Asit Sen (24 September 1922 – 25 August 2001) was an Indian film director, cinematographer, documentary Filmmaker and screenwriter, who worked in both

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 ...

and

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. He was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He directed 17 feature films in Hindi and Bengali, and was most known for the films '' Deep Jweley Jai'' (1959) and ''

Uttar Falguni ''Uttar Falguni'' () is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film directed by Asit Sen and produced by Uttam Kumar, starring Suchitra Sen in a double role, Bikash Roy and Dilip Mukherjee in lead. At the 11th National Film Awards, the film ...

''(1963) in Bengali, (1966), '' Khamoshi'' (1969), (1968) and ''

Safar Safar (), also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. Most of the Islamic months were named according to ancient Sabean/Sabaic weather conditions; however, since the calendar is lunar, the months shift ...

'' (1970) in Hindi.

Career

Remembered as a prominent filmmaker of his times with a career of more than four decades, making films in different Indian languages, Asit Sen's contribution in Indian cinema deserves a special mention along with other stalwarts of that era. He is not to be mistaken with actor ( Asit Sen). Born September 24, 1922, in Atishahi village in

Bikrampur Bikrampur (lit. City of Courage) was a historic region and a sub-division of Dhaka within the Bengal Presidency during the period of British India. Located along the banks of the Padma River (a major distributary of the Ganges), it was a sign ...

, Dhaka, Sen was a child with a keen interest towards art. Post his schooling in Nagaon (Assam) he shifted to (

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

) for further studies, and in his youth he got drawn towards photography. With the help of his uncle Ramanand Sengupta, who was an established cinematographer, Asit Sen started attending shootings of Hindi films and then joined ''Bharat Laxmi Productions'' as an assistant to D.K. Mehta. Soon he became an assistant to his uncle in ''Purbarag'' (1947) and then later went on to become an independent filmmaker. Following his passion, Sen first made a documentary following Mahatma Gandhi's tours in Noakhali and Patna. With the confidence gained, he then made his directorial debut with the Assamese language film Biplabi in 1948. A few years later he made his first Bengali film ''Chalachal'' in 1956, starring Arundhati Devi, which was a success, and many years later he remade the film in Hindi as ''

'', which was also a hit. In 1959, he made '' Deep Jweley Jai'' (1959), starring

Suchitra Sen Suchitra Sen, widely known as the Mahanayika (), was an Indian actress who worked in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite actor Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Cinema of Wes ...

, set in a psychiatric hospital, which again he remade in Hindi as '' Khamoshi'' in 1969, with

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. Considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, h ...

and

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress. Regarded among the most accomplished actresses of Hindi cinema, she has worked in more than Waheeda Rehman filmography, 90 feature films, in a career spanning over five decades. Her ac ...

. In (1966), a remake of his 1963 Bengali film ''

'', a story about class conflict, he excelled as a storyteller. The film had lead actress Suchitra Sen in a double role, and featured memorable songs, "Rahein Na Rahein Hum", sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

and her soft, almost spiritual duet "Chhupa Lo Yoon Dil Mein Pyar Mera", with

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other India ...

. Asit Sen then joined National Institute of Film and Fine Arts in 1993 as a teacher and till his death he served in film education for society. Sen worked with some of the most prominent actors in Bollywood during his career. As director of Khamoshi (1969), he directed Rajesh Khanna, and in ''

Sharafat ''Sharafat'' is a 1970 Hindi romantic drama film, directed by Asit Sen, starring Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini in lead roles. Hema Malini plays the role of a feisty tawaif(courtesan) Chanda in search of her father, in this satire about ...

'' (1970) he directed

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

Hema Malini Hema Malini Dharmendra Deol (born 16 October 1948; ) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician who is currently serving as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representing Mathura constituency since 2 ...

and

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

. In the unique themed movie '' Annadata'' (1972), he directed

Om Prakash Om Prakash Chibber (19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu and was a well known character actor of Bollywood, Hindi Cinema. His most well-known movies are Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968 film), ''Mere ...

and

Jaya Bachchan Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema. She is serving as member of the parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party ...

. In ''

Maa Aur Mamta ''Maa Aur Mamta'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language drama film, produced by Baldev Pushkarna and M.M. Malhotra under the Suchitra Kala Mandir banner and directed by Asit Sen. It stars Ashok Kumar, Nutan, Jeetendra, Mumtaz, Nirupa Roy and mu ...

'' (1970), he directed

. in ''Mamta'' (1966)

, Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra. Another engaging story was ''

Bairaag ''Bairaag'' () is a 1976 Hindi-language film. Produced by the duo Mushir-Riaz, it is directed by Asit Sen. The film stars Dilip Kumar, who received a Filmfare nomination for Best Actor for playing a triple role. ''Bairaag'' also stars Saira ...

'' where Asit Sen directed Helen,

Madan Puri Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in ...

and

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film producer. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, as a prosecuting l ...

, and in '' Anari'' (1975), he directed actors

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful acto ...

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019; she was previously a member of ...

and

Kabir Bedi Kabir Bedi (born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other Western countries in three media: film, television and theatre. He is noted for his ...

. Sen was nominated twice for

Filmfare Best Director Award The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the re ...

, and won once. He was nominated for his direction of ''Mamta'' in 1967, and won the award in 1971 for ''Safar'', which starred

and Feroz Khan. Asit Sen died at a Kolkata hospital on 25 August 2001 at the age of 79. He was survived by his only son Partha Sen.

Filmography

Hindi and Bengali

Awards

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

for Best Feature Film in Bengali: ''

''. * 1971:

Filmfare Award for Best Director The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the re ...

: ''

References

External links

*
Asit Sen Profile
at Upperstall
The Two Asit Sens
at onfusion Cleared between Two Asit Sens in The Free Press Journal Article
Parivar (1956) and Apradhi Kaun (1957) Two films directed by the actor-comedian Asit Sen at Bobbytalkscinema.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Asit 1922 births 2001 deaths Hindi-language film directors Bengali film directors People from Munshiganj District Indian male screenwriters Film directors from Kolkata Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers