Nemai Ghosh, (1914-88)

Bengali and Tamil director/cameraman. Born in Calcutta. Assistant to Bibhuti Das at the ​Aurora Studio (1932); resigned following a trade union dispute. For several years involved with a cine-technicians’ union. Member of the Calcutta Film Society from the outset (1943) and was considered by Ray as his first-choice cameraman for Pather Panchali (1955). Member of the IPTA, acting in its seminal play Nabanna. First film: Chinnamul, a classic of IPTA-inspired socialist realism, admiringly reviewed by Pudovkin in Pravda (1951). Moved to Madras (1951) where he worked as cameraman on Tamil and Kannada films, e.g. ​G.V. Iyer’s Hamsa Geethe (1975). Key member of a Marxist collective, the Kumari Films Co-op, which produced [[Padhai Theriyudu Paar]]. Also made documentaries, e.g. Light and Candle and Mysore University. Vice-President of the Federation of Film Societies for several years and a Naxalite sympathiser in the 70s.

FILMOGRAPHY: 1950: Chinnamul; 1960: Padhai Theriyudu Paar; 1981: Sooravalli

Director

Camera