Tarun Majumdar (b. 1932)

Bengali director born in Bogra, now Bangladesh. Moved to Calcutta in 1946. Trained as a scientist. Assistant director at Rupasree Studio (1952-9), then made advertising films. Début with Kanan Devi’s film unit. Formed the Yatrik Film collective with Dilip Mukherjee and Sachin Mukherjee (1959-63, including his first four films). His Palatak, credited to Yatrik and produced by V. Shantaram, marked the comedian Anup Kumar’s change to a heroic image. The film was remade in Hindi as Rahgir. With his best-known film, the romantic musical Balika Bodhu, revitalised the genre of the rustic lyrical melodrama assisted by Hemanta Mukherjee’s music and one song hit originally from D.L. Roy. Made some 70s hits such as Nimantran, Phuleshwari and a Hindi remake of Balika Bodhu, causing a renewed 80s interest in the theme of the country-city divide as representing a conflict of morality, with Dadar Kirti. It has, however, proved unsuccessful with later films, e.g. Parasmoni, Agaman et al. Changed genre for the Rajen Tarafdar-scripted Sansar Simantey. One of the last commercial Bengali directors to trace his ancestry to Debaki Bose, P.C. Barua, Bimal Roy and 50s art-house cinema (cf. Tapan Sinha) rooted in popular Bengali literature: e.g. Ganadevata, based on a Tarashankar Bannerjee novel. Explicitly refers to this tradition in the opening song of Phuleshwari, contrasting his simpler populism with ‘Godard and Satyajit Ray’.

FILMOGRAPHY: 1959: Chaowa-Pawa; 1960: Smriti Tuku Thak; 1962: Kancher Swarga; 1963: Palatak; 1965: Alor Pipasa; Ek Tuku Basa; 1967: Balika Bodhu; 1969: Rahgir; 1971: Nimantran; 1972: Shriman Prithviraj; 1974: Phuleshwari; Thagini; 1975: Sansar Simantey; 1976: Balika Badhu; 1978: Ganadevata; 1979: Shahar Theke Dooray; 1980: Dadar Kirti; 1981: Meghmukti; Khelar Putul; 1983: Amar Geeti; 1985: Bhalobasha Bhalobasha; Aranya Amar (Doc); 1986: Pathbhola; 1988: Parasmoni; Agaman; 1990: Apon Amar Apon; 1991: Path-o-Prasad; Sajani Go Sajani; 1994: Kothachilo; Akuha Katha.

Director