Basu Chatterjee, who narrated tales of heart on screen, dies
Director’s most adored films focused on men, women’s love & longing
Basu Chatterjee, the writer-director often credited with making movies that told endearing stories about middle class India’s small, simple desires, aspirations and frustrations, passed away on Thursday at his residence in Mumbai because of age-related issues. He was
93. Chatterjee was laid to rest at Santa Cruz crematorium, with close family and friends paying their last respects.
Several Bollywood personalities, including Amol Palekar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Shoojit Sircar paid tribute to him.
Actress Divya Dutta beautifully summarised Chatterjee’s cinema in her tweet: “O god!! RIP #basuchatterji.. Thank you for those smiles and amazingly feel-good films… and the simplicity. Thank you for adding the #khattameetha flavour to movies! You will be missed, dada.”
Born in January 1930, Chatterjee was a late entrant to the world of cinema. For 18 years, he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator with Blitz, a weekly Mumbai-based tabloid run by Russi Karanjia. He first ventured into films in 1966 when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam, which won the National Award for best film. Launching his directorial career at the age of 39 with with Sara Akash (1969), Basu-da, as he was lovingly called, went on to write and direct about 40 Hindi and Bengali films.
Basu Chatterjee, the writer-director often credited with making movies that told endearing stories about middle class India’s small, simple desires, aspirations and frustrations, passed away on Thursday at his residence in Mumbai because of age-related issues. He was 93.
Chatterjee was laid to rest at Santa Cruz crematorium, with close family and friends paying their last respects.
Several Bollywood personalities, including Amol Palekar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Shoojit Sircar paid tribute to him.
Actress Divya Dutta beautifully summarised Chatterjee’s cinema in her tweet: “O god!! RIP #basuchatterji.. Thank you for those smiles and amazingly feel-good films… and the simplicity. Thank you for adding the #khattameetha flavour to movies! You will be missed, dada.”
Born in January 1930, Chatterjee was a late entrant to the world of cinema. For 18 years, he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator with Blitz, a weekly Mumbai-based tabloid run by Russi Karanjia. He first ventured into films in 1966 when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam, which won the National Award for best film. Launching his directorial career at the age of 39 with with Sara Akash (1969), Basu-da, as he was lovingly called, went on to write and direct about 40 Hindi and Bengali films. His last film was Trishanku in 2011.
Chatterjee is often referred to as the master of middle-of-the-road cinema, but that is only partly true. Though his filmography is dominated by simple, sweet stories spun around choti-choti baatein and khwaishein which were instantly loved by the audience, including Rajnigandha (1974), Chitchor (1976), Baton Baton Mein (1979) and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), he also directed hard-hitting films that remain shining jewels in India’s oeuvre of parallel cinema.
His 1986 film, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, based on the play, 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, starring Pankaj Kapur as Juror No. 3, told the story of a middle-class man who was angry at the justice system for failing him, and Kamla Ki Maut (1989) told the story of an unwed mother.
Chatterjee, whose most adored films focused on young, working men and women’s love and longing, went all-out raunchy when he told the story of four lustful old men, geriatrics really, desperate for sex in Shaukeen (1982). The film starred Ashok Kumar, A.K. Hangal, Utpal Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty and Rati Agnihotri and had the kind of bawdy humour not associated with Chatterjee.
In his career, Chatterjee worked with a range of producers (from Tarachand Barjatiya to B.R. Chopra), actors and lead pairs. He launched Amol Palekar in Bollywood, and directed Amitabh Bachchan in Manzil, Rajesh Khanna in Chakravyuh, Dev Anand and Tina Munim in Man Pasand, DharmendraHema
Malini in Dillagi, and Shabana Azmi-Girish Karnad in Swami (1977).
He also directed seven serials for Doordarshan, including Rajani, the iconic Sunday morning show starring Priya Tendulkar, and Byomkesh Bakshi, the series on the Bengali detective starring Rajit Kapur.
Chatterjee, along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, carved a special space for himself in Indian cinema at a time when angry young men dominated the box-office.
He will be remembered for movies that often encased hit, hummable songs (Uthe sab ke kadam, Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai, Jaaneman jaaneman tere do nayan...), and some which, like Kai baar yun hi dekha hai, carry more than a hint of philosophy. Like his films, they sing of the confusion of heart’s many small, competing desires.