Bengali biopic of legendary filmmaker Hiralal Sen made

    Kolkata, Mar 9 (PTI) A Bengali biopic of legendary
advertisement film and documentary maker Hiralal Sen, known to
be one of the torchbearers of Indian cinema, has been made.
    Actor Kinjal Nanda has essayed the role of Sen, while
Saswata Chatterjee has portrayed the role of another key
character Jamshedji Madan and Tannishtha Biswas has brought to
life the character of Kusum Kumari Devi in periodic movie
'Hiralal' that was released in theatres on March 5.
    "Hiralal Sen was one of those forgotten figures in the
Indian film industry who had sought to make it an important
medium of entertainment and information at the same time. The
movie will help people know more about Sen," Nanda told PTI on
Tuesday.
    Sen, in whose name an award was constituted in the
competition section of Indian films in the Kolkata
International Film Festival, was born into a rich family in
Barisal in present-day Bangladesh in 1866 and he got addicted
to talkies after watching one at Star Theatre in Kolkata in
1898.
    He started the Royal Bioscope Company with his brother
Matilal Sen and gave a new dimension to movies with
advertisement films and documentaries.
    The company had to be shut in 1913 due to Sen's lack
of business acumen and he died of cancer in 1917, days after a
devastating fire broke out at a warehouse storing all his
works.
    "The film is a tribute to one of the torchbearers of
Indian cinema. It is an attempt to reconstruct his life and
works," director Arun Roy said. PTI SUS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)