Bengali cinema
Encyclopedia
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language
filmmaking industries in the Bengal
region of South Asia
. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata
, West Bengal
, India
(Indian cinema) and the other in Dhaka
, Bangladesh
(Bangladeshi cinema
).
The history of cinema in Bengal
dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata
. Within a decade, the first seeds of the industry was sown by Hiralal Sen
, considered a stalwart of Victorian era
cinema when he set up the Royal Bioscope Company
, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows at the Star Theatre
, Minerva Theatre
, Classic Theatre. Following a long gap after Sen's works, Dhirendra Nath Ganguly
(Known as D.G) established Indo British Film Co
, the first Bengali owned production company, in 1918. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal
, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre
. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatre
production of Jamai Shashthi
(1931), under Amar Chauduri's direction was the first Bengali talkie A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray
, Mrinal Sen
and Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the movie history.
On the other side of the border, Mukh O Mukhosh
was released on 3 August 1956, written and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan
, based on his drama scrip Dacoit, produced by Nuruz Zaman and Shahidul Alam, distributed by Iqbal Films and acted by Inam Ahmed and Zahrat Azra.
, West Bengal
, India
(the Cinema of West Bengal
, sometimes called Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge
and Hollywood), is one of many centres for Indian regional filmmaking; and the other one in Dhaka
, Bangladesh
(the Cinema of Bangladesh
, sometimes called Dhallywood, a portmanteau of the words Dhaka and Hollywood), is the mainstream national film industry of Bangladesh
.
is credited as one of Bengal's, and India's first directors. However, these were all silent film
s. Hiralal Sen is also credited as one of the pioneers of advertisement films in India. The first Bengali-language movie was the silent feature Billwamangal
, produced by the Madan Theatre Company of Calcutta and released on 8 November 1919, only six years after the first full-length Indian feature film, Raja Harish Chandra, was released.
The early beginnings of the "talking film" industry go back to the early 1930s, when it came to British India, and to Calcutta. The movies were originally made in Urdu
or Persian
as to accommodate a specific elite market. One of the earliest known studios was the East India Film Company
. The first Bengali film to be made as a talkie was Jamai Shashthi
, released in 1931. It was at this time that the early heroes of the Bengali film industry like Pramathesh Barua
and Debaki Bose
were at the peak of their popularity. Barua also directed a number of movies, exploring new dimension in Indian cinema. Debaki Bose directed Chandidas in 1932; this film is noted for its breakthrough in recording sound. Sound recordist Mukul Bose found out solution to the problem of spacing out dialogue and frequency modulation.
The 'Parallel Cinema
' movement of Indian cinema
began in the Bengali film industry during the 1950s, and then gained prominence in the other film industries of India.
, an area of South Kolkata
, West Bengal
and is more elite and artistically-inclined than the usual musical
cinema fare in India. In the past, it enjoyed a large, even disproportionate, representation in Indian cinema, and produced film directors like Satyajit Ray
, who was an Academy Honorary Award
winner, and the recipient of India and France's greatest civilian honours, the Bharat Ratna
and Legion of Honor
respectively, and Mrinal Sen
, who is the recipient of the French distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
and the Russian Order of Friendship
. The early nickname for the Tollygunge film industry, "Tollywood
", was also the very first Hollywood-inspired name
, dating back to a 1932 article in the American Cinematographer
by Wilford E. Deming (due to Tollygunge rhyming with Hollywood) and went on to inspire the name "Bollywood
" and other similar names.
Other prominent film makers in the Bengali film industry are Bimal Roy
, Ritwik Ghatak, and Aparna Sen
. The Bengali film industry has produced classics such as Nagarik
(1952) The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), Jalsaghar
(1958), Ajantrik
(1958), Neel Akasher Neechey
(1959), Devdas
, Devi (1960), Meghe Dhaka Tara
(1960), the Calcutta trilogies
(1971–1976), etc. In particular, The Apu Trilogy is now frequently listed among the greatest films of all time.
The most well known Bengali
actor to date has been Uttam Kumar
; he and co-star Suchitra Sen
were known as The Eternal Pair in the early 1950s. Soumitra Chatterjee
is a notable actor, having acted in several Satyajit Ray
films, and considered as a rival to Uttam Kumar
in the 1960s He is famous for the characterization of Feluda
in Sonar Kella
(1974) and Joy Baba Felunath (1978), written and directed by Ray. He also played the adult version of Apu in The World of Apu (1959), also directed by Ray. One of the most well known Bengali actresses was Sharmila Tagore
, who debuted in Ray's The World of Apu, and became a major actress in Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood
.
The pioneers in Bengali film music include Raichand Boral
, Pankaj Mullick
and K. C. Dey
, all associated with New Theatres Calcutta
. Other famous playback singers in Bengali film music were Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey
, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay
and Kishore Kumar
.
In the 1980s, however, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi film
s, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation, with notable exceptions of the works of directors like Gautam Ghose
. However, even at this time, a number of actors and actresses enjoyed popularity, including Tapas Pal
, Prosenjit
, Chiranjit, Rituparna Sengupta
and others. However, toward the end of the 90s, with the a number of directors coming increasingly into prominence, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta
, Rituparno Ghosh
, Gautam Ghose
, Aparna Sen
, Sandip Ray
among others, a number of popular and critically acclaimed movies have come out of the Bengali film industry in recent years. These include, Unishe April
, Titli
, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
, Bombaiyer Bombete
, Antaheen
, etc. and signal a resurgence of the Bengali film industry. Now after 2000 their rise another group of actor (Jeet, Dev, Parambrata, Rudranil), actress(Koel Mallik), (Srabanti Chatterjee), Directors Sekhar Das, Aniruddha Roychodhury, Arin Paul
, Atanu Ghosh, Srijit Mukherji
, Raj Chakrobarty, Musicians (Jeet Ganguly). The latest films by the Raj Chakroborty, Jeet Ganguly, Dev, Jeet, Koel are no doubt big hits, but they lack the quality of cinema,acting capability as an art and is mostly catered in view of the rural audience.Those kind of actor & actress(dev,jeet,hiran,koel,srabanti) are a big joke for art of cinema. Some of the film like Madly Bangali, Antaheen
have truly depicted the image of urban youths.Sekhar das on the other hand took interest in the rural sections of the country and made his first trilogy 'Mahulbanir Sereng',Krantikaal' and 'Kaler Rakhal,'Mahulbanir Sereng' has been highly popular for its novelty of the subject as it portrayed for the first time the lives in the Indian forest.
The female director league from West Bengal consists of Aparna Sen, Sanghamitra Chaudhuri, Satabdi Roy, Satarupa Sanyal, Urmi Chakravarty and Reshmi Mitra.
Jahar Kanungo’s 'Nisshabd' made in 2005 has been critically acclaimed for its originality in the treatment of image and sound.
The market for Bengali films has expanded to a 340-million-strong Bengali audience in Bangladesh
, West Bengal
, Tripura
and Assam
. The industry could truly flourish if films from this state have a proper distribution network. While around 50 films are produced in West Bengal every year, only 30 make it to the theatres.
movement of 1960s was incorporated into mainstream cinema by director Srijit Mukherji
in his film Baishe Srabon
wherein famous film director Gautam Ghose
portrayed the role of a Hungryalist poet.
. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year. The average movie budget was about 12 crore
Bangladeshi taka.
Although the majority of the films made in Bangladesh are strictly commercial in nature, a handful of directors from Bangladesh have attained critical acclaim for their outstanding work. Zahir Raihan
, Khan Ataur Rahman
, Salahuddin, Alamgir Kabir
, Amjad Hussain
, Moshiuddin Shaker, Sheikh Niyamat Ali, Humayun Ahmed
, Morshedul Islam
, Tanvir Mokammel
, Tareque Masud
, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
, Sikder diamond are among those prominent directors. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
(A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray
and Mrinal Sen
.
Bangladesh has been officially submitting nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
from 2003. Masud's Matir Moina
(The Clay Bird) was the first film to be submitted, and won a number of other international awards from the Edinburgh
, Palm Springs
, Montreal, Marrakech
, Cairo
and Cannes Film Festival
s. Another internationally acclaimed filmmaker from Bangladesh is Morshedul Islam
, who won major awards at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
and other international film festival
s.
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
filmmaking industries in the Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
region of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(Indian cinema) and the other in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
(Bangladeshi cinema
Cinema of Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi film industry has been based in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, since 1956. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year, with an average movie budget of about 20,000,000 Bangladeshi taka...
).
The history of cinema in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. Within a decade, the first seeds of the industry was sown by Hiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen was an Indian photographer generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. He is also credited with creating India's first advertising films and quite possibly India's first political film...
, considered a stalwart of Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
cinema when he set up the Royal Bioscope Company
Royal Bioscope Company
The Royal Bioscope Company was the first film production company in Bengal, and possibly the first in India, set up in 1898 by Hiralal Sen, along with Matilal Sen, Deboki Lal Sen, and Bholanath Gupta. The initial productions used an Urban Bioscope bought from Warwick Trading Company in London...
, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows at the Star Theatre
Star Theatre, Calcutta
The Star Theatre is a theatre in Kolkata, built in 1883. Initially situated in Beadon Street, the theatre later moved to Cornwallis Street - now called Bidhan Sarani. The Star, along with the Minerva Theatre, was one of the first institutions of commercial Bengali theatre...
, Minerva Theatre
Minerva Theatre, Kolkata
The Minerva Theatre is a theatre in Calcutta, built in 1893. It was erected at the site on Beadon Street where the Great National Theatre stood before. The maiden play held on this stage was 'Macbeth'. It was initially owned by Nagendra Bhusan Mukhopaddhaya. In course of time, it witnessed several...
, Classic Theatre. Following a long gap after Sen's works, Dhirendra Nath Ganguly
Dhirendra Nath Ganguly
Dhirendra Nath Ganguly , better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G , was a Dadasaheb Phalke Award winning and Padma Bhushan recipient film enterpreneur/actor/director of Bengali Cinema. He had set up a number of film production companies: Indo British Film company, British Dominion Films, Lotus Film...
(Known as D.G) established Indo British Film Co
Indo British Film Co
The Indo British Film Co was a film production company set up by Dhirendra Nath Ganguly in 1918. It was the first Bengalee owned production company in India. The first production by the company was Bilat Ferat in 1921, directed by N.C. Lahiri.-External links:...
, the first Bengali owned production company, in 1918. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal
Billwamangal
Billwamangal is a 1919 Bengali black-and-white silent film by Rustomji Dhotiwala. It is credited as the first Bengali feature film and was released on November 1, 1919 at Comwallis Theatre in Calcutta....
, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or in short, Madan Theatres was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji Madan, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema....
. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or in short, Madan Theatres was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji Madan, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema....
production of Jamai Shashthi
Jamai Shashthi
Jamai Shashthi is a 1931 Bengali film directed by Amar Choudhury, produced by Madan Theatre Limited. It is a milestone of Bengali cinema as it was the first Bengali talkie. It was released in the same year as Alam Ara, first Indian talkie. Released on 11 April 1931 at Crown Cinema Hall in Calcutta....
(1931), under Amar Chauduri's direction was the first Bengali talkie A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...
and Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the movie history.
On the other side of the border, Mukh O Mukhosh
Mukh O Mukhosh
Mukh O Mukhosh was the first Bengali language feature film to be made in Bangladesh . It was produced by Iqbal Films and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan. The movie was released in East Pakistan on 3 August 1956. It was released in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, and Khulna...
was released on 3 August 1956, written and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan
Abdul Jabbar Khan
Justice Abdul Jabbar Khan was the 6th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He was Preceded by Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry.- External links:*...
, based on his drama scrip Dacoit, produced by Nuruz Zaman and Shahidul Alam, distributed by Iqbal Films and acted by Inam Ahmed and Zahrat Azra.
Two film industries
Today, there are two Bengali-language film industries: the one in KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(the Cinema of West Bengal
Cinema of West Bengal
The cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...
, sometimes called Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge
Tollygunge
Tollygunge is a locality of South Kolkata. It is flanked by the Eastern Railway south suburban line to the north, Lake Gardens and Golf Green in the east, the Pashchim & Purba Putiaries in the south, and Behala in the west.-History:...
and Hollywood), is one of many centres for Indian regional filmmaking; and the other one in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
(the Cinema of Bangladesh
Cinema of Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi film industry has been based in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, since 1956. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year, with an average movie budget of about 20,000,000 Bangladeshi taka...
, sometimes called Dhallywood, a portmanteau of the words Dhaka and Hollywood), is the mainstream national film industry of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Early history
Hiralal SenHiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen was an Indian photographer generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. He is also credited with creating India's first advertising films and quite possibly India's first political film...
is credited as one of Bengal's, and India's first directors. However, these were all silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s. Hiralal Sen is also credited as one of the pioneers of advertisement films in India. The first Bengali-language movie was the silent feature Billwamangal
Billwamangal
Billwamangal is a 1919 Bengali black-and-white silent film by Rustomji Dhotiwala. It is credited as the first Bengali feature film and was released on November 1, 1919 at Comwallis Theatre in Calcutta....
, produced by the Madan Theatre Company of Calcutta and released on 8 November 1919, only six years after the first full-length Indian feature film, Raja Harish Chandra, was released.
The early beginnings of the "talking film" industry go back to the early 1930s, when it came to British India, and to Calcutta. The movies were originally made in Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
or Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
as to accommodate a specific elite market. One of the earliest known studios was the East India Film Company
East India Film Company
The East India Film Company was the first Indian film company to screen a movie at an International Film Festival. Started in 1932 in Calcutta by R. L...
. The first Bengali film to be made as a talkie was Jamai Shashthi
Jamai Shashthi
Jamai Shashthi is a 1931 Bengali film directed by Amar Choudhury, produced by Madan Theatre Limited. It is a milestone of Bengali cinema as it was the first Bengali talkie. It was released in the same year as Alam Ara, first Indian talkie. Released on 11 April 1931 at Crown Cinema Hall in Calcutta....
, released in 1931. It was at this time that the early heroes of the Bengali film industry like Pramathesh Barua
Pramathesh Barua
Pramathesh Chandra Barua was a famous actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era.-Early life:...
and Debaki Bose
Debaki Bose
Debaki Bose , also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was a top director, writer, actor of Bengali cinema/Indian cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalpoush, Burdwan, Bengal, British India. He died on 17 November 1971 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He is known for his innovative use of sound...
were at the peak of their popularity. Barua also directed a number of movies, exploring new dimension in Indian cinema. Debaki Bose directed Chandidas in 1932; this film is noted for its breakthrough in recording sound. Sound recordist Mukul Bose found out solution to the problem of spacing out dialogue and frequency modulation.
The 'Parallel Cinema
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
' movement of Indian cinema
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
began in the Bengali film industry during the 1950s, and then gained prominence in the other film industries of India.
West Bengal film industry
The contribution of Bengali film industry to Indian film is quite significant. Based in TollygungeTollygunge
Tollygunge is a locality of South Kolkata. It is flanked by the Eastern Railway south suburban line to the north, Lake Gardens and Golf Green in the east, the Pashchim & Purba Putiaries in the south, and Behala in the west.-History:...
, an area of South Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
and is more elite and artistically-inclined than the usual musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
cinema fare in India. In the past, it enjoyed a large, even disproportionate, representation in Indian cinema, and produced film directors like Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, who was an Academy Honorary Award
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards , is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of...
winner, and the recipient of India and France's greatest civilian honours, the Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna...
and Legion of Honor
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
respectively, and Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...
, who is the recipient of the French distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
and the Russian Order of Friendship
Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship is a state decoration of Russia established by decree # 442 of March 2, 1994 of the President of the Russian Federation....
. The early nickname for the Tollygunge film industry, "Tollywood
Cinema of West Bengal
The cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...
", was also the very first Hollywood-inspired name
Hollywood-inspired names
Hollywood is such an iconic name that various other locations associated with the film industry are nicknamed with Hollywood-inspired names. Most starting with the first letter of the location and ending in the letters "-ollywood" or "-wood".-South Asia:...
, dating back to a 1932 article in the American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer is a monthly magazine published by the American Society of Cinematographers.American Cinematographer focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, going behind the scenes on domestic and international productions of all shapes and sizes...
by Wilford E. Deming (due to Tollygunge rhyming with Hollywood) and went on to inspire the name "Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
" and other similar names.
Other prominent film makers in the Bengali film industry are Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy was one of the most acclaimed Indian film directors of all time. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema...
, Ritwik Ghatak, and Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
. The Bengali film industry has produced classics such as Nagarik
Nagarik
Nagarik ,also spelled as Nagorik, The Citizen in English, was the first feature-length film directed by Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps, the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since...
(1952) The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), Jalsaghar
Jalsaghar
Jalsaghar is the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. Jalsaghar is a narration of the end days of a Zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy , is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by...
(1958), Ajantrik
Ajantrik
Ajantrik is a 1958 Indian Bengali film written and directed by parallel filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak...
(1958), Neel Akasher Neechey
Neel Akasher Neechey
Neel Akasher Neechey is a 1959 Bengali language film directed by Mrinal Sen, starring Kali Bannerjee, Manju Dey, Bikash Roy and others....
(1959), Devdas
Devdas
Devdas is a Bengali Romance novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Essentially, it is a retelling of the Krishna, Radha, and Meera myths, the relationships between its three protagonists - Devdas, Parvati, and Chandramukhi - paralleling the Hindu deities'.-Plot summary:Devdas is a young man from...
, Devi (1960), Meghe Dhaka Tara
Meghe Dhaka Tara
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 1960 film by written and director Ritwik Ghatak, based on a novel Shaktipada Rajguru. It stars Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Gita Dey, Bijan Bhattacharya, Niranjan Roy, and Gyanesh Mukherjee...
(1960), the Calcutta trilogies
Calcutta trilogy
The Calcutta trilogy may refer to either of the following two Bengali film trilogies:Three films by Satyajit Ray:* Pratidwandi * Seemabaddha * Jana Aranya...
(1971–1976), etc. In particular, The Apu Trilogy is now frequently listed among the greatest films of all time.
The most well known Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
actor to date has been Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime...
; he and co-star Suchitra Sen
Suchitra Sen
Suchitra Sen ; or Rama Dasgupta , is an Indian actress who acted in several Bengali films. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bengali films, Uttam Kumar, became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any...
were known as The Eternal Pair in the early 1950s. Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
is a notable actor, having acted in several Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
films, and considered as a rival to Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime...
in the 1960s He is famous for the characterization of Feluda
Feluda
Feluda, or Prodosh Chandra Mitra, who uses the anglicised name Pradosh C. Mitter, is a fictional private investigator starring in a series of Bengali novels and short stories written by the famous Indian Bengali film director and writer Satyajit Ray. The detective lives at Rajani Sen Road,...
in Sonar Kella
Sonar Kella
Sonar Kella , also Shonar Kella, released in the United States as The Golden Fortress, is a 1971 mystery novel and a 1974 film by Bengali writer and director Satyajit Ray. The film is an adaptation of the novel with minor plot changes and features the actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Santosh Dutta,...
(1974) and Joy Baba Felunath (1978), written and directed by Ray. He also played the adult version of Apu in The World of Apu (1959), also directed by Ray. One of the most well known Bengali actresses was Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
, who debuted in Ray's The World of Apu, and became a major actress in Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
.
The pioneers in Bengali film music include Raichand Boral
Raichand Boral
Rai Chand Boral was an Indian composer, considered by music conoisseurs to be the father of Bollywood film music.-Life and career:...
, Pankaj Mullick
Pankaj Mullick
Pankaj Mullick, also known as Pankaj Kumar Mullick was a Bengali Indian music director, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early exponent of Rabindra Sangeet.He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970, followed by the...
and K. C. Dey
K. C. Dey
Krishna Chandra De better known as K.C. Dey, was a Bengali actor, singer and music composer and teacher born in Calcutta . He was S.D. Burman's first musical teacher and mentor. He worked for New Theatres in Kolkata until 1940. He is best remembered for his Kirtan songs.Dey sang and composed...
, all associated with New Theatres Calcutta
New Theatres Calcutta
New Theatres, Calcutta was formed by producer B. N. Sircar . It was formed on 10 February 1931.Moto - Jivatang Jyotiretu Chhayam...
. Other famous playback singers in Bengali film music were Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey
Manna Dey
Prabodh Chandra Dey , better known by his nickname Manna Dey , is a playback singer in Bengali Assamese and Hindi films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, he was a part of Indian film playback music from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of...
, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay
Sandhya Mukhopadhyay
Sandhya Mukhopadhyay is an Indian singer and musician, specialising in Bengali music. She was born in Kolkata, India. She is also known as Sandhya Mukherjee.She was very close friends with the late Alpana Banerjee...
and Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
.
In the 1980s, however, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi film
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
s, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation, with notable exceptions of the works of directors like Gautam Ghose
Gautam Ghose
Goutam Ghose is one of the most acclaimed film directors of modern India. Born in Calcutta. Graduated from Calcutta University....
. However, even at this time, a number of actors and actresses enjoyed popularity, including Tapas Pal
Tapas Pal
Tapas Pal born in 1960 in a remote village in Jalpaiguri district is a Bengali actor from Calcutta, the son of Dr. Ganash Pal of Chandannagar. He is a Member of Parliament having won in the 2009 Indian General Eelections on a Trinamool Congress ticket from Krishnanagar . His mother hails from a...
, Prosenjit
Prasenjit Chatterjee
Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (also Prosenjit Chatterjee or Proshenjit Chattopadhyay , professionally known as Proshenjit, is a Bengali film actor. His fans affectionately called him Bumba Da...
, Chiranjit, Rituparna Sengupta
Rituparna Sengupta
Rituparna Sengupta is an Indian actress. She is the leading actress in Bengali Cinema for the last decade in India, and is also currently performing in critically acclaimed Hindi Cinema.- Early life and education :...
and others. However, toward the end of the 90s, with the a number of directors coming increasingly into prominence, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Buddhadeb Dasgupta is a poet and prominent contemporary Indian filmmaker, most known for films like Bagh Bahadur, Tahader Katha, Charachar and Uttara...
, Rituparno Ghosh
Rituparno Ghosh
Rituparno Ghosh is a Bengali film director. He has won 8 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad.- Early life and background :...
, Gautam Ghose
Gautam Ghose
Goutam Ghose is one of the most acclaimed film directors of modern India. Born in Calcutta. Graduated from Calcutta University....
, Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
, Sandip Ray
Sandip Ray
Sandip Ray is a film director living in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the only son of the noted Bengali director Satyajit Ray, and Bijoya Ray.-Career:...
among others, a number of popular and critically acclaimed movies have come out of the Bengali film industry in recent years. These include, Unishe April
Unishe April
Unishe April is an award-winning feature film directed by Rituparno Ghosh. The film is in Bengali. It stars Aparna Sen, Debashree Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dipankar Dey. The film's music is composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta. It won two National Film Awards in 1995, including the Golden Lotus...
, Titli
Titli
Titli is a 2002 Bengali film by Rituporno Ghosh, starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen, Mithun Chakraborty....
, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is a 2002 Indian drama film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by N. Venkatesan. The film features Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma as Meenakshi Iyer, a Tamil Iyer Brahmin who is a Hindu. Rahul Bose portrays the character of Raja Chowdhury, a Muslim wildlife...
, Bombaiyer Bombete
Bombaiyer Bombete
Bombaiyer Bombete is a thriller film directed by Sandip Ray based on the story of the same name by Satyajit Ray.-Plot:Lalmohan Ganguly, alias Jatayu - a sidekick of Feluda - gets invited to Mumbai to watch the shooting of a film based on a novel written by him...
, Antaheen
Antaheen
Antaheen is a 2009 Bengali film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. The film stars Radhika Apte, Rahul Bose, Mita Vashisth, Aparna Sen, Kalyan Ray and Sharmila Tagore.-Plot:...
, etc. and signal a resurgence of the Bengali film industry. Now after 2000 their rise another group of actor (Jeet, Dev, Parambrata, Rudranil), actress(Koel Mallik), (Srabanti Chatterjee), Directors Sekhar Das, Aniruddha Roychodhury, Arin Paul
Arin Paul
Arin Paul is a Bengali film director, writer and researcher on film history.-Early life:Paul was born in Belur, West Bengal and raised in Shillong, Meghalaya and Calcutta. He attended St. Edmund's School, Shillong, Andrews High School, the Scottish Church Collegiate School, and Shyamaprasad...
, Atanu Ghosh, Srijit Mukherji
Srijit Mukherji
Srijit Mukherji is an erstwhile economist, actor, director, lyricist, and theatrician from the Indian movie industry of West Bengal, Kolkata.-Early life:...
, Raj Chakrobarty, Musicians (Jeet Ganguly). The latest films by the Raj Chakroborty, Jeet Ganguly, Dev, Jeet, Koel are no doubt big hits, but they lack the quality of cinema,acting capability as an art and is mostly catered in view of the rural audience.Those kind of actor & actress(dev,jeet,hiran,koel,srabanti) are a big joke for art of cinema. Some of the film like Madly Bangali, Antaheen
Antaheen
Antaheen is a 2009 Bengali film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. The film stars Radhika Apte, Rahul Bose, Mita Vashisth, Aparna Sen, Kalyan Ray and Sharmila Tagore.-Plot:...
have truly depicted the image of urban youths.Sekhar das on the other hand took interest in the rural sections of the country and made his first trilogy 'Mahulbanir Sereng',Krantikaal' and 'Kaler Rakhal,'Mahulbanir Sereng' has been highly popular for its novelty of the subject as it portrayed for the first time the lives in the Indian forest.
The female director league from West Bengal consists of Aparna Sen, Sanghamitra Chaudhuri, Satabdi Roy, Satarupa Sanyal, Urmi Chakravarty and Reshmi Mitra.
Jahar Kanungo’s 'Nisshabd' made in 2005 has been critically acclaimed for its originality in the treatment of image and sound.
The market for Bengali films has expanded to a 340-million-strong Bengali audience in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, Tripura
Tripura
Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
and Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. The industry could truly flourish if films from this state have a proper distribution network. While around 50 films are produced in West Bengal every year, only 30 make it to the theatres.
Exploring Avant Garde Literature
For the first time avant garde Bengali literature i.e. Hungry generationHungry generation
The Hungry Generation was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet i.e. Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy alias Haradhon Dhara, during the 1960s in Kolkata, India...
movement of 1960s was incorporated into mainstream cinema by director Srijit Mukherji
Srijit Mukherji
Srijit Mukherji is an erstwhile economist, actor, director, lyricist, and theatrician from the Indian movie industry of West Bengal, Kolkata.-Early life:...
in his film Baishe Srabon
Baishe Srabon
Baishe Srabon is a 2011 Bengali musical thriller directed by director Srijit Mukherji. The cast of the movie consists of Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Abir Chatterjee and reputed actor Gautam Ghosh who made a come back after 29 years...
wherein famous film director Gautam Ghose
Gautam Ghose
Goutam Ghose is one of the most acclaimed film directors of modern India. Born in Calcutta. Graduated from Calcutta University....
portrayed the role of a Hungryalist poet.
Bangladeshi film industry
The Bangladeshi film industry is based in DhakaDhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year. The average movie budget was about 12 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
Bangladeshi taka.
Although the majority of the films made in Bangladesh are strictly commercial in nature, a handful of directors from Bangladesh have attained critical acclaim for their outstanding work. Zahir Raihan
Zahir Raihan
Zahir Raihan was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is perhaps best known for his documentary Stop Genocide made during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He disappeared on December 30, 1972 trying to locate his brother, the famous writer Shahidullah Kaiser, who was captured and killed by...
, Khan Ataur Rahman
Khan Ataur Rahman
Khan Ataur Rahman was a Bangladeshi film actor, director, producer, screenplay writer, music composer, and singer. He is mostly famous for his role in the film Jibon Theke Neya . In this film, his rendition of the song E Khancha bhangbo ami kemon kore echoed the national psyche on East Pakistan's...
, Salahuddin, Alamgir Kabir
Alamgir Kabir (film maker)
Alamgir Kabir was a renowned Bangladeshi film director and cultural activist. He has made some of the most seminal films in Bangladesh film history. Three of his feature films are featured in the "Top 10 Bangladeshi Films" list by British Film Institute.-Early life and career:He was born on 26...
, Amjad Hussain
Amjad Hussain
Rear-Admiral Amjad Mazhar Hussain, CB is the Director and Controller of the Royal Navy.Born in Pakistan, Hussain and his mother moved to the United Kingdom in 1962 when he was three years old, to join his father who was working as a railway signalman...
, Moshiuddin Shaker, Sheikh Niyamat Ali, Humayun Ahmed
Humayun Ahmed
Humayun Ahmed is a Bangladeshi author, dramatist and director of film and television. He broke through since the publication of his first novel, Nandita Naraké...
, Morshedul Islam
Morshedul Islam
Morshedul Islam is a renowned film director of Bangladesh. He is a successful figure in the film industry of Bangladesh and also attached with independent filmmaking.-Biography:...
, Tanvir Mokammel
Tanvir Mokammel
Tanvir Mokammel is a Bangladeshi film director. He earned a Masters degree in English Literature at Dhaka University...
, Tareque Masud
Tareque Masud
Tareque Masud was an award-winning Bangladeshi independent film director. He was known for directing the films Muktir Gaan and Matir Moina , for which he won a number of international awards, including the International Critics' Prize and FIPRESCI Prize for Directors' Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes...
, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Variety’s Jay Weissberg wrote, “Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is a key exemplar of Bangladeshi new wave cinema movement” ....
, Sikder diamond are among those prominent directors. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam is a 1973 Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The movie was based on a novel by the same name, written by Advaita Malla Burman. The movie explores the life of the fishermen on the bank of the Titash River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.Rosy Samad, Golam Mostafa, Kabori,...
(A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
and Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...
.
Bangladesh has been officially submitting nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
from 2003. Masud's Matir Moina
Matir Moina
Matir Moina is a Bangla film directed by Tareque Masud, a Bangladeshi film director. The film was released in 2002...
(The Clay Bird) was the first film to be submitted, and won a number of other international awards from the Edinburgh
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
, Palm Springs
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
, Montreal, Marrakech
International Film Festival of Marrakech
The International Film Festival of Marrakech is an international film festival held annually in Marrakech, Morocco.-Overview:Since its inaugural year in 2000, the FIFM has been one of the biggest events devoted to Moroccan cinema...
, Cairo
Cairo International Film Festival
The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cairo, Egypt. It was established in 1976 and was the first international film festival held in the Arab world...
and Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
s. Another internationally acclaimed filmmaker from Bangladesh is Morshedul Islam
Morshedul Islam
Morshedul Islam is a renowned film director of Bangladesh. He is a successful figure in the film industry of Bangladesh and also attached with independent filmmaking.-Biography:...
, who won major awards at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival is an annual film festival held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The festival was established in 1952. In Mannheim there are six cinema centres and 19 single cinemas.The festival presents arthouse films of...
and other international film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s.
See also
- Cinema of the world
- South Asian cinemaSouth Asian cinemaSouth Asian cinema refers to the cinema of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.The terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and South East Asia...
- List of Bengali films
- Cinema of BangladeshCinema of BangladeshThe Bangladeshi film industry has been based in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, since 1956. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year, with an average movie budget of about 20,000,000 Bangladeshi taka...
- Cinema of IndiaCinema of IndiaThe cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
- Cinema of West BengalCinema of West BengalThe cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...
- Cinema of West Bengal
-
-
- Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA)
-
-
- Parallel CinemaParallel CinemaThe Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
- Parallel Cinema
-
- Asian cinemaAsian cinemaAsian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia, and is also sometimes known as Eastern cinema. More commonly however, it is used to refer to the cinema of Eastern, Southeastern and Southern Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle...
- World cinemaWorld cinemaWorld cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...
- actor cinema
-
- Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA)
-
External links
- Bengali Cinema
- TollyNewZ.com..A Portal on Bengali Cinema
- Bengali cinema at Calcuttaweb
- BinodonTV.Com
- Dallywood site
- History
- A Portal on Bengali Cinema
- bangla movie
- bangla Songs and Music
- Bangla Movies A database of all movies released in Bangla.