THE HISTORY OF BENGALI CINEMA

• The first seeds of the Bengali film industry was sown by Hiralal Sen. He started
his own Bioscope company, which became widely famous as the “Royal Bioscope
Company” .
• After Sen’s successful revamping up of the Bengali film Industry, It was Dhirendra
Nath Ganguly who established the Indo British Film Company in 1918.
• This became a stepping stone to success for the Bengali film industry as it was
the first Bengali owned production company.
• The first Bengali Feature film, which was produced in 1919 called as
Billwamangal.
• The 'Parallel Cinema movement of Indian cinema began in the Bengali film
industry during the 1950s
• Bengali films since then have traversed a long way in history with stalwarts like
Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha etc.
 satyajit ray
• The biggest event in Indian cinema was the release of Pather
Panchali in 1955,a film directed by Satyajit Ray.
• It won "The Best Human Document" award.
• It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1956 Cannes
Film Festival.
• Numerous awards were bestowed on Ray throughout his
lifetime, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government
of India.
• In 1982 he received an honorary "Hommage à Satyajit Ray"
award at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been
awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford University

• He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and the

Legion of Honour by the President of France in 1987.

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Ray

an honorary Oscar in 1992 for Lifetime Achievement.
 RITWIK GHATAK :
• An artist who exerted a profound influence on the
modern Indian cinema but who was critically recognized
abroad only after his untimely death in 1975
• He is famous for films like ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’(1961),’
Komal Gandhar’, ‘Subarnarekha’ (1962).
• Through his films and his short tenure at the Film
Institute in Pune, Ghatak influenced a generation of
filmmakers including Ketan Mehta, and Adoor
Gopalakrishnan - names that today are synonymous
with the Indian art film.

UTTAM KUMAR :
• Uttam Kumar is the most popular hero in Bengali films.
• Kumar, who started his career as an extra, acted over
200 films, majority of which were hits.
• He paired with All-time Great Bengali heroine Suchitra
Sen to enthral the audience for nearly two decades since
late 1950s.
MRINAL SEN:
• His film, Bhuvan Shome (Mr. Shome) launched him
as a major filmmaker, both nationally and
internationally.
• Bhuvan Shome also initiated the “New Cinema”
film movement in India.
• He received the Padma Bhushan, and in 2005 he
was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the
highest honor given to an Indian filmmaker, by the
Government of India.
• He was also an honorary Member of the Indian
Parliament from 1998 to 2003.
• The French government awarded him the
Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the
highest honor conferred by the country.

TAPAN SINHA:
• Tapan Sinha's first film Ankush was based on
Narayan Gangopadhyay's story 'Sainik'.
• In 1957, his film 'Kabuliwala' was shown in Berlin
Film festival.
• He was awarded the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke
award.
• His films were shown in different film festivals all
over the world.
 APARNA SEN:
• Her first film appearance happened in Satyajit
Ray's Teen Kanya .
• In 1981, Aparna made her debut as a film
director with '36 Chowringhee Lane‘. She won
the 1982 national award for best director for that
film.
• Her film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) won a National
Film Award for Sen's direction, and an acting
award for her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma.
• In 1986, the then-President of India bestowed
the Padma Shri to Sen.
RITUPARNO GHOSH:
• His second movie Unishe April (19 April) won
the 1995 National Film Award in India for best
film.
• Since then, Ghosh has directed Dahan,Chokher
Bali, Bariwali, Antarmahal,Shob charitro
kalpanik, Raincoat (in Hindi),The Last
Lear(English).
RITUPARNO’S AWARD
WINNING FILMS:

– 1995 - National Film Award for Best

Feature Film - Unishe April
– 2001 - National Film Award for Best
Direction – Utsab
– 2003 - National Film Award for Best
Feature Film in Bengali - Shubho
Mahurat
– 2004 - National Film Award for Best
Feature Film in Bengali - Chokher
BalI
– 2005 - National Film Award for Best
Feature Film in Hindi - Raincoat
– 2008 - National Film Award for Best
Feature Film in English - The Last
Lear
– 2010 - National Film Award for Best
Feature Film:Shob charitro Kalponik