Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (26 March 1893 – 18 November 1978), better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G, was a

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest Film award, award in the field of cinema, given by the Government of India and presented annually at the National Film Awards. The recipient is honoured for their "outstanding contribution to the ...

-winning and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

recipient film entrepreneur/actor/director of Bengali Cinema. He had set up a number of film production companies: Indo British Film company, British Dominion Films, Lotus Film Company. Later, he directed films for

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 And Padma Bhushan in 1972). It was formed on February 10, 1931. The company motto was ...

. He produced many movies in the comedy genre. He was born in

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 died in the same city.

Early life

Ganguly studied in the

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a Public university, public Central University (India), central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath ...

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn 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 ...

. He became a headmaster of State Art School in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. He released a book of photographs of his make-up techniques called ''Bhavki Abhibyakti'' in 1915. He also taught this art to

C.I.D. Cid may refer to: * Cid (soil) * Cubic inch (c.i.d., cid), a displacement unit for internal combustion engines * Cid, a slang term for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) * Content-ID, a URI scheme (cid:) that allows the use of MIME within email Peop ...

officers in both

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 independent

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His family hailed from

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

. pp 950-951
Google books preview
from 'Arts of Transitional India Twentieth Century', by Vinayak Purohit, ISBN 0-86132-138-3

Career

Indo British Film Company

Ganguly's photography book brought him in contact of

J. F. Madan Jamshedji Framji (27 April 1857, Bombay – 28 June 1923), professionally known as J. F. & Madan, was an Indian theatre and film magnate who was one of the pioneers of film production in India, an early exhibitor, distributor and producer of fi ...

, who agreed to invest in his films. Ganguly and

Madan Theatre Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or Madan Theatres in short, was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji & his partner Kanhaiyalal Kaushik, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema. History A young Parsi pe ...

s' manager Nitish Lahiri formed the Indo British Film Co, the first

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

company owned by

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 ...

s, in 1918. '' Bilat Ferat (1921)'' (''The England Returned''), a silent comedy film directed by Nitish Lahiri, was the first production from this company. They released another two movies in 1922: ''Yashoda Nandan'' and ''Sadhu Aur Shaitan''.

Lotus Film Company

Ganguly founded Lotus Film Company in Hyderabad and also established a film studio and two cinema houses with the help of

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

. In 1924, he was a distributor of ''Razia Begum'', a film made in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. This film portrayed a Muslim princess who fell in love of a Hindu. This enraged Nizam and he ordered Ganguly to leave Hyderabad.

British Dominion Films

Ganguly returned to Calcuta and eventually formed another film production company British Dominion Films. Actor

Pramathesh Barua 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, Assam, Gauripur, Dhubri district, Dhubri, Assam. Early life Barua w ...

invested in this venture and also acted in a film produced by this company. However, with the arrival

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

s and new sound technologies, this film company failed.

Talkies era

Ganguly joined Barua Pictures company of Pramathesh Barua. But, soon both of them joined

B. N. Sircar Birendranath Sircar (also Sarkar; 5 July 1901 – 28 November 1980) was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famo ...

Recognition

* D.G. received

in 1974. * He received the

in 1975.

Filmography

Director

* Cartoon (1949) * Shesh Nibedan (1948) * Srinkhal (1947) * Daabi (1943) * Ahuti (1941) * Karmakhali (1940) * Path-Bhule (1940) * Abhisarika (1938) * Achin Priya (1938) * Hal Bangla (1938) * Country Girl (1936) (Hindi: Dehati Ladki) * Dwipantar (1936) * Bidrohi (1935) * Excuse Me, Sir (1934) * Halkatha (1934) * Mastuto Bhai (1934) * Night Bird (1934) * Charitraheen (1931) * Takay Ki Na Hay (1931) (English title: Money Makes What Not) * Alik Babu (1930) (English title: Master Liar) * Flames of Flesh (1930) (Bengali title: Kamonar Agun) * Bimata (1923) (Hindi title: Bijoy Basant, English title: Stepmother) * Chintamani (1923) * The Marriage Tonic (1923) * Sati Simantini (1923) * Vijay and Basanta (1923) * Yayati (1923) * Yashoda Nandan (1922) (Hindi title: Shri Radha Krishna) * Hara Gouri (1922) * Indrajeet (1922) * Lady Teacher (1922)

Actor

* Shesh Nibedan (1948) * Bondita (1945) * Hal Bangla (1938) * Excuse Me, Sir (1934) * Mastuto Bhai (1934) * Maraner Pare (1931) (English title: After the Death) * Takay Ki Na Hay (1931) (English title: Money Makes What Not) * Panchasar (1930) (English title: Blind God / Five Arrows) * Alik Babu (1930) (English title: Master Liar) * Shankaracharya (1927) (English title: Renaissance of Hinduism) * Yashoda Nandan (1922) (Hindi title: Shri Radha Krishna) * Lady Teacher (1922) * Sadhu Aur Shaitan (1922) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned)

Writer

* Shesh Nibedan (1948) (screenplay) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned) (writer)

Producer

* Flames of Flesh (1930) (Bengali title: Kamonar Agun) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned)

References

External links

*
Bangla Films Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganguly, Dhiren Visva-Bharati University alumni Bengali film producers Bengali male actors Male actors in Bengali cinema Indian male actors Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients 1893 births 1978 deaths Mass media people from Kolkata