Goutam Ghose, Bappi Lahiri conferred Bengal's 'Mahanayak Samman'

Critically-acclaimed filmmaker Goutam Ghose and composer-singer Bappi Lahiri were on Saturday conferred the West Bengal's "Mahanayak Samman" awards.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee conferred the Mahanayak Samman for best director on Ghose, known for helming National Award winning films like "Sankhachil" and "Abar Aranye".

The awards were instituted in 2012 in the memory of Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar who is revered in this part of India as "Mahanayak (Great hero)".

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

The Mahayanak Samman 2016 went to composer-singer Bappi 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 online ticketing system for the state-run theatre Nandan from August 1.

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