Kolkata, Nov. 2 -- Ahead of the 32nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), the name plaque of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been removed from the main entrance of the city's cultural hub, Nandan. While Banerjee's name has been painted over in orange, the plaque bearing the name of former CM Jyoti Basu, who laid the foundation stone of the film centre named by Satyajit Ray in 1980, remains untouched.
The removal of the plaque bearing Banerjee's name from the Nandan premises has triggered a political controversy. In fact, her name has reportedly been removed from several places across the Rabindra Sadan-Nandan complex.
"It has been removed because some other things will come up. Does anyone want to see Mamata Banerjee's name anymore? In that case, I can't be a part of KIFF," said veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, who is also the chief adviser to KIFF this year. Meanwhile, social media remains divided over the issue, with several cinelovers questioning the previous government's role in renovating Nandan.
Amid the controversy, a video shared by MAITC MLA Kunal Ghosh, showing Mithun thanking the then CM for organising a film festival of such stature, has gone viral. Mithun was part of the inaugural event in November 2012, which was also attended by Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. Sharing the video, Ghosh wrote: "Mithun da is an actor par excellence. I am a fan too. But look at how many times the man has changed his colours!"
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.