Film Screening and Review of Asani Sanket

The Department of History, Loreto College, in collaboration with the History Society, organized a film screening of Satyajit Ray’s Asani Sanket, which was followed by a discussion. The programme took place in two parts. The film was screened on October 6, 2023, and the discussion took place on December 13, 2023. Asani Sanket depicts the cataclysmic Bengal famine of 1942–43 that resulted in the death of 5 million people. As the students study the famine of Bengal as part of their curriculum, they were able to enthusiastically relate what they had learnt to the events portrayed in the movie.

During the interactive session, the students examined the caste system prevalent in early twentieth-century rural Bengal and also noted how the caste system broke down in the face of the hunger and famine that engulfed Bengal during this time.