Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 1960 film written and directed by Ritwik Ghatak, based on a social novel by Shaktipada Rajguru with the same title. It stars Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Gita Dey, Bijon Bhattacharya, Niranjan Roy, and Gyanesh Mukherjee. It was part of a trilogy consisting of Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961), and Subarnarekha (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of Bengal during the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it.
Madhabi Chakraborty is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film Dibratrir Kabya. She has acted in some of the most critically acclaimed films in Bengali cinema and is considered one of the great actresses of Bengali cinema.
Several fiction, non-fiction and cinemas were based on Kolkata or depicted Kolkata from certain point of views. Some of such works are listed here.
Jukti Takko Aar Gappo is a 1974 Bengali film directed by auteur of Indian cinema Ritwik Ghatak. Jukti Takko Aar Gappo was Ritwik Ghatak's last film. The film was believed to have a cinematography way ahead of its time. The film won National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974.
Nagarik, also spelled as Nagorik, was the first feature-length film directed by legendary Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in Kolkata, India. Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as Satyajit Ray and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as Derek Malcolm.
Keshto Mukherjee was an Indian actor and comedian. He was born in Kolkata, Bengal Presidency, British India. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he was a teetotaller throughout his life. However in his own interview published in the Stardust magazine in 1981, he mentioned the following; "I drink a lot. I started boozing when I left my home town and came to Bombay to become a film hero. I lived in a dingy room in the railway quarters with nothing to eat, but lots to drink. I drank because I was frustrated. I didn’t have any work. I drank to get some sleep, to forget that there were rats running all around the place, that there was a dog sleeping next to me. I drank to relieve the tension. And I only had daaru as my true friend. And again, it was because of this daaru that I gained popularity. Today, if anyone says my name, everyone pictures a bevda. I cannot ditch my friend now. I still drink. The only day when I didn’t touch a drop of liquor was on my wedding day."
Subarnarekha is an Indian Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. It was produced in 1962 but not released until 1965. It is a part of the trilogy that includes Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961) and Subarnarekha (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it.
Shibram Chakraborty (1903–1980) was an Indian writer and humorist. His best known short stories and novels are renowned for their unique use of pun, alliteration, play of words and ironic humour. He was a prolific author who also wrote poems, plays, non-fiction and novels for mature audiences in his long career.
Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is an Indian film industry of Bengali-language motion pictures. 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.
Kaliprasad Banerjee, professionally known as Kali Banerjee was an Indian actor, who worked in the 1950s–1970s in Bengali cinema. He is best known for his work with film directors like Satyajit Ray in Parash Pathar (1958) and Ritwik Ghatak in Nagarik (1952) and Ajantrik (1958).
Jahar Roy was an Indian actor and comedian in Bengali cinema. He was known for his comedy films with Bhanu Bandyopadhyay.
Kato Ajanare (1959) is an unfinished Bengali drama film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The storyline was based on a Bengali novel written by Mani Shankar Mukherjee with the same title. The film was shot on a 20-day schedule. The shooting was complete, except the court scene. The film was discontinued and abandoned for mainly financial and some other problems.
Chinnamul was a 1950 Bengali film directed by Nemai Ghosh. This was the first Indian film that dealt with the partition of India. The story revolved around a group of farmers from East Pakistan who were forced to migrate to Calcutta because of the partition of Bengal in 1947. Russian film director Vsevolod Pudovkin came to Calcutta at that time, watched this film, and being inspired, he bought the print of this film to release in Russia. The film was shown in 188 theaters in Russia.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 2013 Indian Bengali film directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee and made under Shree Venkatesh Films banners. The film is inspired from the life and works of Bengali film director Ritwik Ghatak. The entire film is in black and white except the last scene which has been shot in colour. In this film Saswata Chatterjee plays the character of Nilkantha Bagchi and Ananya Chatterjee plays the role of Durga, Nilkantha's wife. The film was released on 14 June 2013. Besides giving an account of Ghatak's life, the film also depicts the socio-political environment of contemporary West Bengal during the Tebhaga and Naxalite movements.
Gita Ghatak was an Indian actress and singer. She mainly acted in Bengali cinema. Gita Ghatak was also an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. She had her primary lessons in Tagore songs from celebrated artistes like Sailajaran Majumdar and Indira Debi Choudhurani, having a brief stint in Indian classical music too in her long music career of 65 years. She was closely associated with the All India Radio, Kolkata. She was also a teacher at South Point School, Kolkata. Her husband Anish Chandra Ghatak was the nephew of noted Bengali movie director Ritwik Ghatak.
Nabyendu Chatterjee was an Indian Bengali and Hindi film director and producer. A director of twelve feature films and three documentaries, Nabyendu has curved out a sure niche for him in the field of serious and useful cinema of India.
Gyanesh Mukherjee was a Bengali actor, director and theater personality.
