Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, or simply Lagaan, is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language epic period musical sports drama film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film was produced by Aamir Khan, who stars alongside debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne. Set in 1893, during the late Victorian period of British colonial rule in India, the film follows the inhabitants of a village in Central India, who, burdened by high taxes and several years of drought, are challenged by an arrogant British Indian Army officer to a game of cricket as a wager to avoid paying the taxes they owe. The villagers face the arduous task of learning a game that is alien to them and playing for a victory.
Mrinal Sen was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and a few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Indian filmmakers, along with his contemporaries Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, and Tapan Sinha, Sen played a major role in the New Wave cinema of India.
Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked with directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, and Montazur Rahman Akbar. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Ghare Baire. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2022 for his huge contribution to cinema by the Indian Government in the field of art.
Nandita Das is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films Fire (1996), Earth (1998), Bawandar (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Azhagi (2002),Kamli (2006), and Before The Rains (2007). Her directorial debut Firaaq (2008), premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and travelled to more than 50 festivals, winning more than 20 awards. Her second film as a director was Manto (2018). Based on the life of 20th Century Indo-Pakistani short story writer Sadat Hasan Manto, the film was screened at Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" section. In September 2019, Das produced a two-minute Public Service Announcement music video India's Got Colour. The music video is about the issue of colourism and urges the audience to celebrate India's diversity of skin colour. Her first book, 'Manto & I', chronicles her 6-year long journey of making the film. She wrote, directed, produced and acted in a short film called, Listen to Her, that sheds light on the increase in domestic violence and overburden of work that women have been facing during the lockdown.
36 Chowringhee Lane is a 1981 film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by Shashi Kapoor. It marked the directorial debut of Sen, who had until then been known as a leading actress of Bengali cinema. The film was very well received upon release. It stars Jennifer Kendal in a critically acclaimed role, along with Dhritiman Chatterjee and Debashree Roy.Two major songs used in the film were 1960's song "YELLOW POLKA DOT BIKINY" by Brian Hyland and 1964 version of "SILENT NIGHT" by Mary Martin.
Bhuvan Shome is a 1969 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Mrinal Sen based on a Bengali story by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay. The cast includes Utpal Dutt and Suhasini Mulay. The film is considered a landmark in modern Indian cinema.
Suhasini Mulay is an Indian actress in Assamese, Bollywood and Marathi films as well as television. She won five National Film Awards.
Mrigayaa is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language period action drama film directed by Mrinal Sen and produced by K. Rajeshwara Rao. Based on Shikaar, an Odia short story by Bhagbati Charan Panigrahi, it stars Mithun Chakraborty and Mamata Shankar, both making their cinematic debuts through the film.
Shubho Mahurat is a 2003 Indian Bengali mystery thriller film directed by Rituparno Ghosh. The film is based on Agatha Christie's 1962 Miss Marple detective novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. Its ensemble cast includes Sharmila Tagore, Rakhee Gulzar, Nandita Das, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Anindya Chatterjee, Moumita Gupta and Rajesh Sharma. It won two National Film awards, those of Best Feature film in Bengali and Best Supporting Actress for Rakhee.
Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bengali language widely spoken in the state of West Bengal. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932. It was a historically important film industry, at one time the centre of Indian film production. The Bengali film industry is known for producing many of Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global Parallel Cinema and art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining prominence at the Indian National Film Awards as well as international acclaim.
Tota Roy Chowdhury is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He is also known for his versatile acting performances, fitness, martial arts and dance moves. His notable roles include Feluda in the Hoichoi web series Feludar Goyendagiri based on Satyajit Ray's Feluda series, Chandon Chatterjee in Karan Johar's film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Rohit Sen in Star Jalsha's daily soap Sreemoyee.
Odia cinema, also known as Ollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Odia language widely spoken in the state of Odisha. Odia Cinema is based in Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood.
Koushik Sen is an Indian actor in film, television, OTT and theatre, based in Kolkata. He is the founder and director of the theatre group Swapnasandhani. He won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for best supporting actor for his performance in the Mrinal Sen directed film Aamar Bhuvan. He was awarded Girish Purashkar 2023 by the Cultural Department of the Government of West Bengal for his extraordinary contributions to theatre. In 2024 he was awarded Telly Academy Best Actor Award for Godhuli Alap series.
Firaaq is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Nandita Das. It is set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat, India, and looks at the aftermath and its effects on the lives of everyday people. It claims to be based on "a thousand true stories." Firaaq means both separation and quest in Arabic. The film is the directorial debut of actress Nandita Das and stars Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Inaamulhaq, Nassar, Paresh Rawal, Sanjay Suri, Raghubir Yadav, Shahana Goswami, Amruta Subhash, and Tisca Chopra.
Srijit Mukherji is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. His regular collaboration with veteran actor Prosenjit Chatterjee brought him into the limelight. His first feature film Autograph (2010), was a critical and commercial success, where he had written the script with Chatterjee in mind. His fifth film, Jaatishwar, won four national awards at India's 61st National Film Awards (2014). He won the National Film Award for Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay for his sixth film, Chotushkone, at India's 62nd National Film Awards. His eighth film, Rajkahini had been remade into a Hindi film titled, Begum Jaan, starring Vidya Balan in 2017. His 2018 release Ek Je Chhilo Raja won the 'Best Bengali Film' Award at India's 66th National Film Awards. His 2019 film Gumnaami won him the Best Bengali Film and Best Adapted Screenplay Awards at the 67th National Film Awards.
Sadhu Meher was an Indian actor, director and producer.
K. K. Mahajan was an Indian cinematographer who was known for his work in Parallel Cinema. In a career that spanned over four decades, he won four National Film Awards. He was best known for his work with filmmakers such as Kumar Shahani, Mani Kaul, Basu Chatterjee and Mrinal Sen.
Neerparavai (transl. Seabird) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-written by Seenu Ramasamy, and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin. It stars Vishnu and Sunaina, while Nandita Das plays the older version of the latter's character. Saranya Ponvannan, Samuthirakani, Varsha Ashwathi, and Anupama Kumar play supporting roles. The music is composed by N. R. Raghunanthan with cinematography by Balasubramaniem and editing by Kasi Viswanathan. The film was released on 30 November 2012 to positive reviews from critics and did well at the box-office.
Shekhar Chatterjee (1924–1990) was an Indian actor and film director.
The 4th International Film Festival of India was held from 5th to 18 December 1969 in New Delhi's hotel "Ashoka Convention Hall". 34 countries participated in the "4th IFFI" inaugurated by the then President of India V. V. Giri. The honors were classified under three sections - films as art, films as communication, and special short films from this edition featuring a total of 151 films. A nine member jury was chaired by Raj Kapoor, R. K. Narayan, and Swedish filmmaker Mai Zetterling.
