Entertainment

Police detain filmmaker Kamleshwar Mukhopadhyay amid protests, creates social media storm – Times of India

October 3, 2022
Bharat Times

In a shocking turn of events, filmmaker Kamleshwar Mukhopadhyay and several other CPI(M) activists were detained by the Kolkata Police while they were protesting near the Rash Behari crossroads. It all started after the alleged attack on the book stall of the Left party. The critically acclaimed filmmaker and others were earlier taken to Lalbazar, but released later in the evening. The incident created a storm on social media as the Tollywood film fraternity extended their support for Kamleshwar.

“Afraid of books???? Books??? There are not enough words to condemn the arrest of Kamleshwar Mukherjee. With you, Kamalada, for whatever it is worth,” filmmaker Srijit Mukherjee wrote on Twitter.

Actor Abir Chatterjee wrote, “We love you Kamal da and we are proud of you. With you…”

National Award winning filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly also criticized Kamleshwar’s detention.

“Has this government gone mad?” The arrest of Kamleshwar Mukherjee is shameful. Why? To the bookstore? For support against the robbery of ‘Bookshop’? it’s embarrassing. Strongly condemn this very meaningless and unpleasant act of thumping muscle power. With you Kamleshwar Mukherjee, we all need an answer to this!” actor Riddhi Sen wrote on Facebook.

Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya later claimed that they had gathered at Rash Behari crossroads to protest the attack on a book stall and its alleged closure by TMC supporters.

He also alleged that some people loyal to the ruling Trinamool Congress allegedly attacked him again during the protests on Monday. Some protesters, including filmmaker Mukhopadhyay and CPI(M) Kolkata District Committee president Kallol Majumdar, were reportedly detained by the police.

Meanwhile, Kamleshwar Mukhopadhyay, after his release, claimed that the police detained him saying that the protest could not be held at the busy intersection as it would block the movement of the Durga Puja crowd.

The Bengali filmmaker is known for making critically acclaimed films like ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, ‘Mukhomukhi’ to name a few. His last short film was ‘The Hunger Artist’ which was appreciated from all sides. He also made a web series ‘Rokto Polash’ which is an entertaining political thriller. He is an acclaimed actor as well as playing a variety of characters in many socially relevant films over the years.