Kolkata: A relatively obscure documentary by renowned Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, 54 years after its release, has drawn political wrath due to its title and subject matter. The abrupt cancellation of Ghatak’s documentary Amar Lenin (My Lenin) has rekindled debates about the growing impact of political agendas on India’s cultural sphere.
Setu, a local cultural group, had planned to celebrate Ritwik Ghatak Birth Centenary by screening two of his iconic films, Amar Lenin and Komal Gandhar, at a government school in South Kolkata. However, just hours before the event, the school revoked permission, citing unspecified “external pressures.”
“The school headmaster told us that there was pressure to stop the screening of Ghatak’s films. We then approached a local club, which initially agreed to host the screening but later backed out, citing “pressure from above”. With no other alternatives, we prepared to screen the films on a street corner,” explained Onkar Roy, the convener of Setu.
The principal of the school issued a clarification by saying that the school maintains a strict policy against “political content on campus, regardless of individual beliefs.”
“Setu requested permission for an event focused on Ghatak but did not disclose that it would involve film screenings. When posters advertising screenings of Amar Lenin and Komal Gandhar appeared, local politicians objected, stating that ‘Lenin cannot be brought into the school’. We were forced to withdraw our permission,” said Atin Das, the principal of Nakatala High School.
Commissioned by the West Bengal government to mark Lenin’s birth centenary, the 1970 documentary Amar Lenin explores how jatra, a traditional community-based theatre, was used by communists in rural Bengal to raise awareness about politically relevant issues.
A history of censorship
Ironically, the documentary was initially banned by the National Film Censorship Board for its controversial political themes. Ghatak had to seek intervention from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. After her advisor P.N. Haksar brought the film to her attention, Gandhi personally reviewed and approved it in 1971, overriding the censorship board’s decision and enabling its release.
“Is it possible that, decades after his death, an artist’s ideas still pose such a threat?” asked Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, a film scholar who has extensively researched Ghatak’s work.
“What’s even more shocking is that this happened in Naktala, near the Azadgarh refugee settlement – a community Ghatak immortalised in films like Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha. It’s deeply ironic to deny screenings in the very area he depicted,” added Mukhopadhyay.
“Those opposing this know neither Lenin nor Ritwik. This reflects societal ignorance,” said theatre artist and former Trinamool Congress MP Arpita Ghosh.
Ghosh’s own adaptation of Animal Farm, which satirised the Left Front government, faced bureaucratic delays and political criticism before finally being staged after then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s intervention.
The Kolkata episode is far from isolated. The ruling Trinamool Congress’s tacit tolerance and implicit support of this censorship mirrors similar tactics seen in BJP-ruled states, where dissent is often branded “anti-national.”
A few years back, Bengali filmmaker Anik Dutta’s political satire criticising the Mamata Banerjee government was pulled out of theatres despite running full-show and required Supreme Court intervention to resume screening.
“In the current political climate, even Ritwik Ghatak isn’t spared? This isn’t just condemnable – it’s alarming,” lamented actor Ritwik Chakraborty.
Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.
