The last time he was anxious was in 1978, when he prayed for the historic Technicians Studio to become government-aided. Twenty-nine years on, he is still anxious, this time about private hands taking it over.

Disparaging eyes, skeptical expressions and patient waiting is how one would describe the mood of the Technicians Studio after the government has handed it over to Zee Telefilms.

Set up in 1952 by four technicians — Ramananda Sengupta, Satayen Chattopadhya, Ashutosh Nag and Mrinal Guho Thakurota — it was taken over by the state government in 1979.

The studio hit the headlines when Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee floated the idea of turning this sick Public Sector Undertaking into private hands.

Now, while some employees are worried about uncertainty linked with private owners, some are scared about job security. Despite Zee assuring that all 33 employees will be retained, it has not held anxiety at bay.

The transfer of the property rights will include Technicians -1 on a plot of 145-cottah land, Technicians -2 on a 43-cottah plot and a vacant plot of about 35 cottahs at the Prince Anwar Shah Road. All these are to be transferred to the new owners — Zee Telefilms.

In its heydays, the studio has seen the likes of Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen, Tarun Majumdar directing Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar.

“The studio has had a long legacy and rich culture. Private parties may not be able to protect the heritage,” said Sumit Datta, who has been associated with the administrative work of the studio for 18 years.

Initially when the state government had decided to privatise the studio, artistes and technicians of Tollywood, led by actor Soumitra Chatterjee, had opposed the idea. The chief minister, however, won them over by convincing that privatising the studio was the only option to revive it.

According to Mukhopadhya, “the studio had run into heavy losses and the government had to take such a decision. There are many infrastructure work that needs to be done now.”