Basu Chatterjee

Indian film director (1927–2020)

Basu Chatterjee

Chatterjee in October 2012

Born| (1927-01-10)10 January 1927

Ajmer, Ajmer-Merwara, British India

Died| 4 June 2020(2020-06-04) (aged 93)

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Nationality| Indian
Occupation| Film director
Children| 2 daughters

Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema.Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmakers, such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships.

The exceptions such as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) and Kamla Ki Maut (1989), which delved into social and moral issues. He is best known for his films Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Rajnigandha (1974), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Khatta Meetha, Swami (1977), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Priyatama (1977), Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen (1982),[1] and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986).[2]

Chatterjee directed the Bengali film Hothath Brishti (1998), which featured actors from both Bangladesh and India. The film featured Ferdous Ahmed from Bangladesh, and Priyanka Trivedi and Sreelekha Mitra from West Bengal. Chatterjee continued to cast Ahmed in subsequent Indian-Bengali films, including Chupi Chupi (2001), Tak Jhal Mishti (2002) and Hotath Shedin (2012), another joint production of Bangladesh and India. He wrote the script for the Bangladeshi film Ek Cup Cha, directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul.

## Early life

[edit]

Basu Chatterjee was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, in a Bengali family. His middle class upbringing reflected in his movies that explored areas which were far removed from the glitz and glamour of the blockbusters of the time.[3]

## Career

[edit]

In 1950s, Chatterjee arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai) and started his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for the weekly tabloid Blitz published by Russi Karanjia. He worked there for 18 years before changing career paths to filmmaking, when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam (1966), which later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Eventually, he made his directorial debut with Sara Akash in 1969, which won him the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.[4]

Some of his most critically acclaimed films are Sara Akash (1969), Piya Ka Ghar (1971), Us Paar (1974), Rajnigandha (1974), Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Swami (1977), Khatta Meetha, Priyatama, Chakravyuha (1978 film), Jeena Yahan (1979), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Apne Paraye (1980), Shaukeen and Ek Ruka Hua Faisla.

Other films include Ratnadeep, Safed Jhooth, Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Kamla Ki Maut and Triyacharitra.

He has also directed many Bengali films such as Hothat Brishti, Hochcheta Ki and Hothat Shei Din.

Chatterjee directed the television series Byomkesh Bakshi and Rajani for Doordarshan. He was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival in 1977[5] and a member of the International Film And Television Club of the Asian Academy of Film & Television. A retrospective of Chatterjee's work was held as part of the Kala Ghoda Art Festival Mumbai in February of 2011.

A book on the work of Basu Chatterji, titled Basu Chatterji: And Middle of the road cinema, written by author and music historian Anirudha Bhattacharjee, has been published by Penguin Random House in 2023.

## Awards

[edit]

* 2007: IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award
* 1992: National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare \- Durga
* 1991: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Kamla Ki Maut
* 1980: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie – Jeena Yahan
* 1978: National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment \- Swami
* 1978: Filmfare Best Director Award – Swami
* 1977: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award \- Chitchor Nominee
* 1976: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Chhoti Si Baat
* 1975: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie – Rajnigandha
* 1972: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Sara Akash[6]

## Filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Credited as  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Director  | Writer
1969  | Sara Akash | Yes | Yes  |  | [7]
1971  | Piya Ka Ghar | Yes |  | Tarachand Barjatya |
1974  | Rajnigandha | Yes  | Yes  | Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal  |
Us Paar | Yes  | Yes | Yes  |
1976  | Chitchor | Yes |  | Tarachand Barjatya |
Chhoti Si Baat | Yes |  | B. R. Chopra |
1977  | Safed Jhooth | Yes  | Yes | Ashim Kumar  |
Swami | Yes  |  | Jaya Chakravarthy |
Priyatama | Yes  |  | T C Dewan |
1978  | Khatta Meetha | Yes  | Yes | Gul Anand, Romu Sippy  |
Dillagi | Yes  | Yes | Bikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh  |
Tumhare Liye | Yes  | Yes | Raj Tilak  |
1979  | Do Ladke Dono Kadke | Yes  |  | Jayant Mukherjee, Hemant Kumar |
Manzil | Yes  |  |  |
Chakravyuha | Yes  |  |  |
Prem Vivah | Yes  |  |  |
Ratnadeep | Yes  |  |  |
Baton Baton Mein | Yes  |  | Yes |
1980  | Man Pasand | Yes  |  | Amit Khanna |
Apne Paraye | Yes  |  | Mushir Alam |
1981  | Jeena Yahan | Yes  |  | N.P. Ali |
1982  | Hamari Bahu Alka | Yes  | Yes | Shyamsunder Seksaria  |
Shaukeen | Yes  | Yes | Senmit Movie Visuals  |
1983  | Pasand Apni Apni | Yes  |  | Yes |
1984  | Lakhon Ki Baat | Yes  | Yes  | Yes |
1986  | Ek Ruka Hua Faisla | Yes  |  | Yes  |
Kirayadar | Yes  |  | B. R. Chopra |
Chameli Ki Shaadi | Yes  | Yes | Ramesh Ningoo, Sushil Gaur  |
Sheesha | Yes  |  | Sattee Shourie  |
1989  | Kamla Ki Maut | Yes  | Yes | NFDC |
1990  | Hamari Shadi | Yes  | Yes  |  |
1997  | Triyacharittar | Yes  |  |  |
Gudgudee | Yes  |  | Mahesh Bhatt |
1998  | Hothat Brishti | Yes  |  | Bangladesh and India joint production  | Bengali language film
2001  | Chupi Chupi | Yes  |  |
2002  | Tak Jhal Mishti | Yes  |  |
2007  | Prateeksha | Yes  |  |  |
Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetha | Yes  |  |  |
2008  | Hochheta Ki | Yes  |  |  | Bengali language film
2011  | Trishanku | Yes  |  |

### Dialogue writer

[edit]

Dialogue writer

Year | Film | Producer | Notes
1972  | Piya Ka Ghar | Tarachand Barjatya |
1974  | Rajnigandha | Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal  |
1978  | Khatta Meetha | Gul Anand, Romu Sippy  |
Dillagi | Bikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh  |
1982  | Hamari Bahu Alka | Shyamsunder Seksaria  |
1984  | Lakhon Ki Baat | Basu Chatterjee  |

### Screenplay

[edit]

Screenplay

Year | Film | Producer | Notes
1969  | Sara Akash | Basu Chatterjee  |
1974  | Rajnigandha | Suresh Jindal, Kamal Saigal  |
Us Paar | Self  |
1977  | Safed Jhooth | Ashim Kumar  |
1978  | Khatta Meetha | Gul Anand, Romu Sippy  |
Dillagi | Bikram Singh Dehal, Kanwar Ajit Singh  |
1982  | Hamari Bahu Alka | Shyamsunder Seksaria  |
1984  | Lakhon Ki Baat | Basu Chatterjee  |

### Producer

[edit]

Producer

Year | Film | Director | Notes
1979  | Baton Baton Mein | Self  |
1983  | Pasand Apni Apni |
1984  | Lakhon Ki Baat | Basu Chatterjee  |
1986  | Ek Ruka Hua Faisla | Self  | TV film

### Director (TV series)

[edit]

Director TV series or film

Year | Show | Channel | Notes
1985  | Rajani | DD National |
Darpan |
1986  | Ek Ruka Hua Faisla | (TV film)
1988  | Kakaji Kahin |
1990-91  | Bheem Bhavani |
1993 & 1997  | Byomkesh Bakshi | 2 seasons 32 episodes
2005  | Ek Prem Katha | 26 episodes

### Assistant director

[edit]

Assistant director

Year | Film | Producer | Notes
1966  | Teesri Kasam | Shailendra | Directed by Basu Bhattacharya
1968  | Saraswatichandra | Vivek  | Directed by Govind Saraiya

## Death

[edit]

Chatterjee died due to an age-related illness at his house in Mumbai on 4 June 2020. He was 93 years old.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Classics should be taken on, but correctly: Basu Chatterjee". The Times of India. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
2. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and others remember Basu Chatterjee". 4 June 2020.
3. ^ "Basu Chatterjee Obituary". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020.
4. ^ "Director Profile: Basu Chatterjee". Cinemas of India, NFDC. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
5. ^ "10th Moscow International Film Festival (1977)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
6. ^ "Best Screenplay Award". Filmfare Award Official Listings, Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
7. ^ Asha Kasbekar (2006). Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, And Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. pp. 198–. ISBN 978-1-85109-636-7. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
8. ^ "Basu Chatterjee: Bollywood's 'chronicler of simple romances' dies at 93". BBC News. 4 June 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Basu Chatterjee at IMDb
* Official website
* Basu Chatterji: And middle of the road cinema

* v
* t
* e

Filmfare Award for Best Director

1954–1970|

* Bimal Roy (1954)
* Bimal Roy (1955)
* Bimal Roy (1956)
* V. Shantaram (1957)
* Mehboob Khan (1958)
* Bimal Roy (1959)
* Bimal Roy (1960)
* Bimal Roy (1961)
* B. R. Chopra (1962)
* Abrar Alvi (1963)
* Bimal Roy (1964)
* Raj Kapoor (1965)
* Yash Chopra (1966)
* Vijay Anand (1967)
* Manoj Kumar (1968)
* Ramanand Sagar (1969)
* Yash Chopra (1970)

1971–1990|

* Asit Sen (1971)
* Raj Kapoor (1972)
* Sohanlal Kanwar (1973)
* Yash Chopra (1974)
* Manoj Kumar (1975)
* Yash Chopra (1976)
* Gulzar (1977)
* Basu Chatterjee (1978)
* Satyajit Ray (1979)
* Shyam Benegal (1980)
* Govind Nihalani (1981)
* Muzaffar Ali (1982)
* Raj Kapoor (1983)
* Govind Nihalani (1984)
* Sai Paranjpye (1985)
* Raj Kapoor (1986)
* Mansoor Khan (1989)
* Vidhu Vinod Chopra (1990)

1991–2010|

* Rajkumar Santoshi (1991)
* Subhash Ghai (1992)
* Mukul S. Anand (1993)
* Shekhar Kapur (1994)
* Sooraj Barjatya (1995)
* Aditya Chopra (1996)
* Rajkumar Santoshi (1997)
* J. P. Dutta (1998)
* Karan Johar (1999)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2000)
* Rakesh Roshan (2001)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2002)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2003)
* Rakesh Roshan (2004)
* Kunal Kohli (2005)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2006)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2007)
* Aamir Khan (2008)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2010)

2011-present|

* Karan Johar (2011)
* Zoya Akhtar (2012)
* Sujoy Ghosh (2013)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2014)
* Vikas Bahl (2015)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2016)
* Nitesh Tiwari (2017)
* Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (2018)
* Meghna Gulzar (2019)
* Zoya Akhtar (2020)
* Om Raut (2021)
* Vishnuvardhan (2022)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2023)
* Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay

1969–1980|

* Nabendu Ghosh (1969)
* Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1970)
* Vijay Anand (1971)
* Basu Chatterjee (1972)
* Arvind Mukherjee (1973)
* Salim-Javed (1974)
* Shama Zaidi & Kaifi Azmi (1975)
* Salim-Javed (1976)
* Basu Chatterjee (1977)
* Lekh Tandon, Vrajendra Kaur & Madhusudan Kalekar (1978)
* Kamleshwar (1979)
* Girish Karnad & B. V. Karanth (1980)

1981–2000|

* Vijay Tendulkar (1981)
* K. Balachander (1982)
* Salim-Javed (1983)
* Vijay Tendulkar (1984)
* Mrinal Sen (1985)
* Goutam Ghose & Partha Banerjee (1986)
* no award (1987)
* no award (1988)
* Nasir Hussain (1989)
* Shiv Kumar Subramaniam (1990)
* Basu Chatterjee (1991)
* Tapan Sinha (1992)
* Aziz Mirza & Manoj Lalwani (1993)
* Robin Bhatt, Javed Siddiqui & Akash Khurana (1994)
* Sooraj Barjatya (1995)
* Aditya Chopra (1996)
* Rajkumar Santoshi (1997)
* Subhash Ghai (1998)
* Karan Johar (1999)
* John Matthew Matthan (2000)

2001–present|

* Honey Irani & Ravi Kapoor (2001)
* Farhan Akhtar (2002)
* Mani Ratnam (2003)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Lajan Joseph (2004)
* Mani Ratnam (2005)
* Nina Arora & Manoj Tyagi (2006)
* Jaideep Sahni (2007)
* Anurag Basu (2008)
* Yogendra Vinayak Joshi & Upendra Sidhaye (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Abhijat Joshi (2010)
* Anurag Kashyap & Vikramaditya Motwane (2011)
* Akshat Verma (2012)
* Sanjay Chauhan & Tigmanshu Dhulia (2013)
* Chetan Bhagat, Abhishek Kapoor, Supratik Sen & Pubali Chaudhari (2014)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi (2015)
* Juhi Chaturvedi (2016)
* Shakun Batra & Ayesha Devitre (2017)
* Shubhashish Bhutiani (2018)
* Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, Yogesh Chandekar & Hemanth M. Rao (2019)
* Zoya Akhtar & Reema Kagti (2020)
* Rohena Gera (2021)

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