Bengali film 'Janala' receives best film award at Asia Pacific Film Festival

Acclaimed film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Janala has received the best feature film award at the prestigious Asia Pacific Film Festival held in Taipei.

Dasgupta told Press Trust of India today he had received an official letter yesterday from the directorate of film festival, information and broadcasting ministry, Government of India, which said that Janala (window) had been bestowed with the top honour.

The film, which deals with a man's quest to return to his roots by gifting a brand new window - which acts as a metaphor - to his dilapidated school, but was spurned by an indifferent world, was one of 56 films from 18 countries in the Asia Pacific region vying for the honours.

Produced by Reliance Pictures, the film - starring Indraneil Sengupta, Swastika Mukherjee and Tapas Pal - after its premier in the Masters of World Cinema section at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008, had been shown at 15 film festivals including the International Film Festival of India and New York and Dubai film festivals.

"Janala is an attempt to be reminiscent of the times when we sometimes try to make a simple dream come true, but the cogs of destiny leave us feeling unfulfilled," said Dasgupta.