Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI), the apex body of the huge film societies’ network of the country (founded by Satyajit Ray in 1959) has decided to initiate an international campaign for restoration of the ancestral houses of the great masters Satyajit Ray, RitwikGhatak and Mrinal Sen. The decision was taken during its Central Executive Committee Meeting held on January 30, 2020 in Kolkata.
Ritwik Ghatak's ancestral house at Rajshahi, Bangladesh
FFSI will bring the issue of preserving these three homes of historical significance to the notice of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and UNESCO for doing the needful.
Premendra Mazumder, Vice President of FFSI and the Asia Pacific Secretary of the International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS), has been entrusted with the responsibilities to take up the issue at the international forum of IFFS.
Film activists of Dhaka had earlier appealed to the government through the District Administration for immediate renovation and preservation of these houses.
Mrinal Sen's ancestral house at Jhiltuli, Faridpur, Bangladesh
Recently, after the demolition of a room of Ghatak's ancestral home to make a bicycle garage, the film and cultural community of Rajshahi and Dhaka took to the streets in protest. Human chains were formed in Rajshahi, Dhaka and Toronto in the last week of December. Eminent film personalities of Bangladesh like Tanvir Mokammel, Morshedul Islam, Nasiruddin Yusuf Bacchu, Shameem Akhtar and many others protested on the streets and signed a petition not only to save Ghatak's ancestral house but also to save those of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen.
Satyajit Ray's ancestral house is in Mashua, Katiyadi in Kishoreganj, Ritwik Ghatak's is in Rajshahi and Mrinal Sen's one is in Jhiltuli, Faridpur.