Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 July 1909 |
| Died | 7 January 1966(aged 56) Bombay,Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation(s) | Producer and director |
| Notable work |
|
| Spouse | Manobina Roy |
| Children | 4, includingRinki Bhattacharya,Joy Bimal Roy |
| Awards | |
Bimal Roy(12 July 1909 – 7 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such asDo Bigha Zamin,Parineeta,Biraj Bahu,Devdas,Madhumati,Sujata,ParakhandBandini,making him an important director ofHindi cinema.Inspired byItalian neo-realisticcinema, he madeDo Bigha Zaminafter watchingVittorio De Sica'sBicycle Thieves(1948).[1]His work is particularly known for hismise en scènewhich he employed to portrayrealism.[1]He won a number of awards throughout his career, including elevenFilmfare Awards,twoNational Film Awards,and the International Prize of theCannes Film Festival.Madhumatiwon 9Filmfare Awardsin 1958, a record held for 37 years.[citation needed]
Biography
[edit]Bimal Roy was born on 12 July 1909, to aBengaliBaidyafamily in Suapur,Dhaka,which was then part of theEastern Bengal and Assamprovince ofBritish Indiaand is now part ofBangladesh.[2]He produced many movies inBengaliandHindi.
Career
[edit]
Bimal Roy moved toCalcuttaand entered the field of cinema as a camera assistant withNew Theatres Pvt. Ltd.During this time, he assisted directorP.C. Baruaas Publicity Photographer, on the hit 1935 filmDevdas,starringK.L. Saigal.In the 1940s and 1950s Roy was part of the parallel cinema movement in post-war India. He collaborated onAnjangarh(1948), one of the last major films of the New Theatres, however, the Kolkata-based film industry was now on the decline, thus Roy shifted his base to Bombay (now Mumbai), along with his team in 1950, which includedHrishikesh Mukherjee(editor),Nabendu Ghosh(screenwriter),Asit Sen(assistant director),Kamal Bose(cinematographer) and later,Salil Chaudhury(music director), and by 1952 he had restarted the second phase of his career withMaa(1952), forBombay Talkies.[3]He was famous for his romantic-realist melodramas that took on important social issues while still being entertaining. He was a filmmaker of great and in-depth understanding of human strengths and weaknesses. In 1959, he was a member of the jury at the1st Moscow International Film Festival.[4]
He died of cancer on 7 January 1966 at the age of 56. He was survived by four children: daughters Rinki Bhattacharya, Yashodhara Roy and Aparajita Sinha, and his only son, Joy Roy. His eldest daughter,Rinki Bhattacharya,married the directorBasu Bhattacharyaagainst the wishes of both their families. The marriage collapsed within a few years, but resulted in the birth of a son, the actor and screenplay writerAditya Bhattacharya.Rinki Bhattacharya now heads the Bimal Roy Memorial Committee.[5]and his great-granddaughter Drisha Acharya married Karan Deol
Awards
[edit]Bimal Roy has received several awards.
- 1953:Filmfare Award for Best Film–Do Bigha Zamin
- 1953:Filmfare Award for Best Director–Do Bigha Zamin
- 1954: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Parineeta
- 1955: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Biraj Bahu
- 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Film –Madhumati
- 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Madhumati
- 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Film –Sujata
- 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Sujata
- 1960: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Parakh
- 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Film –Bandini
- 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Director –Bandini
- 1953:All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film–Do Bigha Zamin[6]
- 1954:All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film –Biraj Bahu[7]
- 1955:Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi–Devdas[8]
- 1958:President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi–Madhumati[9]
- 1959:All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film–Sujata[10]
- 1963:Best Feature Film in Hindi–Bandini
WonInternational Prize:[11]
Nominated forGrand Prize of the Festival:
Nominated forPalme d'Or:
- 1955forBiraj Bahu
- 1960forSujata
Music
[edit]Bimal Roy usually alternated between music directorsSalil ChowdhuryandS.D. Burman.His films featured beautiful and memorable songs, rendered by all the top playback singers of the day. Some of the notable songs from Roy's films include:
- "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye" fromSujata(1959), sung byTalat Mahmood
- "Chali Radhe Rani" fromParineeta(1953), sung byManna Dey
- "Aa Ri Aa Nindiya" fromDo Bigha Zamin(1953), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung byLata Mangeshkar
- "Ab Aage Teri Marzi" fromDevdas(1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
- "Aan Milo Aan Milo Shyam Sabere" fromDevdas(1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung byManna Dey,Geeta Dutt
- "Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Keh Raha" fromMadhumati(1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar
- "Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Haseen" fromMadhumati(1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung byMukesh
- "Aaja Re Pardesi" fromMadhumati(1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
- "Ghadi Ghadi Mora Dil Dhadake" fromMadhumati(1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung byLata Mangeshkar
- "Zulmi Sang Aankh Ladi" fromMadhumati(1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
- "O Sajana Barkha Bahaar" fromParakh(1960), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
- "Mora Gora Ang Lai Le" fromBandini(1963), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
Legacy
[edit]Bimal Roy's influence was far-reaching, both inIndian cinemaandworld cinema.In Indian cinema, his influence extended to both mainstream commercialHindi cinemaand the emergingParallel Cinema.His filmDo Bigha Zamin(1953) was the first film to successfully straddle art and commercial cinema. It was a commercial and critical success, winning the International Prize at the1954 Cannes Film Festival.As a result, the film's success paved the way for theIndian New Wave.[12][13][14]
In commercial cinema, the most influential film he directed was perhaps[according to whom?]Madhumati(1958), his first and only collaboration withRitwik Ghatak(who wrote the screenplay), and one of the earliest films to deal withreincarnation.It is believed[by whom?]to have been the source of inspiration for many later works dealing with the theme of reincarnation in Indian cinema,Indian television,and perhaps world cinema. It may have been the source of inspiration for the American filmThe Reincarnation of Peter Proud(1975) and the Hindi filmKarz(1980), both of which dealt with reincarnation and have been influential in their respective cultures.[15]Karzin particular was remade several times: as theKannada filmYuga Purusha(1989), theTamil filmEnakkul Oruvan(1984), and more recently theBollywoodfilmKarzzzz(2008).Karzmay have also inspired the American filmChances Are(1989).[15]The most recent film to be directly inspired byMadhumatiis the hit Bollywood filmOm Shanti Om(2007), which led to Roy's daughterRinki Bhattacharyaaccusing the film of plagiarism and threatening legal action against its producers.
Bimal Roy discovered and gave a break to many children, such asAsha Parekh,Sona Mastan Mirza,Baby Farida,& Baby Sonu (Bablani), who would later become quite famous.[16]
Bimal Roy's films continue to be screened at major national and international film festivals in India, Europe and North America. His films are being restored and digitised by theNational Film Archive of India(NFAI) at Pune. In July 2014,Prince of Wales Museum,Mumbai hosted an exhibition;Bimal Roy: Life & Times,organised in collaboration with his children. The exhibits included screening of the films;Madhumati,SujataandBandini,besides film posters, costumes and memorabilia, including an Arriflex camera used to shootDevdasandSujata.[5]
TheBimal Roy Memorial Trophyhas been awarded every year since 1997, by the Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society to honor both experienced artists and other contributors from the Indian film industry as well as new and upcoming outstanding young filmmakers.
A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released byIndia Postto honour him on 8 January 2007.
Filmography
[edit]| Director | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Producer | Notes |
| 1943 | Bengal Famine | English | |
| 1944 | Udayer Pathey | BengaliDirector, Writer and cinematographer | |
| 1945 | Hamrahi | New Theatres | Writer and cinematographer |
| 1948 | Anjangarh | ||
| 1949 | Mantramugdhu | ||
| 1950 | Pehla Aadmi | ||
| 1952 | Maa | ||
| 1953 | Parineeta | Ashok Kumar | Filmfare Award for Best Director |
| 1953 | Do Bigha Zamin | Bimal Roy | Filmfare Award for Best FilmFilmfare Award for Best DirectorThe story was written by Salil Chaudhury |
| 1954 | Biraj Bahu | Hiten Choudhury | Filmfare Award for Best Director |
| 1955 | Naukari | Bimal Roy Productions | |
| 1954 | Baap Beti | ||
| 1955 | Devdas | Self | |
| 1958 | Madhumati | Bimal Roy Productions | Highest-grossing film of 1958. It garnered 9Filmfare Awards,a record held for 37 years.
Its story was written by Rwitwick Ghatak |
| 1958 | Yahudi | Savak B. Vacha | |
| 1959 | Sujata | Bimal Roy | Filmfare Award for Best Director |
| 1960 | Parakh | Self | |
| 1960 | Nader Nimai | Bengali | |
| 1961 | Immortal Stupa | ||
| 1962 | Prem Patra | Self | |
| 1963 | Bandini | Bimal Roy | It won sixFilmfare AwardsincludingFilmfare Award for Best FilmandFilmfare Award for Best Director |
| 1964 | Life and Message of Swami Vivekananda | English onSwami Vivekananda | |
| Documentary | |||
| 1941 | Tins for India | ||
| Producer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1955 | Amanat | Aravind Sen | |
| 1956 | Parivar | Asit Sen | |
| 1957 | Apradhi Kaun | ||
| 1960 | Usne Kaha Tha | Moni Bhattacharjee | |
| 1961 | Kabuliwala | Hemen Gupta | |
| 1961 | Benazir | S. Khalil | |
| 1967 | Gautama the Buddha | Rajbans Khanna | Films Division of India |
| Editor | |||
| 1949 | Mahal | Kamal Amrohi | |
| 1960 | Kalpana | R.K. Rakhan | |
| 1951 | Deedar | Nitin Bose | |
| 1962 | Umeed | ||
| 1963 | Nartaki | ||
| 1963 | Meri Surat Teri Ankhen | R.K. Rakhan | |
| Cinematographer | |||
| 1934 | Chandidas | Nitin Bose | Assistant Cinematographer |
| 1934 | Daku Mansoor | ||
| 1935 | Devdas | Pramathesh Barua | |
| 1936 | Grihadah | ||
| 1936 | Maya | ||
| 1937 | Mukti | ||
| 1938 | Abhagin | Prafulla Roy | |
| 1939 | Bardidi | Amar Mullick | |
| 1940 | Abhinetri | ||
| 1940 | Meenakshi | Modhu Bose | |
Bibliography
[edit]- Rinki Roy Bhattacharya (2009).Bimal Roy: The Man who spoke in pictures.Penguin Books Limited.ISBN978-81-8475-818-4.
- Rinki Roy Bhattacharya (2014).Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes.Rupa Publications.ISBN978-8129129161.
References
[edit]- ^abAnwar Huda (2004).The Art and science of Cinema.Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 100.ISBN81-269-0348-1.
- ^"Bimal Roy".The Asian Age.Bangladesh.Retrieved17 December2022.
- ^"Memories and melodies of a golden era".The Hindu.13 April 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2013.Retrieved29 April2013.
- ^"1st Moscow International Film Festival (1959)".MIFF.Archived fromthe originalon 16 January 2013.Retrieved27 October2012.
- ^abReema Gehi (20 June 2014)."First in Mirror: Enter Roy's world".Mumbai Mirror.Retrieved7 September2014.
- ^"1st National Film Awards"(PDF).Directorate of Film Festivals.Retrieved21 August2011.
- ^"2nd National Film Awards"(PDF).Directorate of Film Festivals.Retrieved23 August2011.
- ^"3rd National Film Awards"(PDF).Directorate of Film Festivals.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 5 November 2013.Retrieved1 September2011.
- ^"6th National Film Awards".International Film Festival of India.Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2012.Retrieved3 September2011.
- ^"7th National Film Awards"(PDF).Directorate of Film Festivals.Retrieved4 September2011.
- ^"Festival de Cannes: Two Acres of Land".festival-cannes.com.Archived fromthe originalon 4 February 2012.Retrieved25 January2009.
- ^Srikanth Srinivasan (4 August 2008)."Do Bigha Zamin: Seeds of the Indian New Wave".Dear Cinema. Archived fromthe originalon 15 January 2010.Retrieved13 April2009.
- ^"Do Bigha Zamin".Filmreference.com.3 August 1980.Retrieved13 November2018.
- ^Trends and genres.Filmreference.com. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^abDoniger, Wendy (2005). "Chapter 6: Reincarnation".The woman who pretended to be who she was: myths of self-imitation.Oxford University Press.pp. 112–136 [135].ISBN0-19-516016-9.
- ^"BIMAL ROY – a daughter remembers".Journal of Indian Cinema.12 July 2020.Retrieved26 October2020.
