Tarun Majumdar (8 January 1931 – 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, author, illustrator, and screenwriter known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received five National Film Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards, and one Anandalok Award. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the country. The National Film Archive of India has restored and digitized several of his works, including Nimantran (1971), which earned him a National Award, a BFJA Award and a Filmfare Award. Ganadevata (1978) earned him a National Award and a Filmfare Award.
His filmography includes: Balika Badhu (1967), Kuheli (1971), Shriman Prithviraj (1973), Fuleswari (1974), Dadar Kirti (1980), Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985), and Apan Amar Apan (1990).
Personal life
Early life Majumdar was born on 8 January 1931 in Bogra, which was then part of the Bengal Presidency of British India. His father, Birendranath Majumdar, was a freedom fighter from Munsirhat. He studied intermediate from St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College and had his graduation at Scottish Church College, both affiliated with the University of Calcutta.
Marriage Majumdar married actress Sandhya Roy in 1967. While the couple later lived separately, they remained legally married until his death.
Death On 4 July 2022, at the age of 91, Majumdar died from a heart attack at a hospital in Kolkata. He suffered a chest infection, and kidney and heart ailments prior to his death. Majumdar donated his body for promotion of medical education to the Anatomy Department of IPGMER and SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.
Career
Yatrik Majumdar started his career as a poster illustrator and film technician. His early films were credited to Yatrik (phonetically Jatrik in Bengali), the shared screen name of directors Tarun Majumdar, Sachin Mukherji, and Dilip Mukherji. As Yatrik, their first venture was Chaowa Paowa (1959) starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Yatrik made Kancher Swarga (1962), featuring Dilip Mukherjee as the lead. The name lasted until 1963, after which each director began to be credited separately.
Post-Yatrik In 1965, Majumdar made two films, Ektuku Basa starring Soumitra Chatterjee, and Alor Pipasa starring Basanta Choudhury. Sandhya Roy played the female lead in both. In 1967, he directed Balika Badhu, adapted from a Bengali story written by Bimal Kar, in which a teenage Moushumi Chatterjee made her debut. He directed Shriman Prithviraj in 1973, and remade Balika Badhu in Hindi in 1976.
In 1974, Majumdar directed Fuleswari, starring Sandhya Roy as the titular character. Many Bengali artists like Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukherjee, Aarti Mukherjee, and Anup Ghoshal provided vocals for the film's songs. Years later, Majumdar acknowledged Fuleswari as his favorite film. In 1975, he directed Sansar Simante, based on a screenplay by Rajen Tarafdar, which was itself adapted from a short story by Premendra Mitra. In 1979, Majumdar's film Ganadevata became the first Bengali film to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film was based on the novel of the same name, written by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay.
Mahua Roychoudhury was cast as the female lead in Dadar Kirti (1980), a film based on a short story by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film marked the debut of Tapas Paul, who starred as the protagonist Kedar, who falls in love with Saraswati, portrayed by Mahua Roychoudhury. The film won the Roychoudhury Filmfare Awards East in 1981.
Majumdar went on to cast Sandhya Roy in four consecutive films: Shahar Theke Dure (1981), Meghmukti (1982), Khelar Putul (1982), and Amar Geeti (1984). These two films had lower box office returns compared to his previous works, leading to contemporary media discussion regarding Roy's commercial impact at the time. He then cast Tapas Paul and Debashree Roy in the romantic drama Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985), which achieved box office success. Majumdar cast Paul in another three films, Agaman (1988), Parashmoni (1988), and Apan Amar Apan (1990) alongside Prosenjit Chatterjee and Satabdi Roy, which again achieved box office success.
In 2003, he returned to directing with Alo, a film based on a story written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Rituparna Sengupta played the titular role. Consistent with Majumdar's established style, the soundtrack incorporated Rabindra Sangeet.
In 2006, he directed Bhalobasar Onek Naam, casting Uttam Kumar's grandson Gourab Chatterjee, Hemanta Mukherjee's granddaughter, and Moushumi Chatterjee's daughter Megha as lead actors.
In 2007, he made another feature film, Chander Bari. Rituparna Sengupta again was the main lead. Playback singer Babul Supriyo made his debut in this film opposite Rituparna. Again the soundtrack featured Rabindra Sangeet.
His last full-length feature film, Bhalobashar Bari, was released in 2018. Rituparna Sengupta again played the protagonist in the film.
Majumdar's films frequently adapted classical literature and followed a narrative-driven structure, a style that differed from the experimental approaches of some of his contemporaries. He stated in interviews that a film's commercial performance served as an indicator of its quality.
Literary works Cinemapara Diye, Part 1 & 2 Batil Chitranatya Nakshi Kantha Shapla Shaluker Dinguli Ghorer Baire Ghor
Awards Award Year Category Work Result Padma Shri 1990Contribution to Indian cinema National Award 1963Best Feature Film in Bengali Kancher Swargo 1972 Nimantran 1979 Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Ganadevata 1984 National Film Award for Best Scientific Film Aranya Aamar 2004 Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Alo BFJA Award 1972 Best Director Nimantran 1974Best ScreenplayBanpalashir Padabali 1976 Best Director Sansar Simanthey 1989Best LyricistParashmoni2004Most Outstanding Work of the YearAlo 2007 Best Indian Films Bhalobasar Onek Naam 2017Lifetime AchievementFilmfare Awards East 1967 Best Film Balika Bandhu 1972 Best Film Nimantran 1976Best FilmSansar Simante1980Best FilmGanadevata 2021Lifetime Achievement Anandalok Puraskar 2004 Best Film Alo International Film Festival of India 2022 Special Screening Nimantran Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival 2018 Special Screening Nimantran 2018 Special Screening Alo Sydney Film Festival 2016 Special Screening Chander Bari Kalakar Award2018Lifetime Achievement
Filmography Year Title Cast Note FilmTV series 1959Chaowa PawaUttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Tulsi ChakrabortyCredited as Yatrik (along with Sachin Mukherji and Dilip Mukherji)1960Smriti Tuku ThakSuchitra Sen, Asit Baran, Chhabi Biswas1962Kancher SwargaDilip Mukherjee, Anil Chatterjee1963PalatakAnup Kumar, Sandhya Roy, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Jahor Roy1965Alor PipasaPahadi Sanyal, Basanta Choudhury, Sandhya RoyEktuku BasaSoumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Jahor Roy1967Balika BadhuMoushumi Chatterjee, Partho Mukherjee1969RahgirBiswajit Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, ShashikalaMovie in Hindi1971NimantranSandhya Roy, Anup Kumar, Kali Banerjee, Pahari Sanyal.1971KuheliBiswajit Chatterjee, Debashree Roy, Sandhya Roy, Sumita Sanyal1973Shriman PrithvirajAyan Banerjee, Mahua Roychoudhury, Utpal Dutt, Sandhya Roy1974ThaginiSandhya Roy, Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay, Rabi Ghosh, Anup Kumar1974FuleswariSandhya Roy, Samit Bhanja1974Jadi JantemUttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Supriya Devi1975Sansar SimanteSoumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy1975Nagar DarpaneUttam Kumar, Supriya Devi, Haradhan BanerjeeCredited as Yatrik (along with Sachin Mukherji and Dilip Mukherji) 1976Balika BadhuSachin, Rajni Sharma, Kajri, Asrani, A. K. HangalMovie in Hindi1978GanadevataSoumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Sumitra Mukherjee, Madhabi Mukherjee1980Dadar KirtiTapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Sandhya Roy, Anup Kumar1981Shahar Theke DureSandhya Roy, Samit Bhanja, Bhanu Bandopadhyay1982MeghmuktiUtpal Dutt, Biswajit Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Debashree Roy1982Khelar PutulSoumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy1984Amar GeetiSoumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy, Biswajit Chatterjee1984Aranya AamarDocumentary feature film1985Bhalobasa BhalobasaTapas Paul, Debashree Roy, Utpal Dutt1986Pathbhola Prosenjit Chatterjee, Tapas Paul, Abhishek Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy1988AgamanSandhya Roy, Debashree Roy, Tapas Paul1988ParasmoniTapas Paul, Satabdi Roy, Santu Mukhopadhyay1990Apan Aamar ApanTapas Paul, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Satabdi Roy1991Path O PrasadUtpal Dutt, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Roy1991Sajani Go Sajani Mahasweta Ray, Utpal Dutt1994 Katha ChhiloTapas Paul, Mahasweta RayAkuha kathaUttam Mohanty, Aparajita MohantyMovie in Odia 2003Alo Rituparna Sengupta, Abhishek Chatterjee, Bhaswar Chattopadhyay, Soumili Biswas2004Rangamatir pothGoutam HalderShort film2005O Amar desher MaatiBhaswar Chatterjee, Ayan BanerjeeShort film 2005Bhalobasar Onek NaamGourab Chatterjee, Megha Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Moushumi Chatterjee, Tapas Paul2007Chander BariSoham Chakraborty, Koel Mallick, Ranjit Mallick, Rituparna Sengupta2010Daak diye jaiParan BandopadhyayShort film2014Durgesh NandiniParan Bandopadhyay, Tapas Paul, Aatish BhattacharyaTV series2018Bhalobashar BariPratik Sen, Silajit, Rituparna Sengupta, Arjun Chakraborty, Sreela Majumdar2018AdhikarDocumentary feature film2018Tobu Mone RekhoKhapang Tripura, Adrija, Aloy Deb BarmaShort film
Recognition Nimantran has been restored and digitized by the National Film Archive of India. Tarun Majumdar was the recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1990. He won the Lifetime Achievement honor at the West Bengal Film Journalist Association Awards in 2017.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed grief over the death of Tarun Majumdar.
See also Akira Kurosawa Pracheta Gupta Prabhat Roy Shiboprosad Mukherjee Satyajit Ray
References
External links
Tarun Majumdar at BookMyShow
See also Raj Chakraborty Sujit Mondal