Remembering the ace filmmaker, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, the ‘Buddhadeb Dasgupta Memorial Trust’ in collaboration with the Forum for Film Studies and Allied Arts, commemorated his life and work with discussion sessions and a film screening of his movie, Tope, yesterday, at the city’s Nandan III auditorium. The programme was inaugurated in the presence of globally renowned filmmaker and Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s contemporary, Goutam Ghose, and Jaya Seal Ghosh, as artiste par excellence. The maestro of surreal art, Buddhadeb Dasgupta has inspired generations in India as well as abroad. His films combine lyricism and a certain whimsy with his social concerns and his training as an academic. Dasgupta rightfully portrayed human emotions with depth and sensitivity.

His first work was in 1999, titled, Uttara, which won him the National Film Award for Best Direction. His first full length film, Dooratwa, in 1978, turned out to be a masterpiece and brought him the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. Dooratwa captured the international market. His films, such as Bagh Bahadur, Urojahaj,Kaalpurush, showcased his unique approach to what we call ‘extended realism’.

His films altogether have a different narrative, language, and perspective, setting them apart from mainstream commercial cinema. As his films were not commercial, he had a very restricted audience, yet his films established a reputation on a global scale,” his wife, Sohini Dasgupta told The Statesman. The event comprised a masterclass by cinematographer, Asim Bose, known for his work on several of Dasgupta’s masterpieces, like, Uttara, Tope, and Urojahaj.

This was followed by a special session by Abhijit Basu discussing folklore in Dasgupta’s films, and the event finally concluded with the screening of his film, Tope, a much-discussed and acclaimed work of his, featured at the Toronto International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and BFI London. Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s demise in 2021 left a void at Indian cinema. His films were shown in film festivals across the world, including in Venice, Berlin, Locarno, and Toronto.

Dasgupta started out as an economics professor at the Shyamsundar College of the University of Burdwan, and later at City College, Calcutta. He always felt a gap between the economic theories he taught and the sociopolitical realities of Indian society. Therefore, inspired by famous directors like Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, and Roberto Rossellini, he turned to filmmaking