Pramathesh Chandra Barua (24 October 1903 – 29 November 1951) was an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era, born in Gauripur,

Dhubri Dhubri (Pron: ˈdhubri) is an old town and headquarter of Dhubri district in Indian state of Assam. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, with historical significance. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Boa ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Early life

Barua was the son of the royal family of Gauripur (belongs to Gauripur Rajvanch), Dhubri,Assam, where he was born and spent his childhood. He studied at Hare School,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and then Bachelor of Science graduated from

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

in 1924. At age 18, while still studying in college, he got married. It was arranged by the family. He had two more marriages. His third wife was film actress

Jamuna Barua Jamuna Barua (10 October 1919 – 24 November 2005) was a leading Indian actress. Early life Jamuna was the fourth of the six daughters of Puran Gupta, a resident of a village near Agra, India. Each of the sisters was named after an Indian ...

. One of his wives, either Madhuri Lata or Amalabala, and singer Meena Kapoor's mother were sisters. In other words, one of his wives was Meena Kapoor's aunt. After his graduation, he travelled to Europe, where he received his first exposure to films. After returning, he served for a time in the

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

and joined the

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the ''Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party'', was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and ...

but ultimately moved to

and later began a career in films, much to the chagrin of his father.

Career

Pramathesh Barua’s stepping into the world of films was accidental. He was introduced to Dhirendranath Ganguly during his stay in

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

. Pramathesh Barua started his film career in 1926 as a member of

British Dominion Films Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (26 March 1893 – 18 November 1978), better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G, was a Dadasaheb Phalke Award-winning and Padma Bhushan recipient film entrepreneur/actor/director of Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali Cinema. He h ...

Ltd. In 1929, he appeared for the first time on the silver screen in a film named Panchashar which was directed by

Debaki Kumar Bose Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh, (now East Burdwan), Bu ...

. He also acted in Takay Ki Na Hay, another film directed by

Dhiren Ganguly Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (26 March 1893 – 18 November 1978), better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G, was a Dadasaheb Phalke Award-winning and Padma Bhushan recipient film entrepreneur/actor/director of Bengali Cinema. He had set up a number of ...

. Around this time, an actress of the silent era named Irish Gasper (Screen Name: Sabita Devi) urged Pramathesh Barua to go independent and build his own studio. Pramathesh Barua wanted to go to Europe and get a practical knowledge of the art and craft of film-making. In 1930, his father Raja Prabhat Chandra Barua sent Pramathesh to England for the removal of a kidney stone. After the successful operation, he went to Paris with a letter of introduction from

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and met M Rogers. He received thorough training in cinematography in Paris. He learned a lot about lighting in studios at the

Fox Studio Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

. He also observed the production of Elstree Studios in London. He returned to Calcutta after purchasing lighting equipment and set up Barua Film Unit and Barua Studio in his own residence in Calcutta. He then made the first film Apradhi (1931) where he was the main lead role and it was directed by Debaki Kr. Bose. Apradhi is a very important film in the history of Indian cinema as it was the first Indian film that was shot under artificial lights. Prior to that Indian films were shot with the help of reflected sunrays. While using artificial lights, he also made necessary changes in the makeup process to suit the lighting. This experimentation led to a wastage of 50,000 feet of ‘picture negative’ and another 1,000 feet of ‘picture negative’ was wasted with experimentation of make-up of artists. Apradhi thus brought radical changes to the technical environment for Directors in Indian cinema. In 1932, he produced films like Nisher Dak and Ekada. The story of Ekada was written by him and it was directed by Sushit Mazumder. He played a villain in the film Bhagyalakshmi which was directed by Kali Prasad Ghosh for Indian Cinema Arts. In 1932, when the talkie era came he made his first talkie named Bengal-1983. Released by Rabindranath Tagore, it was a brave attempt by him due to the subject matter. It was shot in 8 days, which showed the tenacity and single-mindedness of Pramathesh Barua. The film was a disaster which left Barua with no choice but wind up his company. In 1933, he was invited by BN Sarkar to join New Theatres and this led him to the zenith of his career as a film-maker. He excelled in all technical aspects of film-making – direction, acting, script writing, photograph composition, editing or any other necessary skills. He now directed Rooplekha, the first talkie of New Theatres, and also played the lead role opposite Umashashi. Released in 1934, Rooplekha introduced another new technique. For the first time in Indian cinema, flashback was used for storytelling. Pramathesh-Barua then came to Devdas. It was not the first time that

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ � ...

’s tragic hero of the Bengali classic was adapted in Indian films, but Barua’s portrayal of Devdas was so lively that the made the tragic hero a legend. He directed both the Bengali and Hindi versions and played the lead role in the Bengali version. It has been said that Pramathesh Barua’s lifestyle made it possible for him to act the role of Devdas so convincingly. Devdas was released in 1935 and it was an instant commercial success. Cine scholars have said that it was the first successful social film in India and it changed the entire outlook of Indian social pictures. Devdas was also admired by cine scholars for the appropriate use of ‘flashback’, ‘closeup’, ‘montage’, ‘wipe’,’dissolve’, and ‘fade-in and fade-out’. Devdas is also considered a landmark in the world cinema for the introduction of the technique of ‘intercut telepathy shot’. Mukti was another bold film made by Pramathesh Barua. Mukti was the modern version of Devdas depicting the nostalgia of a man. The film was shot in the backdrop of the scenic beauty of Assam.

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

was first used successfully in the film. Pankaj Mallik also composed the music for one of the poems of Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Diner Sheshe ghumer Deshe’. Another important aspect of this film was that a major part of the film was shot outdoors. It took almost two decades after this film that realistic filmmakers were more interested to shoot outdoors. In most of his previous films, Pramathesh Barua had a tragic hero. But, in 1939, he made a movie Rajat Jayanti that made people burst out with laughter. This film is considered to be the first Indian comedy talkie. In the same year, he made Adhikaar which ushered new thoughts in Indian cinema. His social criticism reached such an extent that the film advocated class struggle. The use of symbolism was highly admired. Pramathesh Barua also made a brave attempt by trying to blend Indian classical music with a Western symphony. Encouraged by him, Timirbaran performed the blending successfully which was thought to be nearly impossible. In 1940, Pramathesh Barua made Shapmukti for Krishna Movietone. Shapmukti greatly appealed to viewers tremendously for its highly tragic scenes. The film ended with 3 death sequences which Barua depicted with ‘cut-shot’ technique. Noted French film critic

Georges Sadoul Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English. Biography Sadoul was ...

highly admired Pramathesh Barua for his brilliant use of ‘cut-shot’ technique which was also a pioneering effort in the early days of Indian cinema. His film Uttrayan which was released in 1941 was also a path-breaking film in its own right. Prior to this film, stories of Indian films would start after the credits. Although, Barua's breakthrough with

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970). It was formed on 10 February 1931. Motto of this company was– ''Jivatang Jyotire ...

came with ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' ( bn, দেবদাস, transliterated as ''Debdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden ...

'' in 1935. The film was first made in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, with Barua himself in the title role; he then remade it in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as the 1936 film ''

'', with

K.L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Kolkata during Saigal's time, but is ...

as the leading man. The Hindi version became a craze all throughout India; it cemented Barua as a top-notch director and Saigal as the top-notch hero of Indian films. The ''

'' ( Assamese) was Barua's last of three language versions. Barua followed up Devdas with ''

Manzil For the convenience of those who read the Quran in a week the text may be divided into seven portions, each known as Manzil. The following division to 7 equal portions is by Hamza Al-Zayyat (d.156/772): # Al-Fatihah (chapter 1) through An-Nis ...

'' in 1936, ''Mukti'' in 1937, ''Adhikar'' in 1938, ''Rajat Jayanti'' in 1939, and ''Zindagi'' (which reunited him with Saigal) in 1940.

Phani Majumdar Phani Majumdar was a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Hindi cinema, most known for his film ''Street Singer'' (1938) starring K.L. Saigal noted for its song, '' Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye'', Meena Kumari classic ''Aarti'' (1962 ...

who later became a noted film director in his own right, started his film career with Barua at New Theatres. Barua's films were photographed by

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as ''Do Bigha Zamin'', ''Parineeta (1953 film), Parineeta'', ''Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas (1955 film), D ...

, who would later become an accomplished director in his own right. Barua left New Theatres in 1939 and freelanced thereafter. However, of his post-New Theatres films, only ''Shesh Uttar''/''Jawab'' (1942) stood out. He planned an Indian version of ''

The Way of All Flesh ''The Way of All Flesh'' (sometimes called ''Ernest Pontifex, or the Way of All Flesh'') is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler that attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the ...

'', but it never materialised. He took to drinking heavily, and his health began to decline; he died in 1951.

Filmography

Director

# Bengal 1983 (1932) # Roop Lekha/Mohabbat Ki Kasauti (1934) #

(1935) #

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

(1936/II) # Maya (1936/I) #

(1936) # Grihadah (1936) #

(1936) #

(1937) # Mukti (1937/II) # Mukti (1937/I) # Adhikar (1938) # Rajat Jayanti (1939) # Adhikar (1939) # Zindagi (1940) # Shap Mukti (1940) # Mayer Pran (1941) # Uttarayan (1941) # Jawab (1942) # Shesh Uttar (1942) #

Rani ''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of a ...

(1943) # Chander Kalanka (1944) # Subah Shyam (1944) # Ameeree (1945) # Pehchan (1946) # Iran Ki Ek Raat (1949) # Maya Kanan (1953)

Actor

# Maya kanan (1953) # Subah Shyam (1944) # Chander Kalanka (1944) #

(1943) # Jawab (1942) .... Manoj # Sesh Uttar (1942).... Manoj # Uttarayan (1941) .... Salil # Mayer Pran (1941) .... Satish # Shap Mukti (1940) .... Ramesh # Adhikar (1939) .... Nikhilesh # Rajat Jayanti (1939) .... Rajat # Adhikar (1938) .... Nikhilesh # Mukti (1937/I) .... Prasant # Mukti (1937/II) .... Prasanta # Grihadah (1936) .... Mahim #

(1936) .... Mahim # Devdas (Hindi) (1935)....Mohan #

(1935) .... Devdas # Roop Lekha (1934) .... Arup in the Bengali version # Bengal 1983 (1932) # Aparadhi (1931) # Charitraheen (1931) # Takay Ki Na Hay (1931)

Writer

# Adhikar (1939) (writer) # Rajat Jayanti (1939) (writer) # Adhikar (1938) (writer) # Mukti (1937/I) (writer) # Mukti (1937/II) (writer) #

Devdas (1936 film) ''Devdas'' is a 1936 Hindi-language Indian drama romance film based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella, ''Devdas''. Directed by Pramathesh Barua, it stars K.L. Saigal as Devdas, Jamuna Barua as Parvati (Paro) and Rajkumari as Cha ...

(writer) # Maya (1936/I) (writer) # Maya (1936/II) (writer) #

Devdas (1935 film) ''Devdas'' is a 1935 Bengali film directed by Pramathesh Barua and based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, ''Devdas''. It stars Barua himself as Devdas and Jamuna Barua as Parvati (Paro) and Chandrabati Devi as Chandramukhi. This ...

(writer) # Ekada (1932) (screenplay) (story)

Cinematographer

# '' Zindagi'' (1940)

References

Bibliography

External links

* *
Pramathes Chandra Barua
at

*Chatterji, Shoma A. (15 October 2009)
"Pramathesh Chandra Barua-The First Star in Bengali Cinema"
Calcutta Tube
P.C. Barua at cinema section of Calcuttaweb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barua, Pramathesh 1903 births 1951 deaths Hare School alumni Presidency University, Kolkata alumni People from Dhubri district University of Calcutta alumni Male actors in Bengali cinema People of British India 20th-century Indian male actors Indian male silent film actors Articles containing video clips 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Assam Cinematographers from Assam Film directors from Kolkata