Buddhadeb Dasgupta

Buddhadeb Dasgupta (Bengali: বুদ্ধদেব দাশগুপ্ত Buddhodeb Dashgupto) (born 1944) is a poet and prominent contemporary Indian filmmaker, most known for films like Bagh Bahadur, Tahader Katha, Charachar and Uttara. Five of his films have won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, Bagh Bahadur (1989), Charachar (1993), Lal Darja (1997), Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2002) and Kaalpurush (2008), while Dooratwa (1978) and Tahader Katha (1993) have won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. As a director, he has won National Film Award for Best Direction twice, for Uttara (2000) and Swapner Din (2005). Over the years he has published several works of poetry including Govir Araley, Coffin Kimba Suitcase, Himjog, Chhaata Kahini, Roboter Gaan, Sreshtha Kabita, and Bhomboler Ascharya Kahini O Ananya Kabita.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta was born in a Vaidya family in 1944 in Anara near Puruliya in Southern West Bengal, and was third of nine siblings. His father Tarkanta Dasgupta was a doctor with the Indian Railway, thus he spent early part of childhood travelling. It was only at the age of twelve that he was sent to Calcutta to study at Dinabandhu School, Howrah. Post-independence his father was transferred first to Kharagpur in West Midnapore district and to Manendragarh (now in Chhattisgarh).

He studied economics at the prestigious Scottish Church College and at the University of Calcutta.

Buddhadeb started his career as an economics teacher, at the Shyamsundar College of the University of Burdwan followed by City College, Calcutta. In 1976, when disenchanted by the gap he perceived between the economic theory he taught and the socio-political reality, he took to film making. Meanwhile, his membership with the Calcutta Film Society, where he first started going in his senior high school along with his uncle, exposed him to the works of directors like Charlie Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. This, in turn, inspired him take film making as a mode of expression. He started his film career with a 10-minute documentary in 1968, The Continent of Love; eventually he made his first full-length feature film, Dooratwa (Distance) in 1978.

His lyricism has been extended to cinema as well. During the early stages of his film career, Dasgupta made films inspired by Satyajit Ray's realistic films and later moved on to other forms. Some of his most acclaimed films are Bagh Bahadur, Tahader Katha, Charachar and Uttara.

Feature films

• Samayer Kache (1968) (short)
• Dooratwa (1978) (Distance)
• Neem Annapurna (1979) (Bitter Morsel)
• Grihajuddha (1982) (The Civil War)
• Andhi Gali (1984) (Blind Alley, Hindi)
• Phera (1988) (The Return)
• Bagh Bahadur (1989) (The Tiger Man)
• Tahader Katha (1992) (Their Story)
• Charachar (1993) (Shelter of the Wings)
• Lal Darja (1997) (The Red Door)
• Uttara (2000) (The Wrestlers)
• Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2002) (A Tale of a Naughty Girl)
• Swapner Din (2004) (Chased by Dreams)
• Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala (2007) (The Voyeurs)
• Kaalpurush (2008) (Memories in the Mist)
• Janala (2009) (The Window)
• Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa (2013) (Sniffer, Hindi)
• Tope (2016)

Documentary and TV work

• The Continent of Love (1968)
• Dholer Raja Khirode Natta (1973)
• Fishermen of Sundarban (1974)
• Saratchandra (1975)
• Rhythm of Steel (1981)
• Indian Science Marches Ahead (1984)
• Vigyan O Tar Avishkar (1980)
• Story of Glass (1985)
• India on the Move (1985)
• Ceramics (1986)
• Aranyak (1996)
• Contemporary Indian Sculpture (1987)
• History of Indian Jute (1990)

• Filmography The New York Times.
• "Sniffer (Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa)". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-05. 

• Buddhadeb Dasgupta was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the Spain International Film Festival in Madrid on 27 May 2008.
• Golden Athena Award at the Athens International Film Festival in 2007
• National Film Award
  • Best Film
    • 1989: Bagh Bahadur
    • 1993: Charachar
    • 1997: Lal Darja
    • 2002: Mondo Meyer Upakhyan
    • 2008: Kaalpurush
  • Best Direction
    • 2000: Uttara
    • 2005: Swapner Din
  • Best Screenplay
    • 1987: Phera
  • Best Feature Film in Bengali
    • 1978: Dooratwa
    • 1987: Phera
    • 1993: Tahader Katha
  • Best Arts/Cultural Film
    • 1998: A Painter of Eloquent Silence: Ganesh Pyne
• Venice Film Festival
  • 1982: FIPRESCI award: Grihajuddha
  • 2000: Silver Lion for Best Director: Uttara
  • 1982: Golden Lion nomination: Grihajuddha
  • 2000: Golden Lion nomination: Uttara
• Berlin International Film Festival
  • 1988: Golden Bear nomination: Phera
  • 1994: Golden Bear nomination: Charachar
• Locarno Film Festival
  • Critic’s Award: Dooratwa
  • Special Jury Award: Neem Annapurna
• Asia Pacific Film Festival
  • Best Film: Janala
• Karlovy Vary Film Festival
  • Special Jury Award: Neem Annapurna
• Damascus International Film Festival
  • Golden Prize: Neem Annapurna
• Bangkok International Film Festival
  • Best Asian Film Award (2003): Mondo Meyer Upakhyan

• Merchant of Dreams: Buddhadeb Dasgupta gets lifetime achievement award at the Spain International Film Festival The Tribune, 31 May 2008.
• "46th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 
• "Berlinale: 1988 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
• "Berlinale: 1994 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 

His youngest daughter, Alokananda Dasgupta, is a trained classical pianist, composed the background score for his 2013 film, Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa.