Indo-Bangladesh forum based on Bengali needed: Filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh

Kolkata: National award-winning filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh Thursday called for setting up a joint India-Bangladesh platform on the basis of the Bengali language to benefit the film industries of both the countries.

"We are bound by a language called Bengali and it is the same language on the basis of which the country (Bangladesh) has been formed. If we can avoid the bureaucratic paraphernalia of pitching India against Bangladesh and rather create one Bangla industry based on the language, then I think it becomes more interesting," said Ghosh here. He spoke at the curtain raiser of the second chapter of the Media and Entertainment Business Conclave - East (MBEC-East) to be organised here Dec 21. Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the MBEC conclave will provide a forum for the government to receive authentic information on the state of the region`s entertainment industry, its problems and prospects. It will also give a boost to opening doors to the Bangladeshi entertainment market. "Besides India and Bangladesh, there is a common diaspora speaking Bengali all over the world. The entertainment industry in Kolkata should find a global context, beginning with a pan-Indian context, and then it gets a platform in the global scenario," said Ghosh. Besides panel discussions involving Ghosh, leading Bengali actor Prosenjit, singer Usha Uthup, representatives of the West Bengal state government and industrialists, filmmaking and screenwriting workshops will be conducted as part of the meet. Considering the workshops as a "stepping stone to what we can achieve in the future", Ghosh highlighted their importance. "The industry doesn`t have a proper film school. So it is through practising the art, that the whole art of filmmaking has developed. And there has not been conscious dissemination of knowledge on the art and craft and the business of filmmaking. "So, if we continue to have a lot of such workshops throughout the year in instalments, I think it connects us better to the rest of the country, helps to hone our own skills, and makes us better film citizens," he said. IANS