P. C. Chandra Group felicitates Bengali film industry veterans facing economic hardships

The 7th edition of the CSR programme by the leading jewellery house of eastern India undertook the initiative- titled P. C. Chandra Tribute- to provide financial support to ailing artists/technicians/cinematographers, who once were a major part of the film industry but are going through hardships presently.

Veteran actress Lily Chakraborty and actor-singer-theatre personality Arindam Ganguly graced the occasion along with Avishek Auddy, Director, Chandras' Chemical Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.

Speaking on the occasion, Auddy  said, "As a corporate it is our social responsibility to support and care for those who have contributed towards the film industry which has entertained us. This is a token of our appreciation and a way of showing our gratitude."

Auddy dedicated the song of Tagore to the 11 yesteryears' personalities," Tumi khushi thaaka aamaar paane cheye cheye khushi thaaka... Tomar aanginaate beraai jakhan beraai, geye geye beraai jakhan khushi thaako......"

The 11 artists and technicians who received the P. C. Chandra Tribute includes the names like  Arpita Bekar,  Sipra Saha,  Barun Mukherjee, Prasad Chatterjee, Sougata Mazumder,  Sukhendu Adhikary,  Pantoo Nag,  Mohan Rana, Sambhu Nath Saha,  Biswanath Das and Arun Panda.

The Group will provide Rs 60,000 (Rs 5000 per month) for over a period of 1 year to 10 artist/technician/assistant director and Rs 1,20,000  (Rs 10, 000 per month) to actor Arpita Baker.

Speaking at the event, actor-singer Arindam Ganguly said, "P. C. Chandra Group looks forward with CSR initiative, they are keeping up their responsibilities in every respect especially in art and culture. This is really admirable and other corporates should also come forward to look after those people who have contributed a lot in this cultural world. "

Beside providing financial assistance to 11 yesteryears' film personalities each year, the Group also imparts various kind of scholarships to students every year like J. L. Chandra Merit Scholarship (awarding Madhyamik Educational Toppers), Anuprerna (scholarship to needy students), Gyandhara (knowledge centre in colleges).

The leading business house consistently brings forth a helping hand to educational and medical institutions, promotes cultural and sporting activities, supports empowerment of women and creates awareness about environment through Neem Banani (promoting green environment).

Veteran actress Lily Chakraborty, who was a popular face in Bengali cinema for decades as well as in Bollywood for some years, said about the initiatives: 'Definitely it is praiseworthy, many people should come up with such mindset, instead of being self-centered, one must have fellow feeling. This Group is carrying it on for 7 years which has to be appreciated. It is not only the people of film industry, there are others like students who benefitted from the scholarships. They are doing a good job. A lot of such kind of work is expected from others too. "

(Reporting and Images by Subhashish Roy)