Mumbai, Oct 28 (IANS): Bengali film 'Avijatrik', that pays tribute to the iconic Satyajit Ray and Soumitra Chatterjee, has won Best Film, Best Music and Best Production Design awards at 2021 Caleidoscope Indian Film Festival of Boston. The film is directed by Subhrajit Mitra, produced by Gaurang Jalan and co-produced by Madhur Bhandarkar.
'Avijatrik', a tribute to Satyajit Ray, Ravi Shankar and Soumitra Chatterjee, takes off from 'Apur Sansar', where the trilogy ended in 1959. The film is based on the last one-third of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's novel 'Aparajita'.
The film earlier traveled to IFFI (International Film Festival of India - selected in Panorama) and KIFF (Kolkata International Film Festival) and later to prestigious international film festivals like Shanghai International Film Festival( selected in Panorama), Miami International Film Festival, Montreal Independent Film Festival and Seattle Film Festival, among others.
Madhur said, "We are happy to hear about adding more awards in our kitty with 'Avijatrik's journey at CIFFB. As a filmmaker, there is no better reward than seeing your film resonating with audiences all across."
The story is the journey of a father and his son and how the father relives his entire childhood through the eyes of his son. The story revolves around a sublime bond between a father, Apu, and his 6-year-old son Kajol who lost his mother to an unpropitious fate during his birth. Apu finally bids farewell to his village, his city, his motherland and embarks on a spirited journey with Kajol and friend Shankar. They go in search of new beginnings, to unexplored terrains in a faraway land.
Talking about the awards at CIFFB, producer Gaurang Jalan said, "This year has been remarkable for 'Avijatrik'. We set out to make a film that would be a befitting tribute to maestros Satyajit Ray, Soumitra da (Soumitra Chatterjee) and Pandit Ravi Shankar. As a producer, I am very happy with such a heartwarming response from film festivals all over the world."
The music of the film is given by Bickram Ghosh while the title track is a variation by Anoushka Shankar, of her father Pandit Ravi Shankar's iconic 'Pather Panchali' theme.
'Avijatrik' stars Arjun Chakrabarty, Ditipriya Roy and Arpita Chatterjee in key roles.