Bondhu

Bondhu is a memoir by Kunal Sen about growing up as the son of the filmmaker Mrinal Sen and the actor Gita Sen. Kunal was raised inside the world of Indian cinema, and the book gives a behind-the-scenes view of his father's life from that vantage point.

The title comes from the name Kunal used for his father. Bondhu means friend in Bengali, and nobody in the family remembers when or why he began using it. It was an odd way to address a father, and as he grew older he became self-conscious about it, yet he never managed to switch to something more usual like Baba.

The story begins as Kunal approaches adolescence, just when his father's fame as a filmmaker is rising. The family lives a middle-class life in South Calcutta, where Mrinal's Marxist beliefs and his constant wish to be challenged and contradicted often ran up against the practical need to earn a living. What emerges is a portrait of a family committed to the craft of cinema, of the risks each member took, and of their warm sense of humour.

Published for Mrinal Sen's birth centenary in 2023, the book follows a son trying to reconcile his father's public and private selves.