Utpalendu Chakrabarty (1948 – 20 August 2024) was an Indian filmmaker based in

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 ...

Life and career

Chakrabarty was born in

Pabna District Pabna District () is a district in west central Bangladesh. It is a geographically and economically important district. Its administrative capital is the eponymous Pabna town. The main five rivers of this district are: Padma, Jamuna, Baral, Atra ...

in 1948. Utpalendu graduated from

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. ...

, of the

University of Calcutta 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 ...

. Chakrabarty was involved in

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

in his student life and spent time in Purulia among the tribal. Although he started out as a teacher, his passion was cinema. He made several documentaries and films. He was once married to Indrani Chakraborty and later divorced. He remarried to director and activist Satarupa Sanyal but divorced in 2000. His daughters Chitrangada Satarupa and Ritabhari Chakraborty revealed that they had no connection to Utpalendu, their biological father. He has won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 28th National Film Awards in 1980 for Maina Tadanta, the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and Direction at the 30th National Film Awards in 1982 for Chokh, the Berlin International Film Festival OCIC Award in 1983 for Chokh and the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film at the 32nd National Film Awards in 1984 for Music of Satyajit Ray. Chakrabarty died in Kolkata on 20 August 2024, at the age of 76.

Filmography

Director

Feature films

* ''Prasab'' 1994 * ''Chandaneer'' 1989 * ''Phaansi'' 1988 * '' Debshishu'' 1985 * '' Chokh'' 1983 * ''Maina Tadanta'' 1980

Television films

* ''Dwibachan'' 1989 * ''Sonar Chheye Dami'' 1989 * ''Rang'' 1989 * ''Bikalpa'' 1988 * ''Aparichita'' 1986 * ''Aparichita'' 2002 * ''Kalo Patharer Itikatha (Balad of the black Stone)'' * ''Chua Chandan'' * ''May Day'' 2005

Documentaries

* ''The Music of Satyajit Ray'' 1984 * ''Debrata Biswas'' 1983 * ''Mukti Chai'' 1977 * ''Sunilo Sagore (On The Life of Sunil Gangopadhyay)''

Writer

* ''The Music of Satyajit Ray'' (Documentary) 1984 * ''Chokh'' (Screenplay / Story) 1983

Composer

* ''Chokh'' 1983

Music director

* ''Chhaturtha Panipather Juddha'' 1995

Awards

* Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 28th National Film Awards in 1980 for ''Maina Tadanta'' *

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...

at the 30th National Film Awards in 1982 for ''Chokh'' *

National Film Award for Best Direction The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Bro ...

at the 30th National Film Awards in 1982 for ''Chokh'' *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

OCIC Award in 1983 for ''Chokh'' * National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film at the 32nd National Film Awards in 1984 for ''Music of Satyajit Ray''. * Banga Bibhushan by

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

References

External links

Calcuttaweb Utpalendu Chakrabarty
*
On ''The Music of Satyajit Ray''

On ''Chokh''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakrabarty, Utpalendu 1948 births 2024 deaths Bengali writers Bengali film directors Indian male screenwriters Indian documentary filmmakers Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Best Director National Film Award winners Film directors from Kolkata 21st-century Indian people Indian television directors Screenwriters from Kolkata 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers Director whose film won the Best Debut Feature Film National Film Award Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award People from Pabna District