Tollywood stars hit the stree condemning Government

Kolkata, Sep 4 (UNI) In the first ever sign of strained relation with the Left Front Government, Bengali cine and television stars today hit the streets, vowing to fight the proposed move to privatise the state-owned Tehcnician studios of the Tollygunge film industry.

In an unusual scene of stars taking to the street, matinee idol Prosenjit, film hero Abhishek Chatterjee, veteran actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Ranjit Mullick, Haradhan Banerjee and Geeta De besides several small screen actors were present at the rally that raised anti-government slogans under the banner of Artists' Forum.

Cutting across political barriers were present celluloid hero and Legislator Tapas Pal and the bad guy of Bengali cinema Biplab Chatterjee who fought each other in the last Assembly elections as Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) candidates respectively.

Hundreds of technicians, Tollygunge Technicians' Guild also took part in it raising demand that the Government revoke its decision to hand over the studios to private hands.

Affirming to intensify the agitation, they said the change of ownership might throw hundreds of technicians out of job and spell a doom for Bengali cinema.

They first took out a procession from Tollygunj, the hub of film studios in south Kolkata, to the nearby Metro station and travelled by the underground train to converge at the Esplanade area for a rally.

Forum general secretary Prosenjit demanded that the government refrain from its move to privatise the century-old technician studios or ensure that the new owners do not use them for any other purpose.

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