Gandhi landmark languishes in darkness

Patna: The centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha, maybe the theme for the ongoing Bihar Diwas celebrations here, but at centuries-old Patna Collectorate, where some of the most iconic scenes in the Oscar-winning film Gandhi were filmed, the mood is hardly festive.

The Collectorate was shown as the Motihari jail and court in the 1982 biopic by Richard Attenborough, but Thursday evening while Gandhi Maidan became the epicentre of a cultural extravaganza, this heritage building sank into darkness by dusk.

City resident B.P. Gupta, who attended the grand function along with his two daughters, said, the Collectorate should have been lit-up to highlight its Gandhi connect.

“A large number of major public buildings have been illuminated, as it is done ever year on the occasion. This year the theme is ‘Champaran Satyagraha Centenary’ but still the Collectorate has been left out of the ambit of festivities,” he rued.

Mr Gupta’s daughter Mohini, a student at a college here, when asked about the significance of the building, said, she only knew that “Collectorate is a very old government building”.

Her father interrupted, saying, “They (his daughters) were not even born when the film was being shot in early 1980s. But, by decorating it on Bihar Diwas, the youth can learn about these unknown facets of the city and its history.”

Patna-born photographer and heritage activist Rajiv Soni, says he was in Patna when the film crew came to the city.

“I had even followed them all the way up to Koelwar where the Sone bridge train scene was filmed,” he said.