Bina Paul (born January 28, 1961), also known by her married name Bina Paul Venugopal, is an Indian

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

who works mainly in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language films. A graduate of the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, she completed a course on film editing from the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. ...

(FTII),

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, in 1983. She is the recipient of 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 three

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a cinema of kerala, motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs (Kerala), Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and sin ...

s. She has held several positions including the artistic director of

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

(IFFK) and the vice chairperson of

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Kerala State Motion Picture Academy is an autonomous non-profit institution based in Trivandrum, working under the Department of Cultural Affairs (Kerala), Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. History It was founded in Augus ...

Personal life

She is married to cinematographer

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

since 26 August 1983. The couple has a daughter, Malavika, who is married and is the Manager of the Great North Museum: Hancock.

Biography

Early life

Born to a

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

father and a

Kannadiga The Kannadigas or Kannadigaru (), often referred to as Kannada people, are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who natively speak Kannada, primarily in the south Indian state of Karnataka and its surrounding regions. The Kannada language belongs ...

mother, Bina Paul was brought up in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. After graduating from the

in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, she went on to pursue a diploma in film editing from the

(FTII),

, in 1983.

Career

Beena got a break as an editor with G. Aravindan's ''The Seer Who Walks Alone'' (1985), a documentary on

Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti ( ; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was an Indian Philosophy, philosopher, speaker, writer, and Spirituality, spiritual figure. Adopted by members of the Theosophy, Theosophical tradition as a child, he was raised to fill ...

. She went on to work in a few documentaries including Rajiv Vijay Raghavan's ''Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam'' (1986), which won the Best Biographical Film at the

34th National Film Awards The 34th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1986. Ceremony took place in Sep ...

. She made her feature film debut with

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he is a recipient of a National Film Award along with nominations for four Filmfare Awards. Abraham ha ...

's ''

Amma Ariyan ''Amma Ariyan'' () is a 1986 Malayalam-language experimental film directed by avant-garde filmmaker John Abraham. The story revolves around the incidents following the death of a young Naxalite, upon whose death his friends travel to the vill ...

'' (1986). Her other films include ''Padippura'' (1989), ''

Janmadinam Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994), popularly referred to as the Beypore Sultan, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, a humanist and an Indian independence activist. He was a novelist and short story writer note ...

'' (1997), '' Agnisakshi'' (1999). Her work in

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi and ...

's ''

Mitr, My Friend ''Mitr, My Friend'' is a 2002 Indian English-language drama film directed by Revathi in her directorial debut, and written by V. Priya and Sudha Kongara. The film stars Shobana, Nasir Abdullah and Preeti Vissa. Set partly in India and the US the f ...

'' (2002), which had an all-woman crew, won her her first

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 ...

. The following year, she was awarded another

for the non-feature film ''Unni''. She has also worked in television and has been the recipient of three Kerala State Television Award for Best Editor. Apart from editing over 50 documentaries and feature films, Paul has directed four documentaries. She has collaborated with women filmmakers like

Suma Josson Suma Josson is an Indian-American journalist and filmmaker. Her documentary film ''Niyamgiri, You are still alive'', on the ecological and human damage done by bauxite mining, won a first prize in the Short Film, Environment category at the 2010 ...

Pamela Rooks Pamela Rooks (28 February 1958 – 1 October 2010) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for the film, '' Train to Pakistan'' (1998) set in Partition of India and based on Khushwant Singh's novel; it was screened at several ...

and Shabnam Virmani. Paul played a prominent role in shaping up the

(IFFK) right from its inception and also served as its artistic director. She also served as the deputy director (festival) of

and worked as a senior editor at the

Centre for Development of Imaging Technology The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, abbreviated as C-DIT, was established by the Government of Kerala in 1988 for the advancement of research, development and training in imaging technology. C-DIT has four groups, each specialis ...

. She served as the principal of the

L. V. Prasad Film Academy Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organism ...

(

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

campus). In February 2017, she co-founded the Women in Cinema Collective, India's first association that aims to work towards equal opportunity and dignity of women employees in film industry.

Personal life

Beena married director - cinematographer

, a fellow student at the FTII, in 1983; the couple has a daughter. The two have worked together in several films including '' Daya'' (1998), ''

Munnariyippu ''Munnariyippu'' () is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language psychological experimental thriller film directed by Venu and produced by Ranjith, screenplay by Unni R. The film stars Mammootty and Aparna Gopinath, with Nedumudi Venu, Joy Mathew, Pr ...

'' (2014) and ''

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

''(2018), all directed by Venu.

Selected filmography

* ''The Seer Who Walks Alone'' (1985) * ''Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam'' (1986) * ''

'' (1986) * ''Padippura'' (1989) * ''When Women Unite'' (1996) * '' Daya'' (1998) * ''Janmadinam'' (1998) * '' Agnisakshi'' (1999) * ''

Angene Oru Avadhikkalathu ''Angene Oru Avadhikkalathu'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Mohan and written by Nedumudi Venu, Mohan and P. K. Bharathan from a story by Nedumudi Venu. It stars Sreenivasan, Samyuktha Varma, and Mukesh. The mu ...

'' (1999) * ''Janani'' (1999) * ''Saree'' (1999) * ''

Mazha ''Mazha'' () is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story ''Nashtappetta Neelambari'' by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma, and Lal. The music was composed b ...

'' (2000) * '' Oru Cheru Punchiri'' (2000) * ''

Sayahnam ''Sayahnam'' () is a 2000 Malayalam feature film that marks the directorial debut of R. Sarath, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is a drama centred on the environmental and anti-nuclear issue in India. It stars O. Madhavan, Gomathi Mahade ...

'' (2000) * ''Jeevan Masai'' (2001) * '' Meghamalhar'' (2002) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

Sthithi ''Sthithi'' () is a 2003 Malayalam feature film written and directed by R. Sarath. The film tells the tale of a couple employed in the Secretariat. It stars Unni Menon, Nandini Ghosal, Master Achuth, Master Anand Pillay and Mallika Sukumaran. It ...

'' (2002) * ''Dance like a Man'' (2003) * ''In Othello'' (2003) * ''

Margam Margam is a suburb and community (Wales), community of Port Talbot in the Wales, Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being l ...

'' (2003) * ''

Ee Snehatheerathu ''Ee Snehatheerathu'' (In this Ocean of Love) is a 2004 Indian Malayalam film. It is directed by Kaviyoor Sivaprasad and written by Ramakrishnan. The movie stars Kunchacko Boban, Uma shankari, Lal, Nedumudi Venu and Jagathy Sreekumar. Kunchacko ...

'' (2004) * ''Nerkku Nere'' (2004) * '' Daivanamathil'' (2005) * '' Kamli'' (2006) * ''

Chaurahen ''Chaurahen'' is an Indian drama film directed by Rajshree Ojha, starring Zeenat Aman, Roopa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan and Kiera Chaplin in the leading roles. The film was based on four short stories of eminent Hindi novelist Nirmal Verma. Shoot ...

'' (2007) * '' Kaiyoppu'' (2007) * '' Bioscope'' (2008) * ''

Vilapangalkkappuram ''Vilapangalkkappuram'' (''Beyond the Wail'') is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language film scripted and directed by T. V. Chandran in 2008. The film is based on the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots of 2002. It was the second movie in the trilogy ...

'' (2009) * ''

Patham Nilayile Theevandi ''Patham Nilayile Theevandi'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Joshy Mathew. It stars Innocent, Jayasurya, and Meera Nandan in pivotal roles. Chenda artist Mattannoor Sankarankutty composed music for the film. The film ...

'' (2009) * '' Punyam Aham'' (2010) * '' The Desire'' (2010) * ''Inganeyum Oral'' (2010) * '' Karmayogi'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Sometimes'' (2017) * ''

'' (2018) * '' Savithri - Aanum Pennum'' (2021)

Awards

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 ...

* Best Editing ''

'' (2002) * Best Non-Feature Film Editing ''Unni'' (2003)

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

* Best Editor '' Daya'' (1998) * Best Editor ''

'' (2000) * Best Editor '' Bioscope'' (2008)

References

External links

*
"Have concerns on many issues as I step down: Bina Paul" (video)

Manorama Online '' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...

, October 16, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Bina Living people Malayalam film editors Film and Television Institute of India alumni Best Editor National Film Award winners Delhi University alumni Kerala State Film Award winners Women artists from Delhi Film editors from Kerala Women artists from Kerala Artists from Thiruvananthapuram Indian women filmmakers 20th-century Indian women artists 21st-century Indian women artists Indian women film editors Indian film editors Indian women documentary filmmakers 1961 births