West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the state will unofficially raise the demand for ‘Bharat Ratna’ for actor Amitabh Bachchan as there is no other icon like him in the country. “Although not officially, but from Bengal, we will raise this demand to honour Amitabh Bacchan with the Bharat Ratna award for his contribution to Indian cinema for such a long time. As a human being, he is also great” Mamata Banerjee said at the inaugural ceremony of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival.
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“Amitabh Bachchan has come and elaborately said what no one of us can say,” Mamata Banerjee said after Amitabh Bachchan raised the issue of freedom of expression in cinemas.
“Even now, and I’m sure my colleagues on stage would agree questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression,” Amitabh Bachchan said.
Speaking in Bengali, Amitabh Bachchan said he was pained that the film festival was not held because of the pandemic. “Kolkata is my home. I will always remain Kolkata’s son-in-law,” Amitabh Bachchan said in Bengali.
“The festival has always celebrated the inclusive spirit…I salute you Kolkata for giving me my first job, for giving Jaya her first film,” Amitabh Bachchan said. “The pandemic has indeed been ruthless,” Amitabh Bachchan said explaining how it changed the functioning of the film industry as well. “Film industries all over the world have always propagated courage and faced challenges head-on. Man has always been a social animal and the need to belong to a community and participate in a group activity is a primal human need,” Amitabh Bachchan said on the evolution of cinema. Recounting the journey of Indian films through British oppression, Amitabh Bachchan talked about film censorship.
