Basu Chatterjee

Basu Chatterjee ( 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter.

Basu Chatterjee
Chatterjee in October 2012
Born(1927-01-10)10 January 1927
Ajmer, Ajmer-Merwara, British India
Died4 June 2020(2020-06-04) (aged 93)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationFilm director
Children2 daughters

Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmakers, such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships,[1] with exceptions such as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) and Kamla Ki Maut (1989), which delved into social and moral issues. He is best known for his films Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Rajnigandha (1974), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Khatta Meetha, Swami (1977), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Priyatama (1977), Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen (1982),[2] and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), which was his last commercially successful movie.[3]

Chatterjee directed the Bengali film Hothath Brishti (1998), which featured actors from both Bangladesh and India. The film featured Ferdous Ahmed from Bangladesh, and Priyanka Trivedi and Sreelekha Mitra from West Bengal. Chatterjee continued to cast Ahmed in subsequent Indian-Bengali films, including Chupi Chupi (2001), Tak Jhal Mishti (2002) and Hotath Shedin (2012), another joint production of Bangladesh and India. He wrote the script for the Bangladeshi film Ek Cup Cha, directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul.

Early life

Basu Chatterjee was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, in a Bengali family. His middle class upbringing reflected in his movies that explored areas which were far removed from the glitz and glamour of the blockbusters of the time.[4]

Career

In 1950s, Chatterjee arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai) and started his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for the weekly tabloid Blitz published by Russi Karanjia. He worked there for 18 years before changing career paths to filmmaking, when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam (1966), which later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Eventually, he made his directorial debut with Sara Akash in 1969, which won him the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.[5]

Some of his most critically acclaimed films are Sara Akash (1969), Piya Ka Ghar (1971), Us Paar (1974), Rajnigandha (1974), Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Swami (1977), Khatta Meetha, Priyatama, Chakravyuha (1978 film), Jeena Yahan (1979), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Apne Paraye (1980), Shaukeen and Ek Ruka Hua Faisla.

Other films include Ratnadeep, Safed Jhooth, Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Kamla Ki Maut and Triyacharitra.

He has also directed many Bengali films such as Hothat Brishti, Hochcheta Ki and Hothat Shei Din.

Chatterjee directed the television series Byomkesh Bakshi and Rajani for Doordarshan. He was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival in 1977[6] and a member of the International Film And Television Club of the Asian Academy of Film & Television. A retrospective of Chatterjee's work was held as part of the Kala Ghoda Art Festival Mumbai in February of 2011.

A book on the work of Basu Chatterji, titled Basu Chatterji: And Middle of the road cinema, written by author and music historian Anirudha Bhattacharjee, has been published by Penguin Random House in 2023

Awards

Filmography
Year Title Credited as Producer Notes
Director Writer
1969 Sara Akash YesYes [8]
1971 Piya Ka Ghar Yes Tarachand Barjatya
1974 Rajnigandha Yes Yes Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal
Us Paar Yes YesYes
1976 Chitchor Yes Tarachand Barjatya
Chhoti Si Baat Yes B. R. Chopra
1977 Safed Jhooth Yes YesAshim Kumar
Swami Yes Jaya Chakravarthy
Priyatama Yes T C Dewan
1978 Khatta Meetha Yes YesGul Anand, Romu Sippy
Dillagi Yes YesBikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh
Tumhare Liye Yes YesRaj Tilak
1979 Do Ladke Dono Kadke Yes Jayant Mukherjee, Hemant Kumar
Manzil Yes
Chakravyuha Yes
Prem Vivah Yes
Ratnadeep Yes
Baton Baton Mein Yes Yes
1980 Man Pasand Yes Amit Khanna
Apne Paraye Yes Mushir Alam
1981 Jeena Yahan Yes N.P. Ali
1982 Hamari Bahu Alka Yes YesShyamsunder Seksaria
Shaukeen Yes YesSenmit Movie Visuals
1983 Pasand Apni Apni Yes Yes
1984 Lakhon Ki Baat Yes Yes Yes
1986 Ek Ruka Hua Faisla Yes Yes
Kirayadar Yes B. R. Chopra
Chameli Ki Shaadi Yes YesRamesh Ningoo, Sushil Gaur
Sheesha Yes Sattee Shourie
1989 Kamla Ki Maut Yes YesNFDC
1990 Hamari Shadi Yes Yes
1997 Triyacharittar Yes
Gudgudee Yes Mahesh Bhatt
1998 Hothat Brishti Yes Bangladesh and India joint production Bengali language film
2001 Chupi Chupi Yes
2002 Tak Jhal Mishti Yes
2007 Prateeksha Yes
Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetha Yes
2008 Hochheta Ki Yes Bengali language film
2011 Trishanku Yes

Dialogue writer
Dialogue writer
YearFilmProducerNotes
1972 Piya Ka Ghar Tarachand Barjatya
1974 Rajnigandha Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal
1978 Khatta Meetha Gul Anand, Romu Sippy
Dillagi Bikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh
1982 Hamari Bahu Alka Shyamsunder Seksaria
1984 Lakhon Ki Baat Basu Chatterjee

Screenplay
Screenplay
YearFilmProducerNotes
1969 Sara Akash Basu Chatterjee
1974 Rajnigandha Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal
Us Paar Self
1977 Safed Jhooth Ashim Kumar
1978 Khatta Meetha Gul Anand, Romu Sippy
Dillagi Bikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh
1982 Hamari Bahu Alka Shyamsunder Seksaria
1984 Lakhon Ki Baat Basu Chatterjee

Producer
Producer
YearFilmDirectorNotes
1979 Baton Baton Mein Self
1983 Pasand Apni Apni
1984 Lakhon Ki Baat Basu Chatterjee
1986 Ek Ruka Hua Faisla Self TV film

Director (TV series)
Director TV series or film
YearShowChannelNotes
1985 Rajani DD National
Darpan
1986 Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (TV film)
1988 Kakaji Kahin
1990-91 Bheem Bhavani
1993 & 1997 Byomkesh Bakshi 2 seasons 32 episodes
2005 Ek Prem Katha 26 episodes

Assistant director
Assistant director
YearFilmProducerNotes
1966 Teesri Kasam Shailendra Directed by Basu Bhattacharya
1968 Saraswatichandra Vivek Directed by Govind Saraiya

Death

Chatterjee died due to an age-related illness at his house in Mumbai on 4 June 2020. He was 93 years old.[9]

References
  1. Bhawana Somaaya. Cinema Images And Issues. Rupa Publications. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-8129103703.
  2. "Classics should be taken on, but correctly: Basu Chatterjee". The Times of India. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  3. "Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and others remember Basu Chatterjee". 4 June 2020.
  4. "Basu Chatterjee Obituary". Cinestaan.
  5. "Director Profile: Basu Chatterjee". Cinemas of India, NFDC. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  6. "10th Moscow International Film Festival (1977)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  7. "Best Screenplay Award". Filmfare Award Official Listings, Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  8. Asha Kasbekar (2006). Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, And Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. pp. 198–. ISBN 978-1-85109-636-7. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  9. "Basu Chatterjee: Bollywood's 'chronicler of simple romances' dies at 93". BBC News. 4 June 2020.
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