Filmmaker Kamaleswar Mukherjee, along with others these days could be found serving those badly affected by the dual attack of the Pandemic and the Cyclone Amphan, which almost destroyed not just the homes but also the livelihood of the people in South and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
It is a call of duty says acclaimed filmmaker, known for his adventures movies, Amazon Obhijaan and Chander Pahar. So far he has attended medical camps and treated people in Sandeshkhali, Raidighi and Metekhali Bazar in South 24 Parganas, worst affected by Cyclone Amphan.
Speaking to News Sense, Dr Mukherjee said, “It is the need of the hour, so I am trying to serve people and that doesn’t mean I have already taken up this profession”. He further adds, “as we all know that North and South 24 Parganas are badly hit by dual plight of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Cyclone Amphan, many organisations, individuals, students are trying their best to stand by the side of the distressed people and in this pool of reliefs, I am just a part where with my knowledge of medicine I am helping people”.
Dr. Mukherjee is a part of West Bengal Doctors Forum, Sramajivi Swasthya Udyog, and theatre group Rashbehari Shailushik which have so far organized 38 medical assistances and relief camps, which includes distribution of free medicines and creating health awareness initiatives across different parts of Bengal.
Apart from Dr. Kamaleswar Mukherjee, the team also consists of prominent doctors of the Kolkata city like Punyabrata Goon, Sunandan Basu, Chandrayee Bhattacharya, Arjun Dasgupta, and Chandrima Dasgupta.
Filmmaker Mukherjee is also engaged in his writings and scheduling of a new film, but still, he has time for the people in need as he says, “now because of lockdown I have time, as all shooting is now closed, I am trying to spend maximum time with those affected people to give them as much as medical aids”.
Kamaleswar Mukherjee has an interesting career graph. By training, he is a physician and an alumnus of the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. He moved from the medical profession to the advertising world, and then to filmmaking.
His directorial debut is with the well-acclaimed film Uro Chithi that was released in the year 2011. This film interwove 12 text messages with 12 different characters, combining shades of life spanning across 12 months. His next venture was Meghe Dhaka Tara, inspired by the life and works of the filmmaker, Ritwik Ghatak. The film attempts to portray the period of Ghatak’s life when he was admitted into a mental asylum for treatment. Meghe Dhaka Tara was the most critically acclaimed film in the Bengali film circuit, and it won the IFFI Centenary award.
In the year 2013, he made Chander Pahar based on a novel by author Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Chander Pahar is the second-costliest film made in Bengali language and is still the biggest blockbuster in the history of Bengali cinema. The film was shot in Africa. In 2017, Mukherjee wrote and directed the sequel to Chander Pahar, Amazon Obhijaan.
Apart from direction, Mukherjee is also a play writer and founder member of Kolkata‐based theatre group Shailushik. He is also trained in computer graphics and photography.
Report: Joydeep Dasgupta | Sundarban, West Bengal, India
