Premendra Mitra (1904-88)
Bengali director and writer born in Benares, UP. Major short story writer, poet and novelist of Kallol era, associated with journal Kalikalam (Est: 1926). One of the main Bengali literary figures to move to film, first as scenarist, then as director (others were Sailajananda Mukherjee and Dinesh Ranjan Das). Studied briefly at Shantiniketan and later at Dhaka. Worked as journalist on Banglar Katha; later edited the children’s journal, Rangmashal (1933), and worked on Nabashakti (1936). First major novel, Pank (Mud, 1924), published by journal Kallol in 1926 and criticised by Rabindranath Tagore for obscenity, was an important event in articulating the journal’s anti-romantic stance. Wrote c.150 books, including novels, essay collections, short stories and poems. Entered film as scenarist, writing the dialogue for Charu Roy’s Graher Pher (1936). Best-known work for Dhiren Ganguly, Niren Lahiri and Sushil Majumdar. Considered his film scripts sentimental and not representative of his best writing, and later disowned his cinema entirely. His own films, introducing a sentimentalised socialist realism to the traditional social, combined aspects of pre-WW2 Bengali modernist fiction, IPTA influences (Moyla Kagaj) and the post-WW2 assimilation of melodramatic Italian neo-realism. Wrote all his own films; provided scripts and at times dialogues and lyrics for e.g. Ganguly’s Ahuti (1941) and Daabi (1943), Sushil Majumdar’s Rikta (1939), Pratishodh (1941), Avayer Biye (1942), Jogajog (1943) and Digbhranta (1950), Phani Burma’s Byabadhan (1940) and Debaki Bose’s Sagar Sangamey (1959). Also dialogues for Prafulla Roy’s Nari (1942) lyrics for Jyotish Bannerjee’s Milan (1942). Many of his stories have been filmed, e.g. Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar (1983). An English anthology of short stories was published in 1990.
FILMOGRAPHY: 1943: Samadhan; 1944: Bideshini; 1945: Path Bendhe Dilo; Raj Lakshmi; 1947: Natun Khabar; 1948: Kalo Chhaya; 1949: Kuasha; 1950: Kankantala Light Railway; 1951: Setu; 1952: Hanabari; 1953: Dui Beyai; 1954: Moyla Kagaj; 1955: Dakinir Char; 1960: Chhupi Chhupi Ashey.