Bansi Chandragupta (1924–1981) was an Indian

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

and

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

, regarded among the greatest of art directors of

Indian film industry The cinema of India, consisting of Film, motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various #Cinema by language, film indus ...

. He won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award thrice, for '' Seema'' in 1972, for '' Do Jhoot'' in 1976 and for ''

Chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...

'' in 1982. He was awarded Evening Standard British Film Award posthumously for "best technical/artistic achievement" in 1983. He was born in 1924 in

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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 ...

and died on 27 June 1981 in

Brookhaven, New York Brookhaven is a large Suburb, suburban town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York (state), New York. With a population of 488,497 as of 2022, it is the second most populous town in New York (after Hempstead, New Yo ...

, United States. Chandragupta is most well known as art director/production designer of movies directed by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

. He also worked with renowned film directors like

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen ( ; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, and a few Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Regarded as on ...

, Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterjee, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Tarun Majumdar and Aparna Sen.

Early life

Bansi Chandragupta was born at Sialkot in Pakistan. Chandragupta's family moved from Pakistan to

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

when he was a young boy. Here he met painter Shubho Tagore, on whose advice Chandragupta moved to

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

to pursue his ambition in painting. He spent most of his working life in this city.p 539
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from 'Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema', by Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee,

Career

After a few stints in Bengali commercial films, Chandragupta got a chance to work as art director in

's movie '' The River'' (1951). Here he worked closely with production designer Eugène Lourié and learned the craft of film designing. During the shooting of this movie, he met

who asked him to join a group of film enthusiasts that included Ray, RP Gupta, Sunil Janah, Chidananda Dasgupta, Harisadhan Dasgupta and others, to form the Calcutta Film Society. Later, Ray asked Chandragupta to be set designer for his film ''

Pather Panchali (, ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali Pather Panchali ...

''. This collaboration sustained till '' Shatranj Ke Khilari'' (1977). Some of the best examples of Chandragupta's work are from the Ray films: ''

'', '' Jalsaghar'' and '' Charulata''. Apart from Ray's films, best works of Chandragupta's works are visible in '' 36 Chowringhee Lane'' by Aparna Sen, '' Umrao Jaan'' by Muzzafar Ali and ''Chakra'' by Rabindra Dharamraj. All these were shot in 1981, the year Chandragupta died of a heart attack in New York. '' 36 Chowringhee Lane'' was dedicated to Chandragupta.

Filmography

Production Designer

* '' Akaler Sandhane'' (1980) directed by

* ''Manzil'' (1979) directed by Basu Chatterjee * ''Mahatma and the Mad Boy'' (1974) directed by Ismail Merchant * '' 27 Down'' (1974) * '' Pratidwandi'' (1972) directed by

* ''

Seemabaddha ''Seemabaddha'' ( Romanization of Bengali, ''Shimabôddho''; English title: ''Company Limited'') is a 1971 in film, 1971 social drama Bengali language, Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the novel ''Seemabaddha'' by Mani Shan ...

'' (1971) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Aranyer Din Ratri'' (1970) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' The Guru'' (1969) directed by James Ivory * '' Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'' (1968) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''

Chiriyakhana ''Chiriakhana'' or ''Chiriyakhana'' () is a 1967 Indian Bengali-language crime thriller film, based on the story of the same name by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film is directed and co-written by Satyajit Ray, starring Uttam Kumar as Byomke ...

'' (1967) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Nayak'' (1966) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Akash Kusum'' (1965) directed by Mrinal Sen * '' Kapurush'' (1965) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Mahapurush'' (1965) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Charulata'' (1964) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Mahanagar'' (1963) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Abhijan'' (1962) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Kanchenjungha'' (1962) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

'' (1961) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Teen Kanya'' (1961) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''Baishey Shravana' (1960) directed by Mrinal Sen * ''

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

'' (1960) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Apur Sansar'' (1959) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Jalsaghar'' (1958) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''Maya Bazaar'' (1958) * '' Parash Pathar'' (1958) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' Aparajito'' (1956) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''

'' (1955) directed by Satyajit Ray

Art Director

* '' Tarang'' (1984) directed by Kumar Sahani * '' 36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981) directed by Aparna Sen * ''

'' (1981) directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj * '' Kalyug'' (1981) directed by Shyam Benegal * '' Umrao Jaan'' (1981) directed by Muzaffar Ali * ''Tumhari Kassam'' (1978) * '' Mukti'' (1977) * '' Shatranj Ke Khilari'' (1977) * ''Trimurti'' (1974) * '' Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar'' (1973) * ''Jangal Mein Mangal'' (1972) * ''

Piya Ka Ghar ''Piya Ka Ghar'' ( My Beloved's House) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Basu Chatterjee, and produced by Rajshri Productions, starring Anil Dhawan and Jaya Bachchan. A remake of Raja Thakur's Marathi film ''Mumba ...

'' (1972) directed by Basu Chatterjee * '' Paraya Dhan'' (1971) * '' Balika Badhu'' (1967) * ''

'' (1967) directed by Satyajit Ray * ''

'' (1955) directed by Satyajit Ray * '' The River'' (1951) directed by

Set Decorator

* '' Balika Badhu'' (1967) * ''

'' (1967)

Miscellaneous Crew

Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978)

References

External links

*
Bansi Chanragupta
at Upperstall {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandragupta, Bansi Indian art directors Filmfare Awards winners 1924 births 1981 deaths Indian production designers 20th-century Indian designers People from Sialkot District Male artists from Punjab, India Indian expatriates in the United States 20th-century Indian male artists