Soham, Rituparna Sengupta and Debashis Sen light the lamp Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

A copy of the telegraph from Audrey Hepburn to Satyajit Ray Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

An advertisement in which Bourn-vita is endorsed by Tagore Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

Did you know that Suchitra Sen and Supriya Chowdhury were some of the earliest filmstars to endorse the Lux brand of soaps? Or that Eastern Railway would advertise itself using the image of Apu and Durga watching the train from Pather Panchali? Or that Kishore Kumar has a stamp in his honour?

Nazrul Tirtha, a venue for the Kolkata International Film Festival, is screening up to six films a day but the gallery dedicated to 100 years of Bengali cinema is quite interesting too.

The New Town leg of the festival commenced on November 11 and will continue till Saturday. Actors Rituparna Sengupta and Soham and Hidco chief Debashis Sen were present at the opening. “People wait for this festival round the year so I hope they enjoy the films now. Nazrul Tirtha is an interesting centre and we should also hold more film premieres here too,” said Rituparna.

Soham encouraged film lovers to watch Bengali films and keep the industry alive. There was also a performance by dancer sisters Mrinalini and Mrinmoyee Biswas of Balaka Abasan.

In order to retain the “cultural capital of India” title in Calcutta, Sen said new centres like Nazrul Tirtha, Rabindra Tirtha and Arts Acre were required. “As for this festival, we have one hall screening four films a day (at 11am, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm with tickets priced at Rs 60 and 80), a second hall for the competitions’ jury members and a third hall is screening Bengali classics free,” he said.

Tunisia is the special focus country of the festival this year and Tunisian films Dear Son and Look at Me will be played on Saturday. The free Bengali films, being screened at 2.30 and 5.30pm, will feature Chokh and Padmandir Majhi on Friday and Unishe April Saturday.

In the gallery, the exhibition titled Chalchitra features the who’s who of Bengali cinema down the ages. There are panels on Bengal’s National Award-winning films, Dadasaheb Phalke Award-winning actors, stamps and advertisements featuring yesteryear stars… There is even a copy of the telegraph from Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn to Satyajit Ray congratulating him on his Academy award.