Remembering Basu Chatterjee ji 1927-2020

Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema, with filmmakers such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films also dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships, with exceptions such as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) and Kamla Ki Maut (1989), which delved into social and moral issues. He is best known for his films Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Rajnigandha (1974), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Khatta Meetha , Chakravyuha (1978 film), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Priyatama (1977), Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen (1982), and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), which was his last commercially successful movie.

Chatterjee directed the Bengali film, Hothath Brishti (1998), which was a joint production of Bangladesh and India. The film featured Ferdous Ahmed from Bangladesh and Priyanka Trivedi and Sreelekha Mitra from West Bengal. It was widely appreciated by the audience.Later, he had worked with Ferdous in Indian-Bengali films like Chupi Chupi (2001), Tok Jhal Mishti (2002) and Hotath Shedin (2012), another joint production of Bangladesh and India. He wrote the script for the Bangladeshi film Ek Cup Cha, directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul.

Basu Chatterjee was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. Chatterjee started his career as an illustrator and cartoonist with the weekly tabloid Blitz published in Bombay (now Mumbai), by Russi Karanjia. Here he worked for 18 years, before he changed career paths to filmmaking, when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam (1966), which later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Eventually, he made his directorial debut with Sara Akash in 1969, which won him the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.
When Basu Chatterjee debuted with the much acclaimed Sara Akash, he not only announced the arrival of a new kind of cinema, rooted in the regular lives of ordinary people, he also etched 1969 as the year that marked the beginning of the Indian New Wave cinema. Together with Mani Kaul's Uski Roti and Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome, Sara Akash took Indian films to the next level, taking a close look at the conflicts, aspirations, emotions and relationships of people who were next door, not larger than life.
Some of his best films are Us Paar, Rajnigandha (1974), Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Khatta Meetha , Chakravyuha (1978 film), Baton Baton Mein(1979) Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka and Shaukeen. Other lesser known films included Swami, Apne Paraye and Ek Ruka Hua Faisla. He also directed stars in his simple films, but in completely different never before seen roles. He directed Dev Anand with Tina Munim in Man Pasand, Rajesh Khanna with Neetu Singh in Chakravyuha (1978 film), Dharmendra with Hema Malini in Dillagi and Amitabh Bachchan in Manzil. Of them, only Chakravyuha and Manzil were not successful at box office, but were critically acclaimed. He has also directed many Bengali films such as Hothat Brishti, Hochcheta Ki and Hothat Shei Din.
He directed the TV Series Byomkesh Bakshi and the popular Rajani (TV series) for Doordarshan.
Awards
2007: IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award
1991: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Kamla Ki Maut
1980: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie – Jeena Yahan
1977: Filmfare Best Director Award – Swami
1976: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Chhoti Si Baat
1975: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie – Rajnigandha
1972: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award – Sara Akash