Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 7 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as , '' Parineeta'', ''

Biraj Bahu ''Biraj Bahu'' is a 1954 Hindi film produced by Hiten Choudhury and directed by Bimal Roy, and based on a Bengali novel by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. The film stars Kamini Kaushal, Abhi Bhattacharya and Pran and has music by Salil Chowdhu ...

'', '' Devdas'', '' Madhumati'', '' Sujata'', '' Parakh'' and '' Bandini'', making him an important director of

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 ...

. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made after watching

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

's'' Bicycle Thieves'' (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

, two

National Film Awards 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 ...

, and the International Prize of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. '' Madhumati'' won 9

in 1958, a record held for 37 years.

Biography

Bimal Roy was born on 12 July 1909, to a Bengali Baidya family in Suapur,

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 ...

, which was then part of the

Eastern Bengal and Assam Eastern Bengal and Assam was a Presidencies and provinces of British India, province of British India between 1905 and 1912. Headquartered in the city of Dacca, it covered territories in what are now Bangladesh, Northeast India and North Bengal, ...

province of

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 is now part of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. He produced many movies in Bengali and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Career

Bimal Roy 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 ...

and entered the field of cinema as a camera assistant with New Theatres Pvt. Ltd. During this time, he assisted director P.C. Barua as Publicity Photographer, on the hit 1935 film '' Devdas'', starring K.L. Saigal. In the 1940s and 1950s Roy was part of the parallel cinema movement in post-war India. He collaborated on ''Anjangarh'' (1948), one of the last major films of the New Theatres, however, the Kolkata-based film industry was now on the decline, thus Roy shifted his base to Bombay (now Mumbai), along with his team in 1950, which included

Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee (30 September 1922 – 27 August 2006) was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as ''Hrishi-da'', he directed 42 films during his car ...

(editor), Nabendu Ghosh (screenwriter), Asit Sen (assistant director), Kamal Bose (cinematographer) and later, Salil Chaudhury (music director), and by 1952 he had restarted the second phase of his career with ''Maa'' (1952), for

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...

. He was famous for his romantic-realist melodramas that took on important social issues while still being entertaining. He was a filmmaker of great and in-depth understanding of human strengths and weaknesses. In 1959, he was a member of the jury at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival. He died of cancer on 7 January 1966 at the age of 56. He was survived by four children: daughters Rinki Bhattacharya, Yashodhara Roy and Aparajita Sinha, and his only son, Joy Roy. His eldest daughter, Rinki Bhattacharya, married the director

Basu Bhattacharya Basu Bhattacharya (1934 – 19 June 1997) was an Indian film director of Bollywood, Hindi films. He is perhaps best known for his 1966 film ''Teesri Kasam'', starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman (based on the short story "Maare Gaye Gulfam ...

against the wishes of both their families. The marriage collapsed within a few years, but resulted in the birth of a son, the actor and screenplay writer Aditya Bhattacharya. Rinki Bhattacharya now heads the Bimal Roy Memorial Committee. and his great-granddaughter Drisha Acharya married Karan Deol

Awards

Bimal Roy has received several awards. ;

* 1953: Filmfare Award for Best Film – * 1953: Filmfare Award for Best Director – * 1954: Filmfare Award for Best Director – '' Parineeta'' * 1955: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''

'' * 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Film – '' Madhumati'' * 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Madhumati'' * 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Film – '' Sujata'' * 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Sujata'' * 1960: Filmfare Award for Best Director – '' Parakh'' * 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Film – '' Bandini'' * 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Bandini'' ;

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – *

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – ''

'' * 1955: Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi – '' Devdas'' * 1958: President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi – '' Madhumati'' *

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film – '' Sujata'' *

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 ...

: Best Feature Film in Hindi – '' Bandini'' ;

Won International Prize: *

for Nominated for Grand Prize of the Festival: *

for Nominated for : * 1955 for ''

'' * 1960 for '' Sujata''

Music

Bimal Roy usually alternated between music directors

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Malayalam films, Malayalam films. ...

and S.D. Burman. His films featured beautiful and memorable songs, rendered by all the top playback singers of the day. Some of the notable songs from Roy's films include: * "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye" from '' Sujata'' (1959), sung by Talat Mahmood * "Chali Radhe Rani" from '' Parineeta'' (1953), sung by Manna Dey * "Aa Ri Aa Nindiya" from (1953), music by Salil Chowdhury, 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 ...

* "Ab Aage Teri Marzi" from '' Devdas'' (1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Aan Milo Aan Milo Shyam Sabere" from ''Devdas'' (1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Manna Dey,

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian Indian classical music, classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema (India) ...

* "Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Keh Raha" from '' Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar * "Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Haseen" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Mukesh * "Aaja Re Pardesi" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Ghadi Ghadi Mora Dil Dhadake" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by

* "Zulmi Sang Aankh Ladi" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "O Sajana Barkha Bahaar" from '' Parakh'' (1960), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Mora Gora Ang Lai Le" from '' Bandini'' (1963), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar

Legacy

Bimal Roy's influence was far-reaching, both in

Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of 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 film industries, each focused on p ...

and world cinema. In Indian cinema, his influence extended to both mainstream commercial

and the emerging

Parallel Cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...

. His film (1953) was the first film to successfully straddle art and commercial cinema. It was a commercial and critical success, winning the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. As a result, the film's success paved the way for the Indian New Wave. In commercial cinema, the most influential film he directed was perhaps '' Madhumati'' (1958), his first and only collaboration with

Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Widely considered as one of the greatest film makers of all time, his works remained largely underrated and ignored during hi ...

(who wrote the screenplay), and one of the earliest films to deal with

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

. It is believed to have been the source of inspiration for many later works dealing with the theme of reincarnation in Indian cinema,

Indian television The television industry in India is very diverse and produces thousands of programmes in many Indian languages. Nearly 87% of Indian households own a television. As of 2016, the country had over 900 channels of which 184 were Pay television, ...

, and perhaps world cinema. It may have been the source of inspiration for the American film '' The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'' (1975) and the Hindi film '' Karz'' (1980), both of which dealt with reincarnation and have been influential in their respective cultures. ''Karz'' in particular was remade several times: as the

Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

'' Yuga Purusha'' (1989), the

Tamil film Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chen ...

'' Enakkul Oruvan'' (1984), and more recently the

Bollywood 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 ...

film '' Karzzzz'' (2008). ''Karz'' may have also inspired the American film '' Chances Are'' (1989). The most recent film to be directly inspired by ''Madhumati'' is the hit Bollywood film ''

Om Shanti Om ''Om Shanti Om'' (transl. literally to ''Peace Be With You'') is a 2007 Hindi-language romantic fantasy film written and directed by Farah Khan, co-written by Mayur Puri and Mushtaq Shiekh, and produced by Gauri Khan under Red Chillies E ...

'' (2007), which led to Roy's daughter Rinki Bhattacharya accusing the film of plagiarism and threatening legal action against its producers. Bimal Roy discovered and gave a break to many children, such as

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is an Indian actress, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema, Parekh has worked in more than 85 films, in a career spanning over four d ...

'','' Sona Mastan Mirza,

Baby Farida Farida Dadi, also known as Farida Devi or Baby Farida, is an Indian actress in Hindi-language films and television serials. Career She started her career as a child actor in films in the 60s and was the most sought-after child actress. She ma ...

, & Baby Sonu (Bablani), who would later become quite famous. Bimal Roy's films continue to be screened at major national and international film festivals in India, Europe and North America. His films are being restored and digitised by the

National Film Archive of India The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February 1964. It was a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. In March 2022, it was merged with th ...

(NFAI) at Pune. In July 2014, Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai hosted an exhibition; ''Bimal Roy: Life & Times'', organised in collaboration with his children. The exhibits included screening of the films; ''Madhumati'', ''Sujata'' and ''Bandini'', besides film posters, costumes and memorabilia, including an Arriflex camera used to shoot ''Devdas'' and ''Sujata''. The Bimal Roy Memorial Trophy has been awarded every year since 1997, by the Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society to honor both experienced artists and other contributors from the Indian film industry as well as new and upcoming outstanding young filmmakers. Bimal Roy 2007 stamp of India

A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by

India Post The Department of Posts, d/b/a India Post, is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, public sector postal system statutory body headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is an organisation under the Ministry of Communications (India), Minist ...

to honour him on 8 January 2007.

Filmography

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Bimal Roy Memorial website

Bimal Roy Online Museum
*
Bimal Roy Life and Filmography
on Indian Cine {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Bimal 1909 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Indian people Bengali Hindus Bengali film directors Hindi-language film directors University of Calcutta alumni People from Dhaka Hindi film producers Indian film directors Indian film producers Filmfare Awards winners