Basu Chatterjee (1930 - )
HUMANITIES INSTITUTE Stuart Blackburn, Ph.D. BASU CHATTERJEE (1930 - ) LIFE Basu Chatterjee came from a middle-class family in Rajasthan, where his father worked for the railway department. While studying in Ajmer, he went to the cinema and fell in love with films. After graduating, he went to Bombay and worked there as a cartoonist and illustrator for the weekly magazine Blitz, while at the same time continuing to watch films. After a long 18 years on the magazine, he got a job as assistant director in 1966. In 1969, he directed The Whole Sky (Sara Akash), which won many awards and is still often ranked in the top fifty Indian films of all time. Over the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became one of the most popular directors in Indian cinema, primarily by making films about the lives of ordinary people. He often focused on romance and marriage, always with a light touch but raising the level of the rom-com to new levels in India. Chatterjee also had a successful career directing shows for television. He two daughters, one of whom, Rupali Guha, is also a film director. ACHIEVEMENTS Basu Chatterjee won many prizes at the National Film Awards ceremony in New Delhi, including Best Director for Swami in 1978, Best Movie for Tuberose (Rajnigandha) in 1975, and Best Screenplay for The Whole Sky (Sara Akash) in 1972 and A Small Matter (Chhoti Si Baat) in 1976. FEATURE FILMS (as director) 1969 The Whole Sky (Sara Akash) 1972 My Beloved’s House (Piya ka Ghar) 1974 Tuberrose (Rajnigandha) 1974 Beyond (Us Paar ) 1976 Heart Stealer (Chitchor ) 1976 A
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