Tarun Majumdar

Tarun Majumdar (8 January 1931 – 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, author, illustrator, and screenwriter known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received five National Film Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards, and one Anandalok Award. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the country. which earned him a National Award, a BFJA Award and a Filmfare Award. Ganadevata earned him a National Award and a Filmfare Award.

His filmography includes: Balika Badhu (1967), Kuheli (1971), Shriman Prithviraj (1973), Fuleswari (1974), Dadar Kirti (1980), Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985), and Apan Amar Apan (1990).

Personal life

Early life Majumdar was born on 8 January 1931 in Bogra, which was then part of the Bengal Presidency of British India. His father, Birendranath Majumdar, was a freedom fighter from Munsirhat. He studied intermediate from St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College and had his graduation at Scottish Church College, both affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

Marriage Majumdar married actress Sandhya Roy in 1967. While the couple later lived separately, they remained legally married until his death. Yatrik made Kancher Swarga (1962), featuring Dilip Mukherjee as the lead. The name lasted until 1963, after which each director began to be credited separately.

Post-Yatrik In 1965, Majumdar made two films, Ektuku Basa starring Soumitra Chatterjee, and Alor Pipasa starring Basanta Choudhury. Sandhya Roy played the female lead in both. In 1967, he directed Balika Badhu, adapted from a Bengali story written by Bimal Kar, in which a teenage Moushumi Chatterjee made her debut. He directed Shriman Prithviraj in 1973, and remade Balika Badhu in Hindi in 1976.

In 1974, Majumdar directed Fuleswari, starring Sandhya Roy as the titular character. Many Bengali artists like Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukherjee, Aarti Mukherjee, and Anup Ghoshal provided vocals for the film's songs. Years later, Majumdar acknowledged Fuleswari as his favorite film. In 1975, he directed Sansar Simante, based on a screenplay by Rajen Tarafdar, which was itself adapted from a short story by Premendra Mitra. In 1979, Majumdar's film Ganadevata became the first Bengali film to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film was based on the novel of the same name, written by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay.

Mahua Roychoudhury was cast as the female lead in Dadar Kirti (1980), a film based on a short story by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film marked the debut of Tapas Paul, who starred as the protagonist Kedar, who falls in love with Saraswati, portrayed by Mahua Roychoudhury. The film won the Roychoudhury Filmfare Awards East in 1981.

Majumdar went on to cast Sandhya Roy in four consecutive films: Shahar Theke Dure (1981), Meghmukti (1982), Khelar Putul (1982), and Amar Geeti (1984). These two films had lower box office returns compared to his previous works, leading to contemporary media discussion regarding Roy's commercial impact at the time. He then cast Tapas Paul and Debashree Roy in the romantic drama Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985), which achieved box office success. Majumdar cast Paul in another three films, Agaman (1988), Parashmoni (1988), and Apan Amar Apan (1990) alongside Prosenjit Chatterjee and Satabdi Roy, which again achieved box office success.

In 2003, he returned to directing with Alo, a film based on a story written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Rituparna Sengupta played the titular role. Consistent with Majumdar's established style, the soundtrack incorporated Rabindra Sangeet.

In 2006, he directed Bhalobasar Onek Naam, casting Uttam Kumar's grandson Gourab Chatterjee, Hemanta Mukherjee's granddaughter, and Moushumi Chatterjee's daughter Megha as lead actors.

In 2007, he made another feature film, Chander Bari. Rituparna Sengupta again was the main lead. Playback singer Babul Supriyo made his debut in this film opposite Rituparna. Again the soundtrack featured Rabindra Sangeet.

His last full-length feature film, Bhalobashar Bari, was released in 2018. Rituparna Sengupta again played the protagonist in the film.

Majumdar's films frequently adapted classical literature and followed a narrative-driven structure, a style that differed from the experimental approaches of some of his contemporaries. He stated in interviews that a film's commercial performance served as an indicator of its quality.thumb

Literary works Cinemapara Diye, Part 1 & 2 Batil Chitranatya Nakshi Kantha Shapla Shaluker Dinguli Ghorer Baire Ghor

Awards

Filmography

Film TV series 1959 Chaowa Pawa Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Tulsi Chakraborty

1960 Smriti Tuku Thak Suchitra Sen, Asit Baran, Chhabi Biswas 1962 Kancher Swarga Dilip Mukherjee, Anil Chatterjee 1963 Palatak Anup Kumar, Sandhya Roy, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Jahor Roy

Alor Pipasa Pahadi Sanyal, Basanta Choudhury, Sandhya Roy Ektuku Basa Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Jahor Roy 1967 Balika Badhu Moushumi Chatterjee, Partho Mukherjee 1969 Rahgir Biswajit Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Shashikala Movie in Hindi 1971 Nimantran Sandhya Roy, Anup Kumar, Kali Banerjee, Pahari Sanyal. 1971 Kuheli Biswajit Chatterjee, Debashree Roy, Sandhya Roy, Sumita Sanyal 1973 Shriman Prithviraj Ayan Banerjee, Mahua Roychoudhury, Utpal Dutt, Sandhya Roy 1974 Thagini Sandhya Roy, Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay, Rabi Ghosh, Anup Kumar 1974 Fuleswari Sandhya Roy, Samit Bhanja 1974 Jadi Jantem Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Supriya Devi 1975 Sansar Simante Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy 1975 Nagar Darpane Uttam Kumar, Supriya Devi, Haradhan Banerjee Credited as Yatrik (along with Sachin Mukherji and Dilip Mukherji) 1976 Balika Badhu Sachin, Rajni Sharma, Kajri, Asrani, A. K. Hangal Movie in Hindi 1978 Ganadevata Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Sumitra Mukherjee, Madhabi Mukherjee 1980 Dadar Kirti Tapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Sandhya Roy, Anup Kumar 1981 Shahar Theke Dure Sandhya Roy, Samit Bhanja, Bhanu Bandopadhyay 1982 Meghmukti Utpal Dutt, Biswajit Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Debashree Roy 1982 Khelar Putul Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy 1984 Amar Geeti Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Biswajit Chatterjee 1984 Aranya Aamar Documentary feature film 1985 Bhalobasa Bhalobasa Tapas Paul, Debashree Roy, Utpal Dutt 1986 Pathbhola Prosenjit Chatterjee, Tapas Paul, Abhishek Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy 1988 Agaman Sandhya Roy, Debashree Roy, Tapas Paul 1988 Parasmoni Tapas Paul, Satabdi Roy, Santu Mukhopadhyay 1990 Apan Aamar Apan Tapas Paul, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Satabdi Roy 1991 Path O Prasad Utpal Dutt, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy 1991 Sajani Go Sajani Mahasweta Ray, Utpal Dutt

Katha Chhilo Tapas Paul, Mahasweta Ray Akuha katha Uttam Mohanty, Aparajita Mohanty Movie in Odia 2003 Alo Rituparna Sengupta, Abhishek Chatterjee, Bhaswar Chattopadhyay, Soumili Biswas 2004 Rangamatir poth Goutam Halder Short film 2005 O Amar desher Maati Bhaswar Chatterjee, Ayan Banerjee Short film 2005 Bhalobasar Onek Naam Gourab Chatterjee, Megha Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Moushumi Chatterjee, Tapas Paul 2007 Chander Bari Soham Chakraborty, Koel Mallick, Ranjit Mallick, Rituparna Sengupta 2010 Daak diye jai Paran Bandopadhyay Short film 2014 Durgesh Nandini Paran Bandopadhyay, Tapas Paul, Aatish Bhattacharya TV series 2018 Bhalobashar Bari Pratik Sen, Silajit, Rituparna Sengupta, Arjun Chakraborty, Sreela Majumdar 2018 Adhikar Documentary feature film Tarun Majumdar was the recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1990. He won the Lifetime Achievement honor at the West Bengal Film Journalist Association Awards in 2017.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed grief over the death of Tarun Majumdar.