At the opening of the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival on Saturday, actor Amitabh Bachchan quoted Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry to draw attention to the importance of upholding “Indian’s diversity and equality at a time when cultures are being questioned.”
Reciting lines from Tagore’s Jana Gana Mana, Bachchan said the stanzas exemplify “Bharat Mata’s unconditional love for all her children”.
“The first verse, ladies and gentlemen, is our National Anthem but the other verses are just as relevant in holding India’s diversity and equality at time when cultures are being questioned and prejudices against communities are dividing the world.” “Now more than ever, we need to talk to each other, listen to each other,” Bachchan said, adding that cinema could serve as the best medium for dialogue.
“By looking at films which capture different ethnicities, we give a window to what makes people all over the globe different and also what makes them similar. This essential understanding rises above stereotypes and acknowledges both the unity and the diversity in humanity,” the actor said.
Big B spoke about his association with Kolkata: of how a culturally diverse, pluralistic and inclusive society and the rich legacy of literature of Bengal had given rise to cinema that has a “looked at social disparities with concern”.
“Films from here have mattered because they have had extraordinary understanding by moving us closer to cultures, problems and realities that are distant from those we know well,” he said. Delving into the history of cinema, the superstar recalled the Madan Theatres of the city that were pioneers of a giant distribution operation that dominated Indian cinema in the silent era.
“R.L. Khemka, who began Kolkata’s East India Film Company, was the first Indian producer to screen a film at an international film festival, Bachchan said, referring to the film Sita shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1934.
Talking about cinema of the present, including films like Piku, Kahani and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, he expressed his delight about Indian cinema embracing Bengali cinema’s “deep belief in equality and social justice”.