Kolkata :

Barshan Seal bagged the best actor’s prize end-January at North Carolina State’s Global Film Festival 2015 for his performance in ‘Nabalok’ (The Innocent). A couple of days ago, the production team of ‘Bodhon’ got an official notification that it has got the ‘best film’ and lead actor Arpita Chatterjee has bagged the ‘best actress’ award. With this, all three top awards at the American festival has come to Bengal.

“It was an official selection in Indian Panorama at IFFI, too, and that was prestigious as well. But this double award is a big boost too,” said debutant filmmaker Ayananshu Banerjee, who got top ranks in both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary before graduating from IIT-Kharagpur.

For Arpita, it’s welcome news. “An award doesn’t define an artist. It’s a nice feeling and it will help me strive for perfection. It will be a driving force,” she said. Asked if the limited number of films she works in is a conscious decision, she responded: “I don’t do films out of financial compulsion. So this acts as an elimination process. Also my priority is my son, so I keep my schedule tuned to him.” ‘Bodhon’ is a film about a woman on her journey to rediscovering motherhood.

Arpita said her long-term plans include returning to the theatre stage. “I’ll wait for a good film script. And, in the next five years, I will be able to devote a good portion of my time to theatre. There are several young theatre groups coming up which are doing good work. It’s a very good time to be in the theatre world and theatre has always been an integral part of Bengal. It’s where any actor gets the best ground to hone his or her skills. It is equivalent to what ‘riyaz’ is to a vocalist,” she told TOI.

Asked about the state of affairs in Tollywood, she exclaimed: “A large number of films are releasing now, but the market space hasn’t increased. Some halls have shut down. This is a terrifying situation. We have to increase the number of halls, be it single-screen or multiplex. Because of lack of space, there is no breathing space for films releasing in quick succession.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / February 12th, 2015