Phani Majumdar

Phani Majumdar
Born	(1911-12-28)28 December 1911 Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India [1]
Died	16 May 1994(1994-05-16) (aged 82) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India [1]
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	film director, screenwriter
Years active	1938–1986

Phani Majumdar was a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema, ^[1] most known for his film Street Singer (1938) starring K.L. Saigal noted for its song, Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye , Meena Kumari classic Aarti (1962) and Oonche Log (1965). He also worked in Singapore, where he notably made Hang Tuah (1955) in Malay, which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. ^[2]

Career

Starting in 1930s, with leading film director P.C. Barua at New Theatres Studio of Calcutta founded by B. N. Sircar, who during this period made classics like Devdas (1935). He moved to Bombay in 1941 and worked with Bombay Talkies studio, he made Tamanna (1942) with Suraiya and Mohabbat (1943) with Shanta Apte and Andolan (1951). He made films in Punjabi, Magadhi (Bhaiya, 1961) and Maithili ( Kanyadaan , 1965). ^[1] His Oonch Log was actor Feroz Khan's first hit and won the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film.

Noted film director-producer Shakti Samanta assisted Majumdar in Tamasha, Baadbaan and Dhobi Doctor at Bombay Talkies before working independently. ^[3]

He was married to Monica Desai, sister of actress, Leela Desai. ^[4]

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Notes
1938	Street Singer	Yes	No	K.L. Saigal, Hindi
1938	Sathi	Yes	No	K. L. Saigal, Bengali version of Street Singer
1943	Mohabbat	Yes	No
1948	Hum Bhi Insaan Hain	Yes	No
1952	Tamasha	Yes	Yes (screenplay)	Dev Anand, Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, Kaushalya
1952	Goonj	Yes	No	Suraiya (Heroine), Suresh(Hero), Producer: H.S Kwatra, Story & Lyrics: D. N. Madhok, Sardul Kwatra
1954	Baadbaan	Yes	Yes (story)
1956	Hang Tuah	Yes	No	Malay language
	Anak-ku Sazali	Yes	No	Malay language
1958	Doktor	Yes	Yes (story)	Malay language
1961	Bhaiyaa	Yes	Yes (story)	Magahi
1962	Aarti	Yes	No	Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar
1965	Kanyadan	Yes	No	Maithili language
	Akashdeep	Yes	No
	Kaajal	No	Yes [5]
	Oonche Log	Yes	Yes	National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film in Hindi [6] [7] Feroz Khan's first hit [8]
1978	Badalte Rishtey	No	Yes
1986	Ek Chadar Maili Si	No	Yes

Note:Films in Hindi-language unless mentioned otherwise.

Awards

National Film Awards

• 1961: All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Children's Film - Savitri ^[9]
• 1965: Second Best Feature Film: Oonch Log ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. "Obituary: Phani Majumdar" . The Independent . 22 June 1994. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
2. Awards IMDb
3. "Shakti Samanta his Aradhana came true". MiD DAY. 11 April 2009.
4. "Gentleman Extraordinaire: Phani Majumdar". thedailyeye.info. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
5. "Kaajal (1965)". The Hindu . 19 November 2010.
6. "13th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
7. "13th National Film Awards (PDF)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals.
8. "Review: Blast from the past: Oonche Log (1965)". The Hindu . 1 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2009.
9. "9th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2011.

External links

• Phani Majumdar at IMDb