Exclusive | Kaushik Ganguly on National Award win for Kaberi Antardhan: ‘We are not in mood for any form of celebration’

Kaushik Ganguly exclusively spoke to Hindustan Times after his film Kaberi Antardhan won the National Award for Best Bengali Film.

Kaushik Ganguly's Kaberi Antardhan won Best Feature Film in Bengali at the 70th National Film Awards, that was announced on August 16. The director, who also acted in the film, expressed his gratitude on the win and also noted the ongoing protests over the August 9 rape-murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. (Also read: 70th National Film Awards full list of winners: Brahmastra, Ponniyin Selvan Part 1, Aattam win big)

Kaushik Ganguly in a still from Kaberi Antardhan.

What Kaushik Ganguly said

The director said in a statement, “I am accepting the National Award for Best Bengali film for ‘Kaberi Antardhan’ with all humility. I am thankful that our team have been bestowed with the honour. But we cannot celebrate the success in getting National Award in view of the present situation in Bengal.”

He went on to add, "The narrative of Kaberi Antardhan revolves round the tale of two daughters, the tale of their crisis. The film encapsulates a particular phase a period revolving around the fate of two daughters. After so many years, when Bengal is facing a turbulence in society, it gives a strange feeling of revisiting the same issue when another daughter is subjected to such heinous torture and killed. It gives a strange feeling when we hear about the tragic heart-rending fate of the woman- the female doctor at R G Kar Hospital. It gives a strange feeling of reality merging with the cinema. Hence, in the given situation we are not in the mood for any form of celebration.”

More details

Kaberi Antardhan is a romantic thriller that is set in the backdrop of the 1970s Naxal movement. It stars Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti Chatterjee, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kaushik Sen and Indraneil Sengupta.

Kaushik had previously won in the same category for Shabdo (2012) and Bishorjan (2016). His last directorial feature was Ajogyo, which starred Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta in lead roles.