Entertainment

IIE DIGITAL: After nearly two decades, acclaimed writer Taslima Nasrin is set to return to West Bengal. She will attend an event at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan on August 1, with Churni Ganguly’s critically acclaimed film Nirbashito scheduled to return to theatres just a day earlier. The double occasion is being seen as a symbolic celebration of the writer’s long awaited homecoming, leaving the director visibly excited.

Nirbashito portrays the pain and emotional turmoil of Nasrin’s forced exile, a chapter of her life that once sparked conversations far beyond India. Speaking about the film’s theatrical return, actor director Churni Ganguly expressed her gratitude to SVF for bringing the film back to audiences. She recalled the many conflicting emotions she experienced while making a story rooted in such a sensitive and difficult chapter of Nasrin’s life.

For Ganguly, however, the moment ultimately belongs to Taslima Nasrin. The writer’s return comes nearly two decades after the controversy surrounding the publication of her novel Dwikhandito in 2007 triggered unrest in parts of Kolkata. The situation escalated to such an extent that the administration had to deploy the army, while the then Left Front government imposed restrictions on the book and asked Nasrin to leave the city. Her difficulties in returning to West Bengal continued even under the subsequent Trinamool Congress government.

Ganguly also reflected on Nasrin’s deep attachment to the Bengali language. Despite having the opportunity to live in different parts of the world, the writer repeatedly returned to Delhi, choosing to remain close to the language and culture that shaped her literary identity.

While making Nirbashito, Ganguly spent considerable time with Nasrin and visited her several times. The director now feels delighted that the writer will finally return to Kolkata as an invited guest, while her film inspired by Nasrin’s life is also making its way back to the big screen. The story draws from Nasrin’s experiences of exile in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, with Ganguly even travelling to the Swedish island where the writer once lived in exile to shoot the film.

Amid the joy surrounding Nasrin’s return and the film’s re release, Ganguly has just one lingering regret. The writer’s beloved pet cat, Minu will never get the chance to return to Kolkata.