Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers 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.
Aparna Sen is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received multiple awards, including nine National Film Awards and a Padma Shri.
Riya Sen is an Indian film actress and model. Riya comes from Royal ancestry. Her father Bharat Dev Varma hails from the royal family Tripura. He is the son of Ila Devi Princess of cooch behar and nephew of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. Riya’s mother Moon Moon Sen and grandmother Suchitra sen are reputed veteran actors. Riya began her acting career in 1991 as a child actress in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget comedy directed by N. Chandra. Some of her other notable films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2003) in Hinglish,and Malayalam horror film Ananthabhadram (2005).
Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theatre Group" in 1949. This group enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the "Epic theatre" period, before it immersed itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became an apt vehicle for the expression of his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays such as Kallol (1965), Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob (1964), Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted in over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in a career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films such as Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk (1991), Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1993) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy Hindi comedies such as Gol Maal (1979) and Rang Birangi (1983). He also did the role of a sculptor, Sir Digindra Narayan, in the episode Seemant Heera of Byomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan in 1993, shortly before his death.
Raima Sen is an Indian actress who is known for her work in Bengali and Hindi Film industry.
Prosenjit Chatterjee is an Indian film actor and producer who works predominantly in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He is the son of actor Biswajit Chatterjee. He began his acting career as a child actor in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chotto Jigyasa, for which he won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Most Outstanding Work of the Year Award. Following this he appeared in other films as a child actor. His first leading role came through Bimal Roy's Duti Pata.
Jisshu Sengupta is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, who predominantly works in Bengali films, with a few in Hindi and Telugu languages. Sengupta made his debut in showbiz through a Bengali TV series, Mahaprabhu where he portrayed the role of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The role overnight catapulted him to stardom. Subsequently, he made his big screen debut with Priyojon (1999), which became a debacle at box office. In 2002, he played Tagore in Sukanta Roy's ambitious venture Chelebela alongside Debashree Roy playing Kadambari Devi. He then appeared in a spate of critically and commercially unsuccessful projects. He made his Bollywood debut with Shyam Benegal's National Award winning film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2004). A turning point came in his career when he collaborated with Rituparno Ghosh for the latter's Abohomaan, which earned him critical acclaim. His subsequent collaborations with Ghosh for films which include Noukadubi and Shob Charitro Kalponik brought him a higher degree of critical and commercial success. Sengupta's collaborations with other directors for films such as Jaatishwar enabled him to become one of the most sought out actors in Bengali cinema.
Anandalok is a Bengali film magazine published by Ananda Publishers from Kolkata, India. It is usually published on the 12th and 27th of every month.
Rehmat Ali is a 2010 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Partho Ghosh for producers Raj Behl and Geeta Behl, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Rituparna Sengupta and Roopa Ganguly in lead roles. It marked the return of Mithun Chakraborty to the Bengali film industry after a long gap. It is a remake of Partho's 1997 Bollywood film Ghulam-E-Mustafa which itself was remade from 1996 Tamil film Musthaffaa.
Dui Prithibi is a 2010 Bengali road movie directed by Raj Chakraborty and stars Jeet, Dev, Koel Mallick and Barkha Bisht Sengupta in the lead roles. It was the highest grossing Bengali film of 2010. A remake of the Telugu film Gamyam, Dui Prithibi brought two of the biggest stars of Bengali cinema, Jeet and Dev, together for the only time on the celluloid.
Aborto is a Bengali film released on 1 March 2013 and directed by Arindam Sil in his directorial debut. According to Sil, this film would be the greatest tribute to Satyajit Ray that has ever been made. The film stars Bangladesh actress Jaya Ahsan, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Abir Chatterjee in lead roles. The screenplay was written by filmmaker Atanu Ghosh, but was not acknowledged on the posters by the director.
Eskay Movies is an Indian media and entertainment company which started in 1988 by Ashok Dhanuka and Himanshu Dhanuka. The expanded Eskay Movies into becoming one of the biggest media and entertainment houses in eastern India. In the film industry, Eskay Movies has following divisions: Production, Distribution, Exhibition, Digital Cinema and Music and Online Store. The production house is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal and prominently produces Bengali language films. Digital movie distribution firm United Mediaworks (UMW) has expanded its operations into Bangladesh by distributing and co-producing films with Bangladeshi companies, such as Jaaz Multimedia. Under the new partnership, United Mediaworks will provide its digital cinema production and distribution technology to over 256 screens in Bangladesh. With this expansion, UMW claims to have a distribution chain present across 550 screens in both India and Bangladesh.
Bhaiyya Bhaiyya is a 2014 Malayalam comedy film directed by Johny Antony and scripted by Benny P. Nayarambalam starring Kunchacko Boban and Biju Menon in lead roles. The film also features Nisha Agarwal, Vinutha Lal, Innocent, Suraj Venjarammood, Salim Kumar and Vijayaraghavan in other important roles. It features music by Vidyasagar and cinematography by Vinod Illampally and was largely shot at Kottayam, Tamil Nadu and Kolkata. Produced by Laisamma Pottoore under Nobel Andre Production, Bhaiyya Bhaiyya released on 5 September 2014.
Bipasha is a 1962 Indian Bengali-language drama film starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. and directed by Agradoot. The film is based on a novel titled "Bipasha" by Sri Tarashankar Bandyopadhay.
Byomkesh is an Indian-Bengali detective media franchise created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay and featuring the character, Byomkesh Bakshi. Referring himself as "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and forensic science which he uses to solve complicated cases, usually murders. Initially appearing in the 1932 story Satyanweshi, the character's popularity immensely increased in Bengal and other parts of India.
Magno Mainak is a 2009 crime thriller based on the novel of same name by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. It was directed by Swapan Ghosal and produced by New Wave Communications.
Asit Baran was an Indian film actor, singer and theater personality.
Ullas is a Bengali social drama film directed by Ishwar Chakraborty and produced by Sankar Sarkar. This film was based on three short stories of Mahasweta Devi namely Daur, Mahadu Ekti Rupkatha and Anno Aranya. This movie was released on 29 June 2012 in the banner of R.N.R. Enterprise. Writer Mahasweta Devi acted herself in the film in the role of Basuli goddess.
Manoj Michigan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer for Bengali cinema. His notable works include films I Reborn (2019), Tritiya Adhyay (2019), Aami Joy Chatterjee (2018), Damadol (2013), Hello Kolkata (2008). He was the producer of psychological thriller film 89 (2015).
Shoma A. Chatterji is an Indian film scholar, author and freelance journalist. She has been the recipient of a number of awards including the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 1991 and the National Awards for Best Writing on Cinema for her study of the works of Aparna Sen in the publication, Parama and Other Outsiders: The Cinema of Aparna Sen (2002). Notably, she is the only woman to have won both the national awards. She is the author of several biographies including those on Pramathesh Barua, Ritwik Ghatak and Suchitra Sen.
