Suman Mukhopadhyay (), or Suman Mukherjee (born 20 November 1966) is an Indian film director.His popular films are

Herbert (film) Herbert is a 2005 Bengali-language drama film directed by veteran theater director Suman Mukhopadhyay. It was based on Nabarun Bhattacharya's 1997 Sahitya Akademi Award winning novel of the same name. Plot The story starts with one Herbert ...

Kangal Malsat ''Kangal Malsat'' ("War Cry of the Have-Nots") is a 2013 Indian Bengali-language political satire film directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay and based on the novel of the same name written by Nabarun Bhattacharya. , the Central Board of Film Certificat ...

, Shesher Kobita (2014).

Career

Suman Mukhopadhyay's recently completed feature film " Putulnacher Itikatha" (The Puppet's Tale), based on the novel by Manik Bandyopadhyay, is selected for the Big Screen Competition in the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, 2025. Suman was a George A. Miller Visiting Artist at

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

at Urbana Champaign to work for Tagore Festival. In 2022 he was on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

with

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York. His first cinematic directorial debut film was ''

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

'' which was released in 2005 and won the National Award for Best Bengali film. His feature film " Nazarband" (2020) premiered at Busan International Film Festival. His earlier film " Asamapta"(Incomplete), premiered in IFFLA, USA. Before that " Shesher Kabita" (The Last Poem) with Rahul Bose and

Konkona Sen Sharma Konkona Sen Sharma (; born 3 December 1979) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works primarily in Bengali and Hindi films. She has received several awards, including two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards. The daughter of filmm ...

premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival and was released on 7 August 2015. "

"(The War Cry of the Beggars) his 4th feature film released in August 2013. ''Mahanagar@Kolkata'' was completed in 2009. The film was screened in Munich, Kerala and New York film festivals. His second film ''

Chaturanga Chaturanga (, , ) is an Traditional games of India, ancient Indian Strategy game, strategy board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is t ...

'', based on Tagore's novel, was completed in 2008 and premiered at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Posham Pa ''Posham Pa'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay. The film stars Mahie Gill, Sayani Gupta, Ragini Khanna in the main lead roles. The title generally refers to a children's rhyme but the ...

'' and directed five episodes of '' Parchhayee'' based on Ruskin Bond stories. Suman's latest theatre productions are "Tiner Tolowar" (Utpal Dutt), "Bechara B.B" (based on Brecht's works), "Aajker Sajahan" (Utpal Dutt) and an adaptation of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya". In 2022, he directed "

Shikhandi Shikhandi () is a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Born as the daughter of Drupada, the King of Panchala, Shikhandi becomes male after agreeing to a sex exchange with a yaksha. He is the brother of Draupadi, the female protagonist of th ...

", a solo act, which opened in New Jersey. (June 2022). Mukhopadhyay has done theatre productions ranging from European drama to major adaptations of Bengali works. He used to be a part of the Bengali theatre Group Chetana. Among his many works some are ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

'' (Anton Chekhov) with National School of Drama, '' Raja Lear'' (

Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; ; 19 January 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the histor ...

as King Lear) with Minerva Repertory Theatre, '' Sunyo Sudhu Sunyo Noy'', '' Bisarjan'' (Rabindranath Tagore), '' Teesta Paarer Brittanto'' and '' Samay Asamayer Brittanto'', adapted from the novels by Debesh Roy and ''

Mephisto Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition. Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film * Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a Germa ...

'', based on

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann (with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship) and Go ...

's German novel. He has also staged

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 ...

's ''

Raktakarabi Raktakarabi or Roktokorobi may refer to: * ''Raktakarabi'' (film), 2017 Indian Bengali-language film * ''Raktakarabi'' (play), 1924 play by Rabindranath Tagore * ''Roktokorobi'' (TV series), 2023 TV series {{dis ...

''; ''Falguni-Prelude'', Shakespeare/Brecht's ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

'' and

Śūdraka Shudraka (IAST: ) was an Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit drama, Sanskrit plays are attributed: ''Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart''), ''Vinavasavadatta'', and a ''bhana'' (short one-act monologue), ''Padmaprabhritaka''. Accordi ...

's ''

The Little Clay Cart ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

''. He directed ''The Man of the Heart'' (''Life and Times of Lalon Fokir'') at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...

's ''Nagamandala'' at the Department of Theatre,

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, K ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. ''Man of the Heart'' was also invited to

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

, London.

Filmography

Feature films

*''

'' (2005) *''

'' (2008) *'' Mahanagar@Kolkata'' (2009) *''

'' (2013) *''Shesher Kobita'' (2014) *'' Asamapta'' (2017) *''

Posham Pa ''Posham Pa'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay. The film stars Mahie Gill, Sayani Gupta, Ragini Khanna in the main lead roles. The title generally refers to a children's rhyme but the ...

'' (2019) - Hindi *'' Nazarband'' (2020) *''Putulnacher Itikotha'' (2025) It competed in the Big Screen Competition section of the

54th International Film Festival Rotterdam The 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam, is the 2025 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which was held from 30 January to 9 February 2025. The complete line-up of films competing in the festival was revealed on 17 Decem ...

to be screened in February 2025.

Awards

"Nazarband" - Audience Award at River to River Indian Film Festival, Florence "Posham Pa" - Kali Film Award at Female Filmmakers Festival, Berlin Recipient of MPA/APSA Script Development Award at Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Brisbane *His film ''Chaturanga'' received the Gran Prix at Bridge Fest,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

; Best Director at Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and the Golden Palm at Mexico International Film Festival. *His film Herbert for Silver Lotus for the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, 2005.Audience Award at the Dhaka International Film Festival, 2006.

Others

Suman_Mukhopadhyay_speaks_in_the_Rally_against_Kamduni_Case

Mukhopadhyay is a known face of Civil Society Movement in West Bengal from the tenure of Left Front Government. He also participated in rallies or talk shows against political violence by all the parties. On 21 June he joined in a protest march in Metro Channel with other intellectuals of

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 ...

led by poet Shankha Ghosh in protest against the growing crimes against women in the state and the 2013 Kamduni gang rape and murder case.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mukhopadhyay, Suman 1966 births Living people 21st-century Indian people Film directors from Kolkata Bengali Hindus Bengali film producers Bengali film directors Bengali writers Film theorists Indian film score composers Bengali-language writers Film producers from Kolkata Indian theatre directors Bengali theatre personalities People from Howrah