political unrest in Bangkok? “We are aware of the anarchical state of affairs there. But the Thai embassy has given us the green signal to go ahead with the function,” says Basu.
The star-studded event will include more than 40 categories of awards, including Best Mainstream Cinema, Best Actor Award, Critics Choice Awards, Emerging Faces of the Bengali Film Industry and the Special Lifetime Achievement Awards, which will go to Suchitra Sen and Nayak Raj Razzak for their outstanding contribution to the Bengali bioscope. Filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta is one of the invitees who will grace the night.
There will be scintillating stage performances by a constellation of celebrities and renowned singers from Tollywood as well as Dallywood. Stars and filmmakers like Soumitra Chatterjee, Mithun Chakraborty, Prasenjit Chatterjee, Rahul Bose, Rituparno Ghosh, Goutam Ghose, Rituparna Sengupta and Koel Mullick will add the starshine to the ceremony. The Bangladeshi contingent will see the presence of popular actors like Ferdous, Akhi Alamgir, singer Runa Laila and bandster-cum-playback singer James (of Gangster fame). Quite a starry affair, we must say.