Nandita Das’s shocking revelation on Mrinal Sen’s last film     

Mrinal Sen who passed away on Sunday was not only a brilliant auteur he was also very prolific until his health began to fail and his pace of film making slackened.

Mrinal da’s last film as a director was Aamar Bhuvan in 2002, which according to its leading lady is a film that is nowhere to be found.

Says Nandita, “I had known Mrinal da for over 20 years, but it was in 2002, when I finally got to work with him in his last film, Aamar Bhuvan. After premiering at the festival in Kolkata and then we both went to the Cairo Film Festival, and won awards, the film vanished without a trace. Ever since I have been trying to find it, but to no avail. This is how we respect our great masters!”

Recalling her last meeting with Mrinal da when she took her son Vivaan along for the Maestro’s blessing Nandita says, “I met him last on Nov 11th, when I was in Kolkata for the Kolkata Film Festival. No trip to the city was ever complete without meeting him. And I made sure my trips complete. I cherish every meeting with him. He would not leave my hand, even when he was too frail to talk. It was heartbreaking to leave him and even more to see him fade away into silence.”

Mrinal da, says Nandita was voluble vibrant filmmaker. “A man of many words, and even more actions. Today there is a vacuum that no one can fill… not in Indian Cinema, not in the world of artists. Mrinal da’s conscience made sure there was no dissonance between his life and work. Not in the lives that he had touched.”

Nandita reveals that Mrinal da was a dear friend to many, though not to all. “Bondhu (friend), which is what his son Kunal Sen called him, was a bondhu to many. Though not all. He had little patience for the bigoted and hypocrites. He was my friend, philosopher and guide, in the true sense of the word. Mrinal da, the world, and for sure my world won’t be the same without you. You meant a lot to me.”

Though in his later years Mrinal da was known not to recognize friends, he was at his lucid best when Nandita met him last. “We spoke. He held my hand and refused to leave it! He blessed Vihaan. Even his son and doctor were surprised that he responded so much. They said he on occasions gets animated when close ones come to visit. I was very close to him. Feels strange that one has to mourn in public today with hasht