A planned screening of Ritwik Ghatak’s Amar Lenin documentary and his seminal feature Komal Gandhar at a state-run school in Kolkata on February 10 was allegedly cancelled due to objections from local ruling party supporters, citing the films’ political content as unsuitable for an educational institute. (Also read: No screening of Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency in Punjab)
Naktala Setu, a cultural organisation in south Kolkata, had planned the screenings to commemorate Ghatak’s birth centenary.
However, just days before the event, on February 5, the school authorities withdrew their permission, citing “certain developments,” according to Onkar Roy, a spokesperson for the organisation said on Thursday.
Roy said, “The headmaster was initially enthusiastic about the screenings when he approached us in the third week of January, even mentioning he was a fan of Ghatak. But after February 5, he seemed under pressure and informed us that there were problems with screening the films.”
The organisation then approached a local club, but it too declined, citing pressure from higher authorities.
As a result, the NGO, which has also been active in organising protests for social justice and community engagement, arranged the screenings on the roadside in the nearby Bidhan Pally area, where hundreds of people attended.
The headmaster of Naktala High School claimed the cancellation was due to other engagements and not external pressure. However, another school official said some guardians had expressed concerns about one of the films in the package—Amar Lenin—due to its strong political content.
The official noted that there were no objections to Komal Gandhar, which depicts the struggles of those forced to migrate after the partition of India.
Amar Lenin (1970), made to commemorate Vladimir Lenin’s birth, faced initial censorship issues, which were later waived following intervention by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Komal Gandhar is part of Ghatak’s celebrated trilogy, which also includes Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha from the 1960s. The latter film explores the cultural impact of the post-partition era and the experiences of refugees from East Pakistan.
This is not the first time a film with political themes has faced resistance in Bengal. Years ago, the left-leaning Bengali filmmaker Anik Dutta’s Bhabisyoter Bhoot encountered similar issues during its theater screenings, triggering street protests.
The film was later re-released after the intervention of the Supreme Court. While theatre owners claimed the film was pulled due to poor box office performance, Dutta and others argued that it had been targeted for its anti-establishment stance.
Several Bengali filmmakers and actors declined to comment on the issue, stating they would prefer to understand the full facts before making any statements.