Daughter to keep Bimal Roy's legacy alive

By Prithwish Ganguly

  MUMBAI (Reuters) - Four decades after his death, Bimal Roy’s stature as one of India’s foremost filmmakers is on the decline, thanks to a new generation of cinema goers who have never watched his films.

Most of Roy’s classics were made in the 1950s and 60s, the golden era of Bollywood, but their screenings are now limited to retrospectives at film festivals.

Taking up cudgels on the director’s behalf is daughter Rinki Bhattacharya who hopes to keep alive the legacy of Roy and his contemporaries.

"We have to make the young audience know about the classics that exist," Bhattacharya told Reuters in an interview.

"The films of my father or the films of anyone from that era stand out even today."

Bhattacharya is the founder of the Bimal Roy Memorial - an organisation with around 150 members that felicitates artistes at annual concerts.

A cultural centre where students can analyse the works of Roy and other filmmakers is in the pipeline, along with a place to showcase memorabilia - posters, photos and negatives - of the period.

Roy made his mark with his poetic screenplays and use of emotions in films like "Parineeta", "Devdas", "Do Bigha Zameen" and "Bandini", at a time when creative brilliance resonated in virtually every aspect of filmmaking.