Sudipto Sen

Sudipto Sen is an Indian propaganda film director known for his work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He directed various films and short films as Lucknow Times, The Last Monk, The Kerala Story, and Bastar: The Naxal Story. Sen also established Sipping Tea Cinemas, which serves as the production banner for many of his films.

Sen received the National Film Award for best direction for his film The Kerala Story.

Early life and education Sudipto Sen was born in a Sen family in Siliguri, West Bengal. He has a bachelor's in physics and a master's in Applied Psychology from University of Calcutta.

Career Early work Sen began his career directing documentaries in the late 1990s. His early work includes The Other Wealth (1997), described as an experimental short documentary. During this period, he also produced several development-focused films, reportedly collaborating with institutions like the World Bank.

Feature films Sen made his feature film debut with The Last Monk (2006), which was screened at international festivals such as Cannes, Rotterdam, Raindance, and Singapore. This was followed by Akhnoor (2009), an Indo-French co-production that received awards at the Golden Gate Film Festival, Brussels, and San Francisco.

His later feature works include Gurujana (2022), a biographical film on 15th-century Assamese philosopher Srimanta Sankardeva, which was officially selected for the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Recent work and impact In 2023, Sen directed The Kerala Story, a film based on alleged cases of religious conversion and terrorism. It generated widespread public debate and commercial success, reportedly grossing over ₹242 crore domestically—making it one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of the year. The film also received heavy criticism for its screenplay, cast performances, its failure to maintain factual accuracy and was characterised as an propaganda film.

In 2024, he released Bastar: The Naxal Story, which dealt with the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh and received attention for its depiction of internal conflict in India. Yet, the film received negative reviews and turned out to be a box office bomb.

Filmography

As Director Year Title Ref(s) 2006 The Last Monk 2011 Amrit Kumbh 2015 Lucknow Times 2022 Gurujana 2023 The Kerala Story 2024 Bastar: The Naxal Story TBA Saharasri

As Producer Year Title Ref(s) 2026 Charak: Fair of Faith

Projects in development Chandni Bar Basera

As jury member International Art Culture and Cinema Festival (IACCF) 2021 IFFI 2022

Awards

Year Award Category Work Result Ref 2025 National Film Award Best Director The Kerala Story