Goutam Ghose given Bengal’s ‘Mahanayak Samman’

Filmmaker Goutam Ghose and composer-singer Bappi Lahiri were on Saturday given West Bengal’s Mahanayak Samman awards.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave the award for best director to Ghose, known for his National Award-winning films Sankhachil and Abar Aranye.

The awards were instituted in 2012 in the memory of Bengali cinema icon Uttam Kumar, who is revered in this part of India as a mahanayak (great hero).

In addition to Ghose, director-actor Kaushik Ganguly was also honoured with the award for best director.

The Mahanayak Samman 2016 award went to Lahiri.

Paran Bandyopadhyay and Jishu Sengupta received the best actor (male) awards while Sohini Sarkar received the best actor (female) award.

Banerjee also announced the launch of an online ticketing system for the state-run theatre Nandan from August 1.

The state government felicitates actors, technicians and music directors at the annual event on the occasion of the death anniversary of Uttam Kumar on July 24.