Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who was present at the inauguration of the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), on Sunday reportedly said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was like a ‘sister’ and that her dynamism had surprised him.
In Bengali, the term ‘di’, appended to a name, is a term of respect for a sister-like figure and is quite freely used. Kamal apparently said at the inaugural event that he had been keen to meet the Chief Minister for the first time, but had found a sister instead, who was bustling about, not content to be seated like an official figure, accompanied by security and sidekicks. Mamata Banerjee, who is addressed by her supporters as ‘didi’, or elder sister in Hindi and Bengali, was closely monitoring the event to make sure that everything went off well.
The event saw the electric presence of Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Mithun Chakraborty and Haasan at the Netaji Indoor stadium at the opening.
