Kolkata: Eminent movie director Buddhadeb Dasgupta, who had been battling kidney illnesses for fairly a while, died at his residence right here early on Thursday following a cardiac arrest, members of the family mentioned. He was 77.
The nationwide award-winning director is survived by his spouse, and two daughters from a earlier marriage.
Extending her condolences to the ace director’s family and friends, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “Saddened at the passing away of eminent filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta. Through his works, he infused lyricism into the language of cinema. His death comes as a great loss for the film fraternity.”
Dasgupta was discovered immobile by his spouse, Sohini, at his residence in Kalikapur space of the town at 6 am, in accordance with the members of the family.
He suffered cardiac arrest in his sleep, they added.
Mourning his demise, filmmaker Goutam Ghosh mentioned, “Buddha da continued to make films, write articles and stay active, despite his failing health. He had directed ‘Tope’ and ‘Urojahaz’ even when he was unwell. It is a great loss for all of us.”
Actor-director Aparna Sen mentioned Dasgupta’s movies have been “soaked in surrealism”.
“I am sad that I won’t be able to bid a final farewell to Buddhadeb da at the crematorium like I did in the case of Mrinal da. It is upsetting that we cannot give due recognition to a director of his calibre, due to this COVID pandemic and the lockdown,” Sen mentioned.
Actor and theatre character Kaushik Sen mentioned Dasgupta was within the league of filmmakers equivalent to Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, “who took Bengali cinema to global platforms”.
“He had often been accused of making cinema in a style that was not easily understood by the masses. But he stuck to that style, never deviated from what he believed in,” Sen mentioned.
Born in 1944 in Purulia, Dasgupta started his profession as a lecturer in a school earlier than taking a plunge into filmmaking within the 70s, after having enrolled his identify as a member of Calcutta Film Society.
He made his first characteristic movie ‘Dooratwa’ in 1978, leaving his mark as a poet-lyricist-director.
Prior to that, he had made a brief ‘Samayer Kache’.
Some of the notable movies he has helmed embrace ‘Neem Annapurna’, ‘Grihajuddha’, ‘Bagh Bahadur’, ‘Tahader Katha’, ‘Charachar’, ‘Lal Darja’, ‘Uttara’, ‘Swapner Din’, ‘Kaalpurush’ and ‘Janala’.
He had additionally directed Hindi movies — ‘Andhi Gali’ and ‘Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa’.
Dasgupta — who bagged 12 nationwide awards in his lifetime — was liberal in his views, having criticized a number of political actions in current occasions.
He stood by youthful filmmaker Anik Dutta when anti-establishment ‘Bhobisyoter Bhoot’ was withdrawn from theatres within the metropolis one week after launch.
A recipient of Venice movie competition silver lion, Locarno critics’ award and Locarno Special Jury award, the auteur, after one among his ventures didn’t get a business launch just a few years in the past, had instructed PTI, “It hurts me when my film gets recognized internationally but doesn’t hit the theatres in Kolkata and the rest of Bengal. But there is a strong distribution lobby at work.”Â
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