The Kolkata Film Festival, the oldest in India, got off to a glamourous but controversial start on Thursday evening with Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and veteran actress Sharmila Tagore doing the honours but some key film personalities like thespian Soumitra Chatterjee and eminent director Mrinal Sen staying away.
Also conspicuous was the absence of former Paschimbanga's Marxist Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, a film buff, who was reportedly upset with an eleventh-hour invitation sent to him by his arch political rival and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The honour of opening the eight-day festival went to Shahrukh who said, "I believe that the history of our arts, literature, poetry and films cannot be written or ever begin without the state of West Bengal".
Sharmila Tagore, who was present on the dais, said Kolkata was probably the only city where people still stood in long queues to watch good films.
She said although she had shifted to Mumbai, she never lost touch with Kolkata. "I keep coming back to work with Bengali directors."
Mamata Banerjee said, "Kolkata is the capital of our cultural activities. We want to help films and cultural activities in Bengal."
She described the festival as a salute to Tollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood and said it had grown bigger this year, referring to the shifting of the venue from the traditional cultural complex Nandan to the Netaji Indoor Stadium after 16 years to accommodate more people.
Facing criticism for not inviting Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was largely instrumental in starting the festival in 1995, Mamata phoned him up just a day before the start of the festival inviting him. But Bhattacharjee cited prior engagements for his inability to make it.
Mrinal Sen said he was unwell and could not attend the inauguration but would watch some films later on in the festival.
Soumitra Chatterjee, known for his pro-Left leanings, said he had been removed from the chairmanship of the film festival committee without his knowledge. "So what will I be doing there?"
"I got an invitation by courier only two days before. I am not used to this kind of treatment," Chatterjee, who has played lead roles in several films by maestro Satyajit Ray, said.
Chairman of the film festival committee and actor Ranjit Mallick had earlier said Chatterjee would not be able to attend the festival as he would be out of Kolkata.
Chatterjee, however, said "I am very much in the city but busy with rehearsals for a shoot."
Another noted director Tarun Majumdar is missing from the festival committee. Surprising because he had been its head for several years.
For the first, time a new competition section has been introduced and a multiplex selected as one of the venues for screenings.
Bollywood film directors Santhosh Sivan, Anant Mahadevan and Ketan Mehta, actress Nandana Sen, Malayalam film director Salim Ahamed and Bangladeshi director Nasiruddin Yousuf are expected to attend the festival in the coming days.
For the first time, the opening of the festival was shifted to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium very close to the famous Eden Gardens, breaking from the past when the venue for the event used to be Nandan, the government auditorium.
Around 150 films from 50 countries would be screened in the festival.
Two different films from Bangladesh with the Liberation War as the theme are being screened at the festival--"Guerrila" by Nasiruddin Yousuf and "Meherjaan" by Rubaiyat Hossain.
