Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films such as '' Anand Ashram'' (1977), Anusandhan /'' Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981), ''Anyay Abhichar'' (1985), ''

Howrah Bridge The Howrah Bridge is a balanced steel bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the both ...

'' (1958), '' Insan Jaag Utha'' (1959), '' China Town'' (1962), '' Kashmir Ki Kali'' (1964), ''

An Evening in Paris ''An Evening In Paris'' is a 1967 Indian romantic thriller film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta, with story by Sachin Bhowmick. It revolves in the French capital city of Paris. It stars Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore (in a double role ...

'' (1967), '' Aradhana'' (1969), ''

Kati Patang () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Asha Parekh as a woman pretending to be a widow, and her ensuing trials and tribulations opposite her charming neighbour, played by R ...

'' (1971), and '' Amar Prem'' (1972), '' Amanush'' (1975). He received

Filmfare Award 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 Time ...

s for Best Film for '' Aradhana'' (1969), '' Anuraag'' (1973) and '' Amanush'' (1975), which was also made in Bengali, a language in which he made six films, including an Indo-Bangladesh joint production in 1984.

Early life and education

He was born in the village of Bokra (post office: Raina), in the district of Purba Bardhaman, in the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces 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 received his education at

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

, staying with his uncle. He graduated in 1944 from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Career

After completing his education he wanted to become an actor in the Hindi film industry at Bombay, so moved closer to the city. He took a school teacher's job in Dapoli, about 200 kilometres from Mumbai. Shakti Samanta actually wanted to be a playback singer in the beginning. Around 1947, he went to S.D. Burman for an audition. After listening to him Burman told him that he could give him a role in a chorus song, but not in a solo song. So he shifted his energies elsewhere. He eventually joined the film industry in 1948 as an assistant director starting with Satish Nigam in

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

starrer ''Sunhere Din'', subsequently he worked with directors like

Gyan Mukherjee Gyan Mukherjee (30 September 1909 – 13 November 1956) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, who worked in Hindi cinema, best known for the hits '' Jhoola'' (1941) and '' Kismet'' (1943). Early life Mukherjee was born on 30 Septembe ...

, and

Phani Majumdar Phani Majumdar was a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema, most known for his film ''Street Singer (1938 film), Street Singer'' (1938) starring K.L. Saigal noted for its song, ''Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye'' ...

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 ...

, in ''Tamasha'', ''Baadbaan'' and '' Dhobi Doctor''. Eventually he got his break as an independent director when Samanta directed his first feature film, ''Bahu'' in 1954, starring Karan Dewan, Usha Kiron, Shashikala and PranGolden banner
Rajiv Vijayakar. '' Screen'', 11 July 2008. and after the success for his next few films, ''

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

'' (1956), ''Sheroo'' (1956), ''Detective'' (1957) and ''Hill Station'' (1957), he started his own production company, ''Shakti Films'', in 1957, and the first release of his independent banner was the murder-mystery ''

'', with

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 ...

and

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. She is considered as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema. One of the country ...

as the lead, with its crooning number 'Aaiye Meherbaan' with music by O. P. Nayyar, sung by

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

in a notable

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) ...

style, and picturised on Madhubala became a rage, and the film a breakthrough hit; this was a turning point.Five decades of Shakti Films
'' Screen'', 12 December 2008. With '' Insaan Jaag Utha'' (1959) starring

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Raghunath Dutt; 6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi Cinema. He acted in more than 80 films over a career spanning five decades and was t ...

and

, he wanted to shift to making films on social themes, but when it was unsuccessful, he shifted back to making entertainers for another decade, for returning to social themes, with ''Aradhana'' (1969). In all, Samanta directed 43 feature films, including 37

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 ...

, and 6 Bengali films. His best known films include ''Howrah Bridge'', ''China Town'', ''Kashmir Ki Kali'', ''Sawan Ki Ghata'' and ''An Evening in Paris''. He is credited for starting the trend of making double version films in

and Bengali with ''Amanush'' in 1974, and also made the first co-produced film between

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 ...

and

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 ...

in 1984. Samanta was among the directors who worked with

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. Kapoor is considered one of the greatest and most s ...

in the late 1950s and up to the mid '60s, then with

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 ...

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 ...

, creating a number of classics such as '' Aradhana'', , '' Anurodh'' and '' Amar Prem''. However, his movies with

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

were not major hits. On some of his films, his brother and wife were producers. He also produced some of the films that his son, Ashim Samanta, directed. In 1985, Shakti Films established 'Aradhana Sound Service', a digital audio post-production facility which works both for

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 ...

as well as Hollywood films. Samanta died of cardiac arrest at his suburban Santa Cruz residence at approximately 5pm on 9 April 2009, while undergoing physiotherapy. He was recovering from a stroke he had suffered two months ago.

Legacy

Three of his classics, ''Howrah Bridge'', ''Aradhana'' and '' Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'', starring Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee, are to be turned into animation films by ' Pritish Nandy Communications'

Awards and recognition

Samanta received

s for " Best Film" for '' Aradhana'', '' Anuraag'' and '' Amanush''. He has also received several Lifetime Achievement awards, including the Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2002 and several other awards from Zee and other Indian organisations. Some of his films have been shown at international festivals in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, Moscow,

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. Samanta was President of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association for 5 years, Chairman of the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...

( CBFC) for 7 years and was Chairman of the

Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) is a film and television institute located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Named after renowned Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, the institute provides higher and professional education and tech ...

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 2 years.

Filmography

;Director Bengali: * '' Amanush'' (1975) Bengali * '' Anand Ashram'' (1977) Bengali * Anusandhan (1981) Bengali * ''Anyay Abichar'' (1985) Bengali * '' Andha Bichar'' (1990) Bengali Bollywood: * ''Bahu'' (1955) * ''

'' (1956) * ''Hill Station'' (1957) * ''Sheroo'' (1957) * ''

'' (1958) * ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

'' (1958) * '' Insan Jaag Utha'' (1959) * '' Jaali Note'' (1960) * ''

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

'' (1960) * '' Isi Ka Naam Duniya Hai'' (1962) * '' Naughty Boy'' (1962) * '' China Town'' (1962) * ''Ek Raaz'' (1963) * '' Kashmir Ki Kali'' (1964) * '' Sawan Ki Ghata'' (1966) * ''

'' (1967) * '' Aradhana'' (1969) * ''

'' (1970) * '' Pagla Kahin Ka'' (1970) * '' Jaane-Anjaane'' (1971) * '' Amar Prem'' (1971) * '' Anuraag'' (1972) * (1974) * Hindi (1974) * '' Mehbooba'' (1976) * '' Anurodh'' (1977) * '' The Great Gambler'' (1979) * '' Khwaab'' (1980) * '' Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981) Hindi and Bengali Bilingual * '' Ayaash'' (1982) * '' Awaaz'' (1984) * '' Alag Alag'' (1985) * ''

Aar Paar ''Aar Paar'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language Film noir, noir comedy film. Directed by Guru Dutt, it has music by O.P. Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. ''Aar-Paar'' stars Johnny Walker (actor), Johnny Walker, Shyama (Hindi actress), Sh ...

'' (1985) * '' Dushman'' (1990) * '' Geetanjali'' (1993) * '' Devdas'' (2002) ;Producer * '' Balika Badhu'' (1976) * '' Achena Atithi'' (1997)Shakti Samanta – Filmography
''Upperstall.com''.

References

External links

*
Shakti Samanta Panorama
at ''Indian Auteur'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samanta, Shakti 1926 births 2009 deaths Bengali film directors Filmfare Awards winners Hindi-language film directors Film producers from West Bengal People from Purba Bardhaman district University of Calcutta alumni Indian male screenwriters Bengali Hindus Film directors from West Bengal 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers